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The 10 Greatest Depressing Movies:

They were great because you needed to cry or to feel a sense of lost hope, and they did the trick. But the artistry was breathtaking, so you couldn't deny their brilliance, (Kind of in order, but not really)..... Obviously my personal list. Posted here to encourage discussion, hopefully not dissent. Post your choices, debate the order, etc.

1) Mike Nichols' Wit

2) The Last Picture Show

3) Leaving Las Vegas

4) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

5) Annie Hall (yes, think about the end)

6) Grey Gardens (the documentary)

7) The House of Sand And Fog

8) The Baby Dance

9) Blue Valentine

10) Dancer in the Dark

by Anonymousreply 338March 19, 2019 7:45 AM

Shoah, shirley?

by Anonymousreply 1June 14, 2018 8:08 AM

Great list OP, but I have to add Requiem For A Dream and swap out Annie Hall.

by Anonymousreply 2June 14, 2018 8:08 AM

COME AND SEE (1985) is supposed to be depressing as fuck.

by Anonymousreply 3June 14, 2018 8:09 AM

Thanks for including Annie Hall, OP.

The ending always breaks my heart more than I think it will, after seeing it 10 or 12 times...

by Anonymousreply 4June 14, 2018 8:09 AM

Requiem for a Dream

Lost in Translation

by Anonymousreply 5June 14, 2018 8:09 AM

Still Alice

by Anonymousreply 6June 14, 2018 8:09 AM

r3, Come And See is beyond depressing, that word isn't even appropriate. All the sadness, guilt, horror, and shame of history are wrapped up in that film.

It's the greatest anti-war statement ever made, and one of the greatest films I've ever seen.

by Anonymousreply 7June 14, 2018 8:13 AM

^ oops, I mean r4

by Anonymousreply 8June 14, 2018 8:14 AM

On The Beach---end of the world

Make Way for Tomorrow--mistreatment of old couple

Waterloo Bridge--tragic Vivien

Place in the Sun--everyone's fucked

Tomorrow Is Forever --people enslaved by the past

Sunset Boulevard--everyone's fucked

by Anonymousreply 9June 14, 2018 8:14 AM

Manchester by the Sea deserves a place, surely.

by Anonymousreply 10June 14, 2018 8:16 AM

R4 Thanks for posting, and so quickly! . I knew I couldn't be the only one who felt that way.

As for Requiem - yeah, I concede. It definitely belongs. Maybe take out Grey Gardens. We here on DL know that Little Edie was able to live quite a wonderful life after the time of the movie. Hope did spring eternal,

by Anonymousreply 11June 14, 2018 8:16 AM

Look at all these Jews, including OP, taking a break from the Dylan Farrow bashing threads to promote Woody Allen under the guise of praising films in general.

How about Top 10 Most Depressing Photographs

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by Anonymousreply 12June 14, 2018 8:26 AM

Probably any film by Michael Haneke, but I'll go with Amour.

by Anonymousreply 13June 14, 2018 8:26 AM

Top 10 Most Disturbing Movies

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by Anonymousreply 14June 14, 2018 8:27 AM

Wow, the I hate Jews/Mia Troll has appeared. I feel like it's a real thread now. We've been validated.

by Anonymousreply 15June 14, 2018 8:28 AM

The thread is basically over. Waterloo Bridge? Really. It's a great old melodrama but hardly depressing. It's just gonna get dumber and dumber from here. Shoah? Equally stupid answer.

by Anonymousreply 16June 14, 2018 8:33 AM

They Shoot Horses Don't They, extremely depressing film about the great depression no less.

by Anonymousreply 17June 14, 2018 8:35 AM

I'd replace Annie Hall with The Collector (1965).

by Anonymousreply 18June 14, 2018 8:36 AM

In The Bedroom, Gone Baby Gone

by Anonymousreply 19June 14, 2018 8:38 AM

I agree with Come and See. Devastating.

by Anonymousreply 20June 14, 2018 8:41 AM

OP here.

I had to look up Come and See. I had never heard of it. Definitely sounds like a worthy entry, It's now on my Netflix list. Thank you to those who suggested it.

They Shoot Horses definitely belongs, as does The Collector.

But I stand by Annie Hall. You know where most of the others are heading. Annie Hal doesn't end with a gut punch. Just a small tear in your intestines that gradually grows into a gaping hole.

by Anonymousreply 21June 14, 2018 8:52 AM

The movie of R12's life must be desperately depressing.

by Anonymousreply 22June 14, 2018 8:53 AM

The Hours.

by Anonymousreply 23June 14, 2018 9:16 AM

Fucking R12 just gave me life. Cackling head off. Love affair hard with my SO Datalounge.

by Anonymousreply 24June 14, 2018 9:22 AM

Testament -- and I was already having Reagan era nuke dreams.

by Anonymousreply 25June 14, 2018 9:22 AM

Read R12 in Karen Walker voice and disposition!

by Anonymousreply 26June 14, 2018 9:24 AM

Brazil

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by Anonymousreply 27June 14, 2018 9:34 AM

I agree^ about Brazil. Definitely not a comedy to me.

by Anonymousreply 28June 14, 2018 9:36 AM

I’d swap Annie Hall for Looking For Mr Goodbar.

by Anonymousreply 29June 14, 2018 9:38 AM

1978’s Body Snatchers was very depressing.

by Anonymousreply 30June 14, 2018 9:41 AM

I Want to Live--Hayward pulls out the stops

Monster

None But the Lonely Heart--Cary reliving his bleak cockney childhood

Angel Face--lonely, homicidal Simmons

Barefoot Contessa--sad sad Ava

From Here to Eternity --everyone's fucked

by Anonymousreply 31June 14, 2018 9:45 AM

The Magdalene Sisters

by Anonymousreply 32June 14, 2018 9:56 AM

The Wicker Man

by Anonymousreply 33June 14, 2018 9:57 AM

The original Stepford Wives.

by Anonymousreply 34June 14, 2018 9:59 AM

Agree with The Hours. I'd also add Atonement.

by Anonymousreply 35June 14, 2018 10:05 AM

Come Back Little Sheba - bad life choices, lost youth, substance abuse, and a lost dog.

by Anonymousreply 36June 14, 2018 10:15 AM

American Heart with Jeff Bridges and Edward Furlong.

I saw it as a kid and it hit home hard with me.

by Anonymousreply 37June 14, 2018 10:22 AM

Seconds with Rock Hudson

by Anonymousreply 38June 14, 2018 10:25 AM

Melancholia

by Anonymousreply 39June 14, 2018 10:34 AM

The Piano. Angela's Ashes. Revolutionary Road. Million Dollar Baby. Precious. Leaving Las Vegas. This Is My Father.

by Anonymousreply 40June 14, 2018 10:37 AM

Well done list, OP. I know it's a manipulative tear-jerker, but I'd add [italic]Terms of Endearment[/italic]. Even hearing the theme music makes me blue.

by Anonymousreply 41June 14, 2018 11:24 AM

Old Yeller

by Anonymousreply 42June 14, 2018 11:28 AM

Ordinary People! Sad, beautiful, hopeful.

Dancer in the Dark

Carrie

by Anonymousreply 43June 14, 2018 11:39 AM

Sophie’s Choice - we can’t leave that one off the list.

by Anonymousreply 44June 14, 2018 1:26 PM

We Need To Talk About Kevin, Tilda Swinton is a mom whose son kills his classmates.

Rabbit Hole, parents in grief over the death of their child.

