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 Anonymous | reply 338 | March 19, 2019 7:45 AM
|
Great list OP, but I have to add Requiem For A Dream and swap out Annie Hall.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | June 14, 2018 8:08 AM
|
COME AND SEE (1985) is supposed to be depressing as fuck.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 4 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 7 | June 14, 2018 8:13 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 Anonymous | reply 9 | June 14, 2018 8:14 AM
|
Manchester by the Sea deserves a place, surely.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 11 | June 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
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 12 | June 14, 2018 8:26 AM
|
Probably any film by Michael Haneke, but I'll go with Amour.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | June 14, 2018 8:26 AM
|
Top 10 Most Disturbing Movies
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 14 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 15 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 16 | June 14, 2018 8:33 AM
|
They Shoot Horses Don't They, extremely depressing film about the great depression no less.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | June 14, 2018 8:35 AM
|
I'd replace Annie Hall with The Collector (1965).
by Anonymous | reply 18 | June 14, 2018 8:36 AM
|
In The Bedroom, Gone Baby Gone
by Anonymous | reply 19 | June 14, 2018 8:38 AM
|
I agree with Come and See. Devastating.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 21 | June 14, 2018 8:52 AM
|
The movie of R12's life must be desperately depressing.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | June 14, 2018 8:53 AM
|
Fucking R12 just gave me life. Cackling head off. Love affair hard with my SO Datalounge.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | June 14, 2018 9:22 AM
|
Testament -- and I was already having Reagan era nuke dreams.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | June 14, 2018 9:22 AM
|
Read R12 in Karen Walker voice and disposition!
by Anonymous | reply 26 | June 14, 2018 9:24 AM
|
I agree^ about Brazil. Definitely not a comedy to me.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | June 14, 2018 9:36 AM
|
I’d swap Annie Hall for Looking For Mr Goodbar.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | June 14, 2018 9:38 AM
|
1978’s Body Snatchers was very depressing.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 31 | June 14, 2018 9:45 AM
|
The original Stepford Wives.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | June 14, 2018 9:59 AM
|
Agree with The Hours. I'd also add Atonement.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | June 14, 2018 10:05 AM
|
Come Back Little Sheba - bad life choices, lost youth, substance abuse, and a lost dog.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 37 | June 14, 2018 10:22 AM
|
The Piano. Angela's Ashes. Revolutionary Road. Million Dollar Baby. Precious. Leaving Las Vegas. This Is My Father.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 41 | June 14, 2018 11:24 AM
|
Ordinary People! Sad, beautiful, hopeful.
Dancer in the Dark
Carrie
by Anonymous | reply 43 | June 14, 2018 11:39 AM
|
Sophie’s Choice - we can’t leave that one off the list.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 45 | June 14, 2018 1:34 PM
|
Bambi: Baby deer's mother dies, forced to face life in the company of a crackhead rabbit.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | June 14, 2018 1:39 PM
|
Applause with Helen Morgan.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | June 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
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 49 | June 14, 2018 1:48 PM
|
How can dancing babies be depressing?!
by Anonymous | reply 52 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 53 | June 14, 2018 1:59 PM
|
No mention of Ingmar Bergman yet?
Try CRIES AND WHISPERS on for size.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | June 14, 2018 2:17 PM
|
Watership down it’s just horrific.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | June 14, 2018 2:57 PM
|
Never let me go.Even thinking about it makes me wanna cry!
by Anonymous | reply 56 | June 14, 2018 2:58 PM
|
August Osage County is depressing only because of how it was miscast and misdirected.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | June 14, 2018 3:02 PM
|
Threads, Schindler's List, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Precious, Titantic, Carrie
by Anonymous | reply 59 | June 14, 2018 3:04 PM
|
The panic in needle park the heart is a lonely hunter a patch of blue.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | June 14, 2018 3:52 PM
|
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
The Mist (really just the WTF ending)
by Anonymous | reply 61 | June 14, 2018 3:57 PM
|
In the company of men. I wish I never saw it.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | June 14, 2018 4:09 PM
|
"Breaking The Waves" from me.