Both beautiful, brilliantly acted, and very very depressing.

by Anonymousreply 45June 14, 2018 1:34 PM

Bambi: Baby deer's mother dies, forced to face life in the company of a crackhead rabbit.

by Anonymousreply 46June 14, 2018 1:39 PM

Imitation of Life 1959

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by Anonymousreply 47June 14, 2018 1:43 PM

Applause with Helen Morgan.

by Anonymousreply 48June 14, 2018 1:46 PM

Agree with Goodbar, Manchester by the Sea and Wit

I would add Brokeback Mountain

and a number of films from Japan, most especially Sansho the Bailiff

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by Anonymousreply 49June 14, 2018 1:48 PM

Watership Down

by Anonymousreply 50June 14, 2018 1:50 PM

Raise the Red Lantern

by Anonymousreply 51June 14, 2018 1:51 PM

How can dancing babies be depressing?!

by Anonymousreply 52June 14, 2018 1:57 PM

Barefoot Gen and Where the Wind Blows both animations about the use of nuclear warfare. Very depressing. Grave of the Fireflies too. Come and See is horrendously depressing

by Anonymousreply 53June 14, 2018 1:59 PM

No mention of Ingmar Bergman yet?

Try CRIES AND WHISPERS on for size.

by Anonymousreply 54June 14, 2018 2:17 PM

Watership down it’s just horrific.

by Anonymousreply 55June 14, 2018 2:57 PM

Never let me go.Even thinking about it makes me wanna cry!

by Anonymousreply 56June 14, 2018 2:58 PM

August Osage County

by Anonymousreply 57June 14, 2018 3:01 PM

August Osage County is depressing only because of how it was miscast and misdirected.

by Anonymousreply 58June 14, 2018 3:02 PM

Threads, Schindler's List, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Precious, Titantic, Carrie

by Anonymousreply 59June 14, 2018 3:04 PM

The panic in needle park the heart is a lonely hunter a patch of blue.

by Anonymousreply 60June 14, 2018 3:52 PM

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Mist (really just the WTF ending)

by Anonymousreply 61June 14, 2018 3:57 PM

Winter's Bone

by Anonymousreply 62June 14, 2018 4:07 PM

In the company of men. I wish I never saw it.

by Anonymousreply 63June 14, 2018 4:09 PM

"Breaking The Waves" from me.

by Anonymousreply 64June 14, 2018 4:16 PM

Mike Leigh's NAKED is impossible to watch without feeling the need to place your head in the nearest oven, turn the gas on and inhale deeply.

by Anonymousreply 65June 14, 2018 4:20 PM

I second "Make Way for Tomorrow" -- one of the biggest tearjerkers ever

Day of the Locust

Diary of Anne Frank

by Anonymousreply 66June 14, 2018 4:27 PM

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Once Upon a Time in America, Imitation of Life (the 50s version), Mulholland Drive.

by Anonymousreply 67June 14, 2018 4:30 PM

Any Val Kilmer movie. His leaving his pants on would depress Pollyanna.

by Anonymousreply 68June 14, 2018 4:30 PM

Any Michael Bay movie--they always make me think "who keeps watching this crap?" Especially Pearl Harbor, where I laughed out loud at the ending.

by Anonymousreply 69June 14, 2018 4:40 PM

For recent movies:

Lion. It broke my heart. I thought about it for weeks and started researching adoption from India.

Lady Bird got to me too. When the closeted Catholic school boy is sobbing in the alley after begging his ex-girlfriend to keep his secret because he just needs a little more time before telling his parents. She just holds him.

by Anonymousreply 70June 14, 2018 4:43 PM

Dancer in the Dark

Johnny Got His Gun

by Anonymousreply 71June 14, 2018 4:58 PM

Totally agree with Come and See. Never seen so much devastation and hope within a film. Also beauty. The director who was masterful knew his days as a film maker was over once he had finished the project as he had nothing more to say.

by Anonymousreply 72June 14, 2018 4:58 PM

Gummo

by Anonymousreply 73June 14, 2018 5:02 PM

The Sorrow and the Pity.

by Anonymousreply 74June 14, 2018 5:14 PM

The Titicut Follies. Really, really disturbing.

by Anonymousreply 75June 14, 2018 5:16 PM

Lucille Ball in MAME.

by Anonymousreply 76June 14, 2018 5:26 PM

R22 I disagree. The Hours is a brilliant movie, but for those who are able to stay with it to the end, it's actually not depressing at all. Just the opposite. It's life affirming! (part of what makes it so brilliant).

by Anonymousreply 77June 14, 2018 6:32 PM

^^Sorry R23

by Anonymousreply 78June 14, 2018 6:33 PM

R77 How are two almost three suicides and a mother burying he child not depressing? A very odd take on the film.

by Anonymousreply 79June 14, 2018 6:50 PM

* burying her only child

by Anonymousreply 80June 14, 2018 6:52 PM

"Leaving Las Vegas" was depressingly bad movie making. Nothing in it rang true.

by Anonymousreply 81June 14, 2018 7:01 PM

That's the way I felt about Requiem for a Dream. It seemed more like a limousine liberals nightmare/fantasy of drug addiction than anything based on reality.

by Anonymousreply 82June 14, 2018 7:07 PM

The screenplay for "Leaving Las Vegas" was reminiscent of a film graduate student's master's thesis. Looks good on paper, but ultimately artificial and detached from reality. Nicolas Cage's undeserved Oscar for his showboating performance should have gone to Sean Penn for "Dead Man Walking."

by Anonymousreply 83June 14, 2018 7:13 PM

Lilja 4-Ever. Amazing film.

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by Anonymousreply 84June 14, 2018 7:15 PM

Requiem. Devastatingly sad.

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by Anonymousreply 85June 14, 2018 7:16 PM

It's been so long since I've seen it, I can't remember how Annie Hall ends. What about it is depressing?

by Anonymousreply 86June 14, 2018 7:17 PM

I think that is what they were going for but I found OTT to the point of amusing. "If you think that was shocking, wait until the next scene.."

by Anonymousreply 87June 14, 2018 7:21 PM

In no particular order::

"Frances"

"Interiors"

"Monster"

"Requiem for a Dream"

"Affliction"

"Ordinary People"

"Blue Jasmine"

"Dancer in the Dark"

"Bug"

"Boys Don't Cry"

by Anonymousreply 88June 14, 2018 7:23 PM

[quote]That's the way I felt about Requiem for a Dream. It seemed more like a limousine liberals nightmare/fantasy of drug addiction than anything based on reality.

YES!

by Anonymousreply 89June 14, 2018 7:28 PM

Street of Shame

Rocco and His Brothers

Tokyo Story

Forbidden Games

Streetcar Named Desire

Grand Hotel (People build up such desperate hope and you know they are headed for devastating heartbreak after the end of the film. In comparison Annie Hall is a picnic.)

Greed

by Anonymousreply 90June 14, 2018 7:30 PM

Blue Jasmine, for sure. Where the hell was she going to go next?

by Anonymousreply 91June 14, 2018 7:33 PM

Heaven forbid OP watch a classic of world cinema.

by Anonymousreply 92June 14, 2018 7:42 PM

The Sweet Hereafter

by Anonymousreply 93June 14, 2018 7:45 PM

[quote]"Breaking The Waves" for me.

me too....poor Bess

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by Anonymousreply 94June 14, 2018 7:46 PM

I saw They Shoot Horses and Heart is a Lonely Hunter when they came out. I was 11 or 12. I made the conscious decision then to never see them again......

by Anonymousreply 95June 14, 2018 7:51 PM

Au hasard Balthazar! I loved that donkey.

by Anonymousreply 96June 14, 2018 8:00 PM

Requiem for a Dream is such a stylized take on such a heavy topic that it gave me an unsettling feel.

Burstyn was the standout for me in that area. Those scenes of her watching the infomercials while on the pills were meant to be more visceral messaging than realistic.

Same goes for the progression of Jared Leto’s wound

by Anonymousreply 97June 14, 2018 8:14 PM

Au Hasard Balthazar is a very good one. I never want to see it again despite being one of the finest films ever made. And as noted it is about a donkey.

by Anonymousreply 98June 14, 2018 8:19 PM

Annie Hall is one of the most depressing movies for you??? what kind of fucking sheltered life do you have?? Jesus. The most depressing movie of the last 15 years is obviously The House of Sand and Fog.

by Anonymousreply 99June 14, 2018 8:19 PM

[54] beat me to it. Cries and Whispers. It ends on a transcendental human and tender note though. I've never been able to get that Mazurka out of my head.

by Anonymousreply 100June 14, 2018 8:25 PM

Chinatown

by Anonymousreply 101June 14, 2018 8:26 PM

Kids. I wanted to kill myself when I left the theater back in 1995. I was in college and wept for the future. I can’t imagine how I would feel watching that for the first time as a 42 year old (my age now).

by Anonymousreply 102June 14, 2018 8:31 PM

Memento, Inception, Shutter Island,

by Anonymousreply 103June 14, 2018 8:34 PM

r86, the favorable reviews.

by Anonymousreply 104June 14, 2018 8:55 PM

R102:

I am around your age and watched Kids for the first time since 1995 about 10 days ago.

It still packs quite a punch...

I wonder if it would deliver that same punch to those half our age.

The HIV scare was such a huge part of that film in a way that probably would seem dated to a 21 yo

by Anonymousreply 105June 14, 2018 9:32 PM

Somebody said Mame so I'll say Star!.

Oh and that Bedpan movie that told Hollywood Angela was not box office.

by Anonymousreply 106June 14, 2018 9:38 PM

A couple more: Pans Labyrinth and the The Third Man.

by Anonymousreply 107June 14, 2018 9:43 PM

One movie I haven't seen mentioned that left me in tears was "Atonement". I was emotionally not prepared for it, and I just found it incredibly heartbreaking. Poor Robbie. Poor Cecilia.

by Anonymousreply 108June 14, 2018 9:44 PM

"We Need to Talk About Kevin" seems to get everyone who has seen it riled up. "House of Sand and Fog" ripped me open the first time I saw it. "Requiem For A Dream" is a nightmare. "Heriditery". There is such a sense of dread permeating the whole thing and it features two of the most gut wrenching scenes I have seen in a movie in quite some time.

by Anonymousreply 109June 14, 2018 9:45 PM

'Night, Mother. Two hours of Anne Bancroft trying to talk Sissy Spacek out of suicide. She fails.

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by Anonymousreply 110June 14, 2018 9:55 PM

Nothing makes me cry harder than "The Elephant Man". That kind of cruelty about kills me.

Speaking of which, do NOT watch "Night, Mother", above, if you are depressed and especially if you are on drugs or drink., I am 26 years sober this year so much better but back in the day, the most suicidal I ever felt was the night I watched it at home when it first came out on video. Can't even explain why except that it gives way too good an argument FOR suicide and little argument against it. I have never watched a second it since.

(Avoid "The Butcher Boy" too. It put a friend of mine over the edge though, granted, he already had half his body over the edge anyway).

by Anonymousreply 111June 14, 2018 10:00 PM

Ladybug Ladybug 1963

by Anonymousreply 112June 14, 2018 10:02 PM

So glad Au hasard Balthazar was mentioned. It's one of my two or three favorite films. Hard for me to think of it as depressing. Depression is associated with a deadening of feeling, and one thing that film does not do is deaden you.

Check out Léolo. There's not another film like it.

by Anonymousreply 113June 14, 2018 10:02 PM

Definitely House of Sand and Fog.

I will add a +1 to those listing Brokeback Mountain and Atonement.

One of my older favorites that should be added for consideration is Fate is the Hunter.

by Anonymousreply 114June 14, 2018 10:15 PM

Miracle Mile. The threat of the Cold War had long since passed when I finally saw it but it reminded me so much of the feeling of doom and gloom of that period that it haunted me so days. Those last few seconds are so heartbreaking (and awful).

by Anonymousreply 115June 14, 2018 10:17 PM

Testament. The closeup of Jane Alexander sewing and then the camera pulls back to show you she's sewing a funeral shroud and for whom. Devastating.

by Anonymousreply 116June 14, 2018 10:26 PM

Babel is the most depressing movie ever. If I weren't stuck in the middle of a row with a group I'd have walked out. And every bit of it has stayed with me for the last, what, decade? UGH.

by Anonymousreply 117June 14, 2018 10:48 PM

The Road is a little on the bleak side

by Anonymousreply 118June 14, 2018 10:55 PM

How about films that should have been depressing due to the subject matter, but were so brilliant that they were exhilarating. For me, two such films, mentioned already, are "The Third Man" and "Mulholland Drive. "

by Anonymousreply 119June 14, 2018 11:13 PM

Anything by the Smiths. Also Jackson Brown.

by Anonymousreply 120June 14, 2018 11:26 PM

Killer of Sheep (1978)

Salo

by Anonymousreply 121June 14, 2018 11:27 PM

Great thread.

I nominate Running on Empty.

A wonderfully sad little film that earned River Phoenix an Oscar nod. Christine Lahti was also amazing in it.

by Anonymousreply 122June 14, 2018 11:29 PM

It must have been cold there in my shadow, to never have sunlight on your face."

Beaches, bitches. I cry everytime I watch that shit.

by Anonymousreply 123June 14, 2018 11:33 PM

Oh, and Girl, Interrupted.

by Anonymousreply 124June 14, 2018 11:34 PM

Tokyo Story

by Anonymousreply 125June 14, 2018 11:37 PM

I dare anyone to top the endings of "Forbidden Games" and "Umberto D" for true black devastation.

Oh, and if no one has mentioned it, "Bicycle Thieves."

by Anonymousreply 126June 14, 2018 11:40 PM

Kim Kardashian's sex tape

by Anonymousreply 127June 14, 2018 11:42 PM

I have both of those on Criterion and need to watch them, R126. Thanks for the extra push.

Is it "Bicycle Thief" or "Bicycle Thieves" officially? I've heard both my whole life, mostly the former.

by Anonymousreply 128June 14, 2018 11:52 PM

The 1959 version of ON THE BEACH has to have one of the most sobering endings of any film I've seen...

by Anonymousreply 129June 14, 2018 11:54 PM

Ladybug, Ladybug

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by Anonymousreply 130June 15, 2018 12:13 AM

The Wrestler - Mickey Rourke

by Anonymousreply 131June 15, 2018 12:25 AM

Odd choice, because it's a musical, but Cabaret. The hopelessness of both Sally's life, and what was brewing for the world is devastating.

by Anonymousreply 132June 15, 2018 12:25 AM

^^Excellent choice!

by Anonymousreply 133June 15, 2018 12:34 AM

I also choose Melancholia, depressing from beginning to end. It also scared the shit out of me.

by Anonymousreply 134June 15, 2018 12:47 AM

R128, it is Bicycle Thieves in Italian but it was mistranslated in America to Bicicycle Thief (to my knowledge).

by Anonymousreply 135June 15, 2018 12:48 AM

I wish Criterion worked their magic with "They Shoot Horses..."

My movie to add to the list - "Angel Baby". A love story of two people with schizophrenia. Heartbreaking.