by Anonymous | reply 64 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 65 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 66 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 67 | June 14, 2018 4:30 PM
|
Any Val Kilmer movie. His leaving his pants on would depress Pollyanna.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 69 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 70 | June 14, 2018 4:43 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 Anonymous | reply 72 | June 14, 2018 4:58 PM
|
The Titicut Follies. Really, really disturbing.
by Anonymous | reply 75 | June 14, 2018 5:16 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 Anonymous | reply 77 | June 14, 2018 6:32 PM
|
R77 How are two almost three suicides and a mother burying he child not depressing? A very odd take on the film.
by Anonymous | reply 79 | June 14, 2018 6:50 PM
|
"Leaving Las Vegas" was depressingly bad movie making. Nothing in it rang true.
by Anonymous | reply 81 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 82 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 83 | June 14, 2018 7:13 PM
|
Lilja 4-Ever. Amazing film.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 84 | June 14, 2018 7:15 PM
|
Requiem. Devastatingly sad.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 85 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 86 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 87 | June 14, 2018 7:21 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 Anonymous | reply 89 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 90 | June 14, 2018 7:30 PM
|
Blue Jasmine, for sure. Where the hell was she going to go next?
by Anonymous | reply 91 | June 14, 2018 7:33 PM
|
Heaven forbid OP watch a classic of world cinema.
by Anonymous | reply 92 | June 14, 2018 7:42 PM
|
[quote]"Breaking The Waves" for me.
me too....poor Bess
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 94 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 95 | June 14, 2018 7:51 PM
|
Au hasard Balthazar! I loved that donkey.
by Anonymous | reply 96 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 97 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 98 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 99 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 100 | June 14, 2018 8:25 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 Anonymous | reply 102 | June 14, 2018 8:31 PM
|
Memento, Inception, Shutter Island,
by Anonymous | reply 103 | June 14, 2018 8:34 PM
|
r86, the favorable reviews.
by Anonymous | reply 104 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 105 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 106 | June 14, 2018 9:38 PM
|
A couple more: Pans Labyrinth and the The Third Man.
by Anonymous | reply 107 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 108 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 109 | June 14, 2018 9:45 PM
|
'Night, Mother. Two hours of Anne Bancroft trying to talk Sissy Spacek out of suicide. She fails.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 110 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 111 | June 14, 2018 10:00 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 Anonymous | reply 113 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 114 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 115 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 116 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 117 | June 14, 2018 10:48 PM
|
The Road is a little on the bleak side
by Anonymous | reply 118 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 119 | June 14, 2018 11:13 PM
|
Anything by the Smiths. Also Jackson Brown.
by Anonymous | reply 120 | June 14, 2018 11:26 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 Anonymous | reply 122 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 123 | June 14, 2018 11:33 PM
|
Oh, and Girl, Interrupted.
by Anonymous | reply 124 | June 14, 2018 11:34 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 Anonymous | reply 126 | June 14, 2018 11:40 PM
|
Kim Kardashian's sex tape
by Anonymous | reply 127 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 128 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 129 | June 14, 2018 11:54 PM
|
The Wrestler - Mickey Rourke
by Anonymous | reply 131 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 132 | June 15, 2018 12:25 AM
|
I also choose Melancholia, depressing from beginning to end. It also scared the shit out of me.
by Anonymous | reply 134 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 135 | June 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.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 136 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 137 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 138 | June 15, 2018 1:01 AM
|
Natural Enemies. Enemies: A Love Story.
by Anonymous | reply 140 | June 15, 2018 1:10 AM
|
Love Story... sappy, but very sad ending.
by Anonymous | reply 141 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 142 | June 15, 2018 1:31 AM
|
You'd have to have a heart of stone not to laugh at the end of Love Story.
by Anonymous | reply 143 | June 15, 2018 1:33 AM
|
Not only does 'night, Mother look bleak and depressing, it also looks like the ultimate frau fest bad movie.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 144 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 145 | June 15, 2018 1:39 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 Anonymous | reply 147 | June 15, 2018 1:54 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 Anonymous | reply 150 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 151 | June 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.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 152 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 153 | June 15, 2018 2:10 AM
|
Mala Noche by Gus van Sant
by Anonymous | reply 154 | June 15, 2018 2:15 AM
|
The Heiress.. with Olivia deHavilland
by Anonymous | reply 155 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 156 | June 15, 2018 2:26 AM
|
r159 There Will Be Blood was very depressing because it was so horribly boring.