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by Anonymousreply 136June 15, 2018 12:49 AM

Add BEACHES to my list. It makes me cry each time I see it. It does not help that I was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure 13 years ago, which is the same illness from which Barbara Hershey dies.

by Anonymousreply 137June 15, 2018 12:59 AM

I'll See You In My Dreams... Blythe Danner and Sam Elliott. I agree with Manchester By The Sea, too. That one I can't watch already depressed.

by Anonymousreply 138June 15, 2018 1:01 AM

City of God

by Anonymousreply 139June 15, 2018 1:04 AM

Natural Enemies. Enemies: A Love Story.

by Anonymousreply 140June 15, 2018 1:10 AM

Love Story... sappy, but very sad ending.

by Anonymousreply 141June 15, 2018 1:14 AM

Balthazar is so heartbreaking it is like watching a beloved pet...No I don't want to see it again.

Dr Dolittle deadens you.

by Anonymousreply 142June 15, 2018 1:31 AM

You'd have to have a heart of stone not to laugh at the end of Love Story.

by Anonymousreply 143June 15, 2018 1:33 AM

Not only does 'night, Mother look bleak and depressing, it also looks like the ultimate frau fest bad movie.

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by Anonymousreply 144June 15, 2018 1:38 AM

You mean the line, "Love means never having to say you're sorry."... didn't bring you to tears??

by Anonymousreply 145June 15, 2018 1:39 AM

Leaving Las Vegas

by Anonymousreply 146June 15, 2018 1:43 AM

Imitation of Life Ordinary People Old Yeller The Yearling Another Country Schindler's List Philadelphia Brokeback Mountain Romeo and Juliet (1968) Boys Don't Cry Beaches The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Watership Down The Way We Were The Ice Storm Edward Scissorhands ...

by Anonymousreply 147June 15, 2018 1:54 AM

For R147

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by Anonymousreply 148June 15, 2018 1:56 AM

Caged

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by Anonymousreply 149June 15, 2018 1:58 AM

If I had to pick the all time most depressing movie I've ever seen I would have to say "Testament." Just thinking about what happened in that movie gives me the shudders. But here are some other ones:

Midnight Cowboy

Affliction

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang

Taxi Driver

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Cool Hand Luke

The Road

Kids

Children of Men

Welcome to the Dollhouse

Happiness

Chinatown

21 Grams

Vera Drake

Let Him Have It

Naked

Klute

The Magdalene Sisters

Descent

The Deer Hunter

by Anonymousreply 150June 15, 2018 1:59 AM

Melancholia

East of Eden

Old (fucking) Yellar - I watched that when I was like 5 and wept for what felt like days. Why would my mom let me watch that?

by Anonymousreply 151June 15, 2018 2:04 AM

I mentioned this in the "movies in other languages" thread, but Una Noche, 2012. Don't read the Wikipedia -- it has spoilers.

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by Anonymousreply 152June 15, 2018 2:10 AM

The Yearling. I cry like a baby when *spoiler alert*.. the deer is shot. Come Back Little Sheba.. good movie, not shown enough.

by Anonymousreply 153June 15, 2018 2:10 AM

Mala Noche by Gus van Sant

by Anonymousreply 154June 15, 2018 2:15 AM

The Heiress.. with Olivia deHavilland

by Anonymousreply 155June 15, 2018 2:23 AM

I was going to say Au Hasard Balthazar too! Director Robert Bresson definitely didn't follow the "feel good" formula.

by Anonymousreply 156June 15, 2018 2:26 AM

The Sweet Hereafter

by Anonymousreply 157June 15, 2018 2:28 AM

The Trip To Bountiful..

by Anonymousreply 158June 15, 2018 2:34 AM

The Deer Hunter

Apocalypse Now

Boys in the Band

There will Be Blood

Munich

by Anonymousreply 159June 15, 2018 2:41 AM

Mame with Lucille Ball.

by Anonymousreply 160June 15, 2018 2:43 AM

r159 There Will Be Blood was very depressing because it was so horribly boring.

by Anonymousreply 161June 15, 2018 2:45 AM

Million Dollar Duck -- I was sad Sandy Duncan didn't have more of a movie career besides this and "Star Spangled Girl"

by Anonymousreply 162June 15, 2018 2:52 AM

Musicals... West Side Story (music, dancing is great.. funny moments) eyes always well up at the end. Carousel... song, Hold Your Head Up High, always gets to me.

by Anonymousreply 163June 15, 2018 2:53 AM

Who wants to see an animal movie without the death of somebody's favorite pet? That was a real problem with the Lassie movies.

by Anonymousreply 164June 15, 2018 2:53 AM

The Incredible Mr. Limpett -- I felt so bad for Carole Cook, his real-world wife, when Limpett leaves her for animated life in the sea.

by Anonymousreply 165June 15, 2018 3:01 AM

Probably already mentioned, but Midnight Cowboy.

by Anonymousreply 166June 15, 2018 3:02 AM

By The Sea, which looked like it hit close to home for the two stars.

by Anonymousreply 167June 15, 2018 3:03 AM

Bambi

Bambi Meets Godzilla

by Anonymousreply 168June 15, 2018 3:05 AM

Bambi Meets Godzilla always flattens me.

by Anonymousreply 169June 15, 2018 3:07 AM

Pennies From Heaven - surprised no one has mentioned this. It's brilliant, but basically structured like the real-life story is the Depression and it's so, so sad, then you go to the movies, see the wonderful up-lifting movies and you're fine for a bit, then you leave and life continues and it's the Depression. The musical numbers are great, but man, is it sad.

by Anonymousreply 170June 15, 2018 3:09 AM

I can't even listen to songs from The Sound of Music thanks to Dancer in the Dark.

by Anonymousreply 171June 15, 2018 3:13 AM

I had forgotten how awfully depressing Dumbo is. I revisited it with the Tim Burton, sure to be a monstrosity, coming out. Good god, the Mama elephant rocking the baby from inside the cage? As bad as Bambi.

by Anonymousreply 172June 15, 2018 3:14 AM

I’m glad R151 mentioned “Melancholia,” because that’s easily my choice. I despised every Lars von Trier movie before that one, but “Melancholia” was so exquisitely dedicated to suffering that I loved it. Usually he tortures one woman, but this time he ended the world, and gen though that’s far worse than what he normally does, it felt less cruel. Its sadness feels purifying.

And to slightly derail, the saddest moments are usually on television. Lars von Trier could never make audiences cry as much as Joss Whedon or Alan Ball.

by Anonymousreply 173June 15, 2018 3:20 AM

I just remembered a movie so upsetting that I never recommend it to anyone, and I’m truly sorry I saw it.

“The Vanishing.” Anyone see it? (The original, not the remake)

by Anonymousreply 174June 15, 2018 3:25 AM

Nil By Mouth.

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by Anonymousreply 175June 15, 2018 3:27 AM

I've seen it. Now that you mention that it reminded me how upsetting the Haneke film Funny Games is.

by Anonymousreply 176June 15, 2018 3:28 AM

Anyone see Martyrs?

by Anonymousreply 177June 15, 2018 3:29 AM

Broken Blossoms (1919)

Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959)

Yukiguni (1957)

by Anonymousreply 178June 15, 2018 3:30 AM

Gary Oldman explains his motivation to create Nil By Mouth was to make a film that explored grim reality compared to Weinsteinesque Leaving Las Vegas.

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by Anonymousreply 179June 15, 2018 3:33 AM

La haine

by Anonymousreply 180June 15, 2018 3:38 AM

Birth. A flop when it came out, but bizarre and tragic and Nicole Kidman is great in it.

The Sweet Hereafter. Also underrated and haunting.

by Anonymousreply 181June 15, 2018 4:01 AM

The Age of Innocence. Visually gorgeous movie, but sad with unfulfilled passion between the two main characters.. almost, but not meant to be. Doctor Zhivago.. dreary, cold and snowy setting.. depressing story, set in Russia.

by Anonymousreply 182June 15, 2018 4:07 AM

"The Vanishing"

R174, yes, deeply disturbing. I wouldn't recommend it because if that. It's brilliant, though, and I don't regret seeing it, I think. Talk about the banality of evil!

by Anonymousreply 183June 15, 2018 4:12 AM

Withnail and I

Once Were Warriors

Harold and Maude

by Anonymousreply 184June 15, 2018 4:40 AM

The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the Moon Marigolds

Streetwise (1984 documentary)

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

The Day of the Locust

by Anonymousreply 185June 15, 2018 4:55 AM

I didn't think Ordinary People was especially depressing. I loved watching Mary Tyler Moore's character. Beth.

by Anonymousreply 186June 15, 2018 4:57 AM

R181 Birth is one of the most disturbing and underrated movies in years. It's also my favorite performance of Nicole's.

by Anonymousreply 187June 15, 2018 5:06 AM

Blast of Silence

Make Way for Tomorrow

Nashville

The Merchant of Four Seasons

by Anonymousreply 188June 15, 2018 5:14 AM

2nd list: with horror included:

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The Strangers

The Elephant Man

Breaking the Waves

A Thousand Acres

The Goddess

I Want to Live!

Once Upon a Time in America

Into the Wild (Sean Penn's brilliant masterpiece swings from depressing to liberating for me)

The Blair Witch Project

by Anonymousreply 189June 15, 2018 5:17 AM

Trash

by Anonymousreply 190June 15, 2018 5:17 AM

Crash

by Anonymousreply 191June 15, 2018 5:19 AM

Dead Ringers

by Anonymousreply 192June 15, 2018 5:21 AM

Olive Kitteridge...HBO mini series. Mildred Pierce, the original movie and HBO remake.

by Anonymousreply 193June 15, 2018 5:22 AM

Sid and Nancy

by Anonymousreply 194June 15, 2018 5:23 AM

1, The Rapture (because Jesus isn't my favorite demi-god,so I'm fucked.). 2. Ace in the Hole (see Jan Sterling "I gave up praying, it bags my stockings") 3, D.O.A. 4. Salo 5. La Strada 6. Nights of Cabiria 7. The Wind (1928, Lillian Gish) 8.Chelsea Girls 9.In a Lonely Place 10. Pandoras Box (Louise Brooks)

by Anonymousreply 195June 15, 2018 6:06 AM

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, Days Of Wine And Roses, The Subject Was Roses..

by Anonymousreply 196June 15, 2018 6:10 AM

1) Swindler's List

2) My Mother Is A Lampshade

3) Otto Frank's Fake Diary

4) Oy! The Human Soap

5) Shoah! Shoah! Shoah!

6) Six Million Little Pieces

7) The Goyim Must Be Crazy

8) Annie Hall

9) Love In The Time Of Anti-Semitism

10) Fiddler In The Oven

by Anonymousreply 197June 15, 2018 6:13 AM

Diary Of Anne Frank. I just saw this recently on TCM... terribly sad.

by Anonymousreply 198June 15, 2018 6:14 AM

r198 It wasn't a real diary, it was mostly written by her father to serve as propaganda for the creation of the Jewish Supremacist state of Israel.

BTW, her father the author kept Ann and her family in the danger zone for the sake of shekels.

And an old Jewish woman who knew young Ann referred to her as a typical German Jewish snob who thought she was better than everybody else, even her fellow Jewesses.

Plus Ann only died from catching typhus, she wasn't gassed or anything. Virtually nobody was gassed at the camps, only their clothing, just like at Ellis Island. If you don't gas the clothing, you don't kill the lice, and you can't control the typhus.

by Anonymousreply 199June 15, 2018 6:19 AM

I also eat shit, not just type it.

by Anonymousreply 200June 15, 2018 6:25 AM

The Holocaust and the Diary of Ann Frank are new chapters of the Torah. We do not question our Torah's accuracy, mostly because we don't want to.

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by Anonymousreply 201June 15, 2018 6:28 AM

R195, some very interesting choices. For me, DOA isn't depressing, because SPOILER he succeeds in avenging his own murder and, paradoxically, lives more fully than prior to his murder. That scene just after he learns he was poisoned and starts walking with ever-growing resolve is thrilling..

I haven't seen Salo or Chelsea Girls, but La Strada is devastating.

by Anonymousreply 202June 15, 2018 6:34 AM

The Rapture is definitely up there with Birth as one of my favorites.

Somebody mentioned The Vanishing. If I were to make a list of 10 most disturbing horror films, it'd be near the top. It's been years since I've seen it but it haunts me still.

by Anonymousreply 203June 15, 2018 6:45 AM

Requiem for a Dream stands alone. It's a great movie - but you need a strong drink or two afterwards.

by Anonymousreply 204June 15, 2018 6:56 AM

Agree about Birth. From the same director, Under the Skin is even more creepy and grim. And since there's a lot of love for Bresson's Balthazar, i'd add L'Argent, the very last movie by Bresson. It's a very sad and depressing tale about the evil of money, and it has one of the most brilliant scripts i've ever seen: it starts with a small, teenager infraction and - like an avalanche - it ends in pure horror. Amazing.

by Anonymousreply 205June 15, 2018 7:55 AM

A Japanese movies called "The Suicide Club". The opening scene in the subway is about the bloodiest thing I've ever seen filmed.

by Anonymousreply 206June 15, 2018 9:09 AM

[quote] and a number of films from Japan, most especially Sansho the Bailiff

The Ballad of Narayama. Son carries his old mother to the top of a mountain to leave her to die. By tradition.

by Anonymousreply 207June 15, 2018 9:36 AM

Pan's Labyrinth

by Anonymousreply 208June 15, 2018 10:12 AM

"The Children's Hour" (1961)

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by Anonymousreply 209June 15, 2018 10:25 AM

Yeah... The Children's Hour. Good one.

by Anonymousreply 210June 15, 2018 1:02 PM

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles owns this thread

by Anonymousreply 211June 15, 2018 1:29 PM

Requiem for a Dream is one on of the few movies I couldn't finish watching. It was so dark.

Kids was the same way. I don't even know if they were sad so much as hopeless. And for me, there is a difference.

by Anonymousreply 212June 15, 2018 3:08 PM

R182, The Age of Innocence is by far the most overrated film in Scorsese's filmography. Miscast and just misdirected.

by Anonymousreply 213June 15, 2018 3:33 PM

Lion owns this thread. I won’t spoil it but there’s an epigraph that appears on screen at the end that just guts you and makes you want to cry until the end of time.

by Anonymousreply 214June 15, 2018 3:41 PM

Which is why I loathe Slumdog Millionaire and it's cloying, sellout happy ending.

by Anonymousreply 215June 15, 2018 3:47 PM

Ironweed

The House of Mirth (there was no mirth to be found)

Another vote for Blue Jasmine

by Anonymousreply 216June 15, 2018 4:01 PM

I agree with you about Lion, R214. My partner and I still talk about adopting a child from India. There were so many predatory adults in the movie. The scene with the street children being chased by the men who are clearly not trying to help them. Mysterious scenes like this, implying sick intentions while leaving the specifics to the imagination, really showed the innocence and.confusion and of these children. They had absolutely no idea what these people wanted to do to them, but they knew enough to run like hell. I also like how it handled the complexity of this kind of adoption. While the kids were saved from poverty and abuse, they continued to suffer in so many ways.

by Anonymousreply 217June 15, 2018 5:04 PM

"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"

Pretty bleak.

by Anonymousreply 218June 15, 2018 5:19 PM

Of Mice & Men, Ghost, Indian in the cupboard, Basketball Diaries

by Anonymousreply 219June 15, 2018 8:19 PM

I was more enraged than saddened by Atonement. That brat Briony Tallis ruined everything. I saw it once - in the theater when it was new - and I still shake my fist and go, "That Briony Tallis!" when I'm lightheartedly irritated by something.