by Anonymous | reply 161 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 162 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 163 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 164 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 165 | June 15, 2018 3:01 AM
|
Probably already mentioned, but Midnight Cowboy.
by Anonymous | reply 166 | June 15, 2018 3:02 AM
|
By The Sea, which looked like it hit close to home for the two stars.
by Anonymous | reply 167 | June 15, 2018 3:03 AM
|
Bambi Meets Godzilla always flattens me.
by Anonymous | reply 169 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 170 | June 15, 2018 3:09 AM
|
I can't even listen to songs from The Sound of Music thanks to Dancer in the Dark.
by Anonymous | reply 171 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 172 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 173 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 174 | June 15, 2018 3:25 AM
|
I've seen it. Now that you mention that it reminded me how upsetting the Haneke film Funny Games is.
by Anonymous | reply 176 | June 15, 2018 3:28 AM
|
Broken Blossoms (1919)
Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959)
Yukiguni (1957)
by Anonymous | reply 178 | June 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.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 179 | June 15, 2018 3:33 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 Anonymous | reply 181 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 182 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 183 | June 15, 2018 4:12 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 Anonymous | reply 185 | June 15, 2018 4:55 AM
|
I didn't think Ordinary People was especially depressing. I loved watching Mary Tyler Moore's character. Beth.
by Anonymous | reply 186 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 187 | June 15, 2018 5:06 AM
|
Blast of Silence
Make Way for Tomorrow
Nashville
The Merchant of Four Seasons
by Anonymous | reply 188 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 189 | June 15, 2018 5:17 AM
|
Olive Kitteridge...HBO mini series. Mildred Pierce, the original movie and HBO remake.
by Anonymous | reply 193 | June 15, 2018 5:22 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 Anonymous | reply 195 | June 15, 2018 6:06 AM
|
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, Days Of Wine And Roses, The Subject Was Roses..
by Anonymous | reply 196 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 197 | June 15, 2018 6:13 AM
|
Diary Of Anne Frank. I just saw this recently on TCM... terribly sad.
by Anonymous | reply 198 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 199 | June 15, 2018 6:19 AM
|
I also eat shit, not just type it.
by Anonymous | reply 200 | June 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.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 201 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 202 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 203 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 204 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 205 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 206 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 207 | June 15, 2018 9:36 AM
|
"The Children's Hour" (1961)
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 209 | June 15, 2018 10:25 AM
|
Yeah... The Children's Hour. Good one.
by Anonymous | reply 210 | June 15, 2018 1:02 PM
|
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles owns this thread
by Anonymous | reply 211 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 212 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 213 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 214 | June 15, 2018 3:41 PM
|
Which is why I loathe Slumdog Millionaire and it's cloying, sellout happy ending.
by Anonymous | reply 215 | June 15, 2018 3:47 PM
|
Ironweed
The House of Mirth (there was no mirth to be found)
Another vote for Blue Jasmine
by Anonymous | reply 216 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 217 | June 15, 2018 5:04 PM
|
"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"
Pretty bleak.
by Anonymous | reply 218 | June 15, 2018 5:19 PM
|
Of Mice & Men, Ghost, Indian in the cupboard, Basketball Diaries
by Anonymous | reply 219 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 220 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 221 | June 15, 2018 8:46 PM
|
They shoot Horses don't they.....also Watership Down which encapsulates English melancholy in the former of rabbits
by Anonymous | reply 222 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 223 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 224 | June 15, 2018 8:55 PM
|
Aren’t scary movie inherently depressing?
by Anonymous | reply 227 | June 16, 2018 5:45 AM
|
R227 No. They can be galvanizing or just scary or creepy.
by Anonymous | reply 228 | June 16, 2018 5:50 AM
|
I think "Carrie" (1952) is pretty bleak. It also has Olivier's best film performance.
by Anonymous | reply 229 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 230 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 231 | June 16, 2018 3:48 PM
|
{202}- What! No Fassbinder? Could anything be bleaker than "Veronica Voss."