I am prepared to be shat on for this, but I felt incredibly deflated after seeing American Sniper. I just thought, "This is the world we live in - where people are unspeakably cruel to each other, and we glorify the people who kill them. Great."

by Anonymousreply 220June 15, 2018 8:40 PM

I didn't consider "The Vanishing (original version)" depressing. It was, to me, a horror movie, a very good one. It was scary, not depressing.

by Anonymousreply 221June 15, 2018 8:46 PM

They shoot Horses don't they.....also Watership Down which encapsulates English melancholy in the former of rabbits

by Anonymousreply 222June 15, 2018 8:47 PM

The Changeling, with Angelina Jolie. I wasn't prepared for the manner of the terrible murders of the young boys. That really disturbed me.

by Anonymousreply 223June 15, 2018 8:49 PM

Longtime Companion. I rewatched it again recently. That "let go" scene still tears me up, as does the closing scene on the beach: "we'll go down to the postmortem bar..."

by Anonymousreply 224June 15, 2018 8:55 PM

Ironweed

by Anonymousreply 225June 15, 2018 9:02 PM

Julia & Julia

by Anonymousreply 226June 16, 2018 5:43 AM

Aren’t scary movie inherently depressing?

by Anonymousreply 227June 16, 2018 5:45 AM

R227 No. They can be galvanizing or just scary or creepy.

by Anonymousreply 228June 16, 2018 5:50 AM

I think "Carrie" (1952) is pretty bleak. It also has Olivier's best film performance.

by Anonymousreply 229June 16, 2018 6:01 AM

Less Than Zero because it could have been based on Robert Downey Jr.'s life. Julian was such a tragic figure.

by Anonymousreply 230June 16, 2018 6:31 AM

R230- I remember being a kid watching Less Than Zero and rewatching the scene when RDJ is blowing the guy and rewinding it again and again. I was starved for gay sex in movies and this was the closest I could get to it. Now that is depressing!

by Anonymousreply 231June 16, 2018 3:48 PM

{202}- What! No Fassbinder? Could anything be bleaker than "Veronica Voss."

by Anonymousreply 232June 20, 2018 12:26 PM

Boys in the Band. So depressing and self loathing. It portrays all gays as very fucked up. Not exactly Will and Grace that's for sure. The only ones that think its still a great move are over 70 and probably resemble those characters pathetic self involved internalized homophobic outlook on life.

by Anonymousreply 233June 20, 2018 12:34 PM

Joy Luck Club. I cried in the theater. In public!

by Anonymousreply 234June 20, 2018 12:38 PM

Veronika Voss would be depressing if it were not so stylish.

I think the earlier Fassbinder was much more depressing.

by Anonymousreply 235June 20, 2018 12:41 PM

I purposely watched “Schindler’s List” alone, and wept throughout...

by Anonymousreply 236June 20, 2018 1:18 PM

Shame.

Ugh. So freaking sad.

by Anonymousreply 237June 20, 2018 1:34 PM

oh yeah, Fassbinder!! A Year with 13 Moons, about an old, ugly, depressed transexual, would bring anyone to suicide. Plus a super long, unedited, sequence set in an abattoir!

by Anonymousreply 238June 20, 2018 1:47 PM

R237, to what are you referring?

by Anonymousreply 239June 20, 2018 3:30 PM

R232, how about "Fox and His Friends "?

by Anonymousreply 240June 21, 2018 4:08 AM

R239 The movie "Shame," with Michael Fassbender.

by Anonymousreply 241June 21, 2018 10:08 AM

Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne and Schindler's List.

by Anonymousreply 242June 21, 2018 11:39 AM

Too depressed to g through the list, but the winner is of course TESTAMENT (1983) with one of the great American actresses, Jane Alexander.

by Anonymousreply 243June 21, 2018 11:58 AM

Okay, I see Testament was quoted several times.

by Anonymousreply 244June 21, 2018 11:59 AM

A Danish film called “Oslo, August 31”

IMDB description:

One day in the life of a recovering drug addict, who takes a brief leave from his treatment center to interview for a job and catch up with old friends in Oslo.

I thought it would be about someone overcoming addiction...it’s not. Very bleak ending, left me numb.

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by Anonymousreply 245June 21, 2018 1:45 PM

children of men, a downer,only watched once.

by Anonymousreply 246June 21, 2018 2:54 PM

Did anyone mention, "I Want To Live"?

by Anonymousreply 247July 12, 2018 8:28 PM

Schindler's List. I held my shit together until Liam Neeson breaks down. "How many more was this watch?" And then the survivors at the end putting rocks on Schindler's grave made me ugly cry. It took me months to get functional again after that film.

On the other hand, I don't think The Rapture was depressing at all.

by Anonymousreply 248July 12, 2018 8:38 PM

Door in the Floor if you’re a Kim Bassinger fan. She is such a great underrated actress. I wish she’d do more work. The story is twisted in a bit. But she’s great in it. It’s all about the depths of dispair of a mother who has lost her son and attempting to connect to him through an affair with a kid who would have been his age. Great movie.

by Anonymousreply 249July 12, 2018 8:46 PM

I cried at the end of Call Me by Your Name. Mostly over the fact that most gay men, because of having to hide growing up, were denied a love so pure and beautiful in their younger years.

by Anonymousreply 250July 12, 2018 8:49 PM

Shocked no one mentioned "Lilya 4-Ever" or "Audition."

by Anonymousreply 251July 12, 2018 8:50 PM

^ a friend told me about "Lilya 4Ever": i never had the guts to watch it.

by Anonymousreply 252July 12, 2018 8:52 PM

Plenty. A terrible war thrills you and gives you purpose. When it ends you are emotionally dead and yet live for decades as a walking corpse. Brutal play and movie.

by Anonymousreply 253July 12, 2018 8:54 PM

Come and See and Lilya 4ever are based on true stories. If you are prone to sadness, no, you don't need to hurt your heart by watching them.

by Anonymousreply 254July 12, 2018 8:56 PM

Longtime Companin gets me every time. So real. The wistful sadness at the end walking on the beach remembering dead friends and unloved love is a summary of most of my adult life. So sad because so real.

Melancholia is just depressing.

by Anonymousreply 255July 12, 2018 9:03 PM

Other devastating Russian films:

Leviathan (2014)

Burnt by the Sun (1994)

by Anonymousreply 256July 12, 2018 9:15 PM

Alice (2005)

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by Anonymousreply 257July 12, 2018 9:30 PM

Breaking the Waves

by Anonymousreply 258July 12, 2018 9:31 PM

Requiem for a Dream

by Anonymousreply 259July 12, 2018 9:32 PM

Tyrannosaur 2011

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by Anonymousreply 260July 12, 2018 9:35 PM

Eraserhead made me want to kill myself.

by Anonymousreply 261July 12, 2018 9:41 PM

For Those in Peril 2013

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by Anonymousreply 262July 12, 2018 9:43 PM

Yes R39 Melancholia. It doesn't get more hopeless than that.

by Anonymousreply 263July 12, 2018 10:00 PM

Welcome to the Rileys

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by Anonymousreply 264July 12, 2018 10:02 PM

Prince of Tides, Beaches, Brokeback Mountain, Schindler’s List

by Anonymousreply 265July 12, 2018 10:08 PM

Ordinary People

by Anonymousreply 266July 12, 2018 10:43 PM

I'm watching "The Sweet Hereafter" for the first time. I'm screwed, aren't I?

by Anonymousreply 267July 15, 2018 12:10 AM

[R111]: Cheer up. I saw “‘Night Mother” on Broadway in the spring of 1985, about nine months before I got sober. Wonder if it had an effect...

Kathy Bates played the highly efficient suicidal daughter onstage, and was so matter-of-fact about her intentions that it was chilling. She was brilliant.

One of the most compelling details was a clock on the wall which showed real time. The play began about 8 PM. There was no intermission. And it ended about 9:30.

Devastating.

by Anonymousreply 268July 15, 2018 12:29 AM

Men Don't Leave. Bleak Baltimore with a whole grieving, depressed family.

by Anonymousreply 269July 15, 2018 12:42 AM

R267 here.

That shot of the bus sliding across the ice and sinking. That will never leave me.

(Didn't realize the book was based on a ral bus accident.)

by Anonymousreply 270July 15, 2018 1:19 AM

The Plague Dogs

Apocalypse Now

Don't Look Now

by Anonymousreply 271July 15, 2018 6:00 AM

Theorem Opening Night

by Anonymousreply 272July 15, 2018 6:38 AM

And some parts of "Legally Blonde" : from conformism to another one. So depressing.

by Anonymousreply 273July 15, 2018 11:21 AM

Days of Heaven Sophie’s Choice In Bruges (which also made me laugh a lot)

by Anonymousreply 274July 15, 2018 11:30 AM

What the hell happened to my line breaks? ^^

Oh yes, “The Sweet Hereafter”! Excellent and devastating.

by Anonymousreply 275July 15, 2018 11:32 AM

R267 I saw that in the theater and sobbed nonstop.

by Anonymousreply 276July 15, 2018 11:37 AM

Bump

by Anonymousreply 277October 22, 2018 6:53 AM

R144 needs to read R268's response and stop being such a dope.

by Anonymousreply 278October 22, 2018 8:06 AM

Biutiful (Javier Bardem)

All Is Lost (Robert Redford)

Lions For Lambs (Andrew Garfield)

by Anonymousreply 279October 22, 2018 9:28 AM

Albert Nobbs

Philomena

by Anonymousreply 280October 22, 2018 9:52 AM

I simply cannot believe that no-one's mentioned Todd Solandz's 'Happiness" yet.

Seriously fucked up and depressing.

by Anonymousreply 281October 22, 2018 11:06 AM

I know you all hate Clooney, but "Up In The Air" was both well done and depressing as fuck

by Anonymousreply 282October 22, 2018 11:15 AM

I found Persuasion from the 90's depressing and heart wrenching, even though it has a happy ending. The experience to get there was really cathartic for me.

by Anonymousreply 283October 22, 2018 11:23 AM

I agree with Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark. They are films that shocked me in such a way, that I could never ever watch them again. No satisfaction in the depression though, only tension I carried in myself and my body.

by Anonymousreply 284October 22, 2018 11:25 AM

Berlin Alexanderplatz The Dekalog 5: Thou Shall Not Kill/A Short Film About Killing Dancer in the Dark Scorsese's Silence Brokeback Mountain The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Umberto D Bergman's Shame The Dead Costa Gavras' Missing

by Anonymousreply 285October 22, 2018 11:43 AM

R3 You can watch Come and See on YouTube right now.

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by Anonymousreply 286October 22, 2018 12:00 PM

Manchester By The Sea..

by Anonymousreply 287October 22, 2018 12:09 PM

R287 People can say what they want to about Casey Affleck, but he deserved an Oscar for that scene in the police station. Absolutely devastating.

by Anonymousreply 288October 22, 2018 12:13 PM

Tim burtons batman films. Actually any of his films after Betelgeuse and Pee Wee. Depressing because he tries so hard to such puny effect.

by Anonymousreply 289October 22, 2018 12:22 PM

I don’t think it’s been mentioned yet, but the revelation at the end of Jean de Florette and Manon de Sources is just excruciating. Can’t decide if it’s depressing or just sad (or both), but I can’t bring myself to rewatch even though I loved both films.

by Anonymousreply 290October 22, 2018 7:05 PM

OP, yes, this has to be on everyones most depressing list:

The House of Sand And Fog Precious.....

by Anonymousreply 291October 22, 2018 7:28 PM

[quote]Kids. I wanted to kill myself when I left the theater back in 1995.

That's how I felt about Frances. Saw it in a mall theater, and my memory is that I just leaned against the wall, dejected and despondent, after coming out (although I'm sure that's not the case; just how it felt).

Also agree with Manchester by the Sea

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Revolutionary Road

Winter's Bone

Brokeback Mountain. As well made as they were, I never wanted to see any of them again.

by Anonymousreply 292October 22, 2018 8:08 PM

Requiem for a Peen

by Anonymousreply 293October 22, 2018 8:24 PM

"Midnight Express." I saw it when I was a teenager, and it devastated me for weeks. He does finally escape from prison at the end, but God, what he went through while he was in there was a nightmare.

by Anonymousreply 294October 23, 2018 12:47 AM

Yes.. Midnight Express was shocking back then in the late 70s, when it came out. The treatment was horrible.

by Anonymousreply 295October 23, 2018 12:51 AM

Mysterious Skin made me want to slit my wrists.

The Hours was a wonderful film with a wonderful score but my God I felt like jumping off the George Washington Bridge after seeing it.

"Moonlight" made me want to throw myself in shark infested waters.

by Anonymousreply 296October 23, 2018 12:55 AM

Oh, my God, "The Hours." The ending was devastating!

by Anonymousreply 297October 23, 2018 12:57 AM

"Shame" with Michael Fassbender. That's a movie that makes you wanna take a bunch of sleeping pills and do yourself in.

by Anonymousreply 298October 23, 2018 12:58 AM

Night Mother.. with Sissy Spacek

by Anonymousreply 299October 23, 2018 1:00 AM

Atonement. I saw it in the theater when it came out, and I don't think anyone in the place even moved for about 5 minutes after the movie ended.

by Anonymousreply 300October 23, 2018 1:09 AM

Solodnz's "Happiness" has plenty of dark humor, at least. His "Welcome to the Dollhouse" made me never want to have children. It's beyond brutal.

by Anonymousreply 301October 23, 2018 1:53 AM

The Way We Fucking Were

by Anonymousreply 302October 23, 2018 2:44 AM

GONE WITH THE WIND

Bonnie dies

Melanie dies

Rhett leaves

Seen it 30 something times, still makes me sad.

by Anonymousreply 303October 23, 2018 4:56 AM

The Hours? The people who posted that obviously didn't understand it. Yes - it was a movie about depression. But the final message was life affirming. Meryl Streep's character chose life. She chose to be happy and to no longer bask in her codependency on her suicidal friend. When Nicole as Virginia Woolf walked into waters to drown, it was clear she was giving up because she fought as long as she cut and she wanted to release her husband from her torment. She caused herself to die so that he could live a better existence. It was a beautiful film. And ultimately, not depressing.

by Anonymousreply 304October 23, 2018 5:42 AM

I was absolutely devastated after seeing the documentary Grey Gardens. I think it belongs on the list.

by Anonymousreply 305October 23, 2018 5:44 AM

They Shoot Horses Don't They? Save the Tiger (starring Jack Lemmon) Dolores Claybourne

by Anonymousreply 306October 23, 2018 5:53 AM

sorry for the format screwup.

They Shoot Horses Don't They?

Save the Tiger (starring Jack Lemmon)

Dolores Claybourne

Sophie's Choice

A Place in the Sun

by Anonymousreply 307October 23, 2018 5:55 AM

I can't believe no one has mentioned "When the Wind Blows". Movies rarely depress me but that one sure did. The fact that it's an animated film made me feel even more uneasy.

by Anonymousreply 308October 23, 2018 6:08 AM

Atonement is one of the few emotionally stunning movies of the last years. The end is a dry fuck of devastation. So I made up the happiness they never had....I've never hated a character or Vanessa Redgrave more.

All the others have been covered but how we react is very different over time. Terms of Endearment will always make me cry though I don't want it to and Requiem for a Dream I can't indulge myself in such purposeless misery again. There's nothing to that movie except that drugs are bad and degrading. That's not even the truth.

I found Million Dollar Baby to be similarly depressing. There seemed no point to the movie but to make one terribly sad. Blue Valentine ditto.

Great depressing movies: A Streetcar Named Desire, Dark Victory, The End of The Affair, Shadowlands, Shoot The Moon, Sophie's Choice, The Days of Wine and Roses, Music Box, Rosemary's Baby, Breaking the Waves.

by Anonymousreply 309October 23, 2018 6:10 AM

The Showtime film version of The Baby Dance starring Stockard Channing and Laura Dern. Absolutely devastating!!!

by Anonymousreply 310October 23, 2018 6:13 AM

Yes, the Baby Dance. Saw it only once and I was not expecting that final scene/ending, and it's still heartbreaking.

by Anonymousreply 311October 23, 2018 6:20 AM

I got you all beat. Watch Michael Winterbottom's "Jude", based on the Hardy novel. But only attempt to watch it when you're having the best day of your freaking life. Because maybe afterwards you can be successfully talked down off the ledge when it's over. Good luck!

Runners up/Hon Mentions:

Might I suggest an excellent pre Hollywood Andrew Garfield double feature of "Never Let Me Go" and "Boy A". Both wonderful films that will totally destroy your faith in humanity! "Boy A" is of course based on the Jamie Bulger murder case which I will say no more about here.

"Irreversible" is a film that I watched once and once was enough. It's burned into my brain forever. Is it a good film? I don't know. But I will never forget the experience- really the trauma-of watching it.

"The Libertine" might be Johnny Depp's best performance to date. No one saw it when it came out but it's a f*cking tour de force of existential, syphilitic misery. The film feels oddly prophetic, given JD's current predicament. Will he also start selling his pee in jars and pretending they are healing tonics? Only time will tell.

"Capturing the Friedmans" is a doc but it's one of the best films I've ever seen. Period. A full on masterpiece. About pedophiles. So make sure you're in the mood for pedophiles.

"Filth" is not a great film by any stretch but I think McAvoy's performance as a cop who is losing his mind is really heartbreaking. Extra points for the use of the song "Creep" at the end ( recorded by Coco Sumner).

Also "The Ice Storm".

And"The Cure". Which is really maudlin and cheesy at times but showcases some beautiful performances and one of the best explorations of what it means to grieve a child. Annabella Sciorra is gorgeous.

And "Empire of the Sun." Baby Bale was just as talented at 13.

Ok, I need to stop now.

by Anonymousreply 312October 23, 2018 7:35 AM

Anyone a fan of The Rapture starring Mimi Rogers? (and a very naked David Duchovney)

by Anonymousreply 313October 23, 2018 8:20 AM

I own some dramatic movies on disc but I usually don't watch them.

I guess I just can't bring myself to watch a movie which I know is going to depress me.

"Ordinary People", "The Champ", "West Side Story", "Brokeback Mountain", "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore".

by Anonymousreply 314October 23, 2018 11:52 AM

A Heart In Winter

Lilya Forever

A Short Film About Love

by Anonymousreply 315October 23, 2018 11:59 AM

The Lost Weekend... Days Of Wine And Roses..

by Anonymousreply 316October 23, 2018 12:01 PM

[quote]GONE WITH THE WIND

Bonnie dies

Melanie dies

Rhett leaves

Seen it 30 something times, still makes me sad.

And it's all compressed for the sake of the movie, where it happens one right after the other; in the book it's much more spread out timewise.

by Anonymousreply 317October 23, 2018 2:51 PM

SAFE

by Anonymousreply 318March 3, 2019 10:05 PM

"What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" has not been mentioned. So, I'll mention it now.

by Anonymousreply 319March 3, 2019 10:21 PM

"Melancholia" pretty much lived up to its title.

by Anonymousreply 320March 3, 2019 10:22 PM

"Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," starring Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges.

by Anonymousreply 321March 3, 2019 10:24 PM

I'm sure someone has mentioned this movie already but I'll mention it again. Ordinary People

by Anonymousreply 322March 3, 2019 10:28 PM

Hilary and Jackie. Shoot the Moon. Terms of Endearment. If you really want to cry, Dear Zachary.

by Anonymousreply 323March 3, 2019 10:43 PM

Black Hawk Down - wasn't prepared for it to be so devastating. Left the theater a blubbering mess.

by Anonymousreply 324March 4, 2019 3:21 AM

Into the wild

The fault in our stars

by Anonymousreply 325March 4, 2019 5:43 AM

Jeanne Diehlmann

The Day of the Locust

Tokyo Story

Walkabout

The Rapture

Heavenly Creatures

by Anonymousreply 326March 4, 2019 6:16 AM

"Brief Encounter," 1945, with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson.

"Tess," with Nastassja Kinski and Peter Firth.

by Anonymousreply 327March 4, 2019 6:36 AM

The Lost Honor of Katerina Blum.

Indeterminate war, a country house turned hospital setting, a frustrated woman, her brother and his best friend.

by Anonymousreply 328March 4, 2019 6:53 AM

^ Sorry, wrong title. I always forget the name.

by Anonymousreply 329March 4, 2019 6:57 AM

^ "Coup de Grace"... avoid it if you can.

by Anonymousreply 330March 4, 2019 6:59 AM

When I first watched Young Torless many years ago I found it depressing. I recently watched it again and found it entertaining. The actor who plays the bullies' victim gives off a definitely masochistic vibe and his character is basically unsympathetic. When looking for an actor to play the bullied cadet, the director asked the actors he had already cast for a name and they were able to pinpoint Seidowsky as an obvious choice for the part of Basini. The Criterion DVD has an informative interview with the director.

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by Anonymousreply 331March 4, 2019 1:23 PM

Testament

by Anonymousreply 332March 4, 2019 1:40 PM

I find Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? a great comedy.

by Anonymousreply 333March 4, 2019 4:03 PM

"Atonement". Such a sad, sad ending. How frustrating that one person's mistake can have devastating unforeseen consequences on the lives of others.

Yes, you bitch, you prevented their happiness, and changing the outcome in a book doesn't make it better.

by Anonymousreply 334March 19, 2019 6:02 AM

Breaking the waves

by Anonymousreply 335March 19, 2019 6:10 AM

The Marriage of Maria Braun.

by Anonymousreply 336March 19, 2019 6:33 AM

A Star is Born sort of killed me. Even my very stoic partner was crying. He never cries. When the movie ended, no one moved.

by Anonymousreply 337March 19, 2019 7:00 AM

Christiane F. is the most depressing film I’ve ever seen. I can’t watch it again. I’d also add Requiem for a dream and Shame. Those movies didn’t made me cry or moved me, they just left me feeling hopeless, empty.

by Anonymousreply 338March 19, 2019 7:45 AM
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