by Anonymous | reply 232 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 233 | June 20, 2018 12:34 PM
|
Joy Luck Club. I cried in the theater. In public!
by Anonymous | reply 234 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 235 | June 20, 2018 12:41 PM
|
I purposely watched “Schindler’s List” alone, and wept throughout...
by Anonymous | reply 236 | June 20, 2018 1:18 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 Anonymous | reply 238 | June 20, 2018 1:47 PM
|
R237, to what are you referring?
by Anonymous | reply 239 | June 20, 2018 3:30 PM
|
R232, how about "Fox and His Friends "?
by Anonymous | reply 240 | June 21, 2018 4:08 AM
|
R239 The movie "Shame," with Michael Fassbender.
by Anonymous | reply 241 | June 21, 2018 10:08 AM
|
Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne and Schindler's List.
by Anonymous | reply 242 | June 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 Anonymous | reply 243 | June 21, 2018 11:58 AM
|
Okay, I see Testament was quoted several times.
by Anonymous | reply 244 | June 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.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 245 | June 21, 2018 1:45 PM
|
children of men, a downer,only watched once.
by Anonymous | reply 246 | June 21, 2018 2:54 PM
|
Did anyone mention, "I Want To Live"?
by Anonymous | reply 247 | July 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 Anonymous | reply 248 | July 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 Anonymous | reply 249 | July 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 Anonymous | reply 250 | July 12, 2018 8:49 PM
|
Shocked no one mentioned "Lilya 4-Ever" or "Audition."
by Anonymous | reply 251 | July 12, 2018 8:50 PM
|
^ a friend told me about "Lilya 4Ever": i never had the guts to watch it.
by Anonymous | reply 252 | July 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 Anonymous | reply 253 | July 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 Anonymous | reply 254 | July 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 Anonymous | reply 255 | July 12, 2018 9:03 PM
|
Other devastating Russian films:
Leviathan (2014)
Burnt by the Sun (1994)
by Anonymous | reply 256 | July 12, 2018 9:15 PM
|
Eraserhead made me want to kill myself.
by Anonymous | reply 261 | July 12, 2018 9:41 PM
|
Yes R39 Melancholia. It doesn't get more hopeless than that.
by Anonymous | reply 263 | July 12, 2018 10:00 PM
|
Prince of Tides, Beaches, Brokeback Mountain, Schindler’s List
by Anonymous | reply 265 | July 12, 2018 10:08 PM
|
I'm watching "The Sweet Hereafter" for the first time. I'm screwed, aren't I?
by Anonymous | reply 267 | July 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 Anonymous | reply 268 | July 15, 2018 12:29 AM
|
Men Don't Leave. Bleak Baltimore with a whole grieving, depressed family.
by Anonymous | reply 269 | July 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 Anonymous | reply 270 | July 15, 2018 1:19 AM
|
And some parts of "Legally Blonde" : from conformism to another one. So depressing.
by Anonymous | reply 273 | July 15, 2018 11:21 AM
|
Days of Heaven Sophie’s Choice In Bruges (which also made me laugh a lot)
by Anonymous | reply 274 | July 15, 2018 11:30 AM
|
What the hell happened to my line breaks? ^^
Oh yes, “The Sweet Hereafter”! Excellent and devastating.
by Anonymous | reply 275 | July 15, 2018 11:32 AM
|
R267 I saw that in the theater and sobbed nonstop.
by Anonymous | reply 276 | July 15, 2018 11:37 AM
|
R144 needs to read R268's response and stop being such a dope.
by Anonymous | reply 278 | October 22, 2018 8:06 AM
|
Biutiful (Javier Bardem)
All Is Lost (Robert Redford)
Lions For Lambs (Andrew Garfield)
by Anonymous | reply 279 | October 22, 2018 9:28 AM
|
I simply cannot believe that no-one's mentioned Todd Solandz's 'Happiness" yet.
Seriously fucked up and depressing.
by Anonymous | reply 281 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 282 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 283 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 284 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 285 | October 22, 2018 11:43 AM
|
R3 You can watch Come and See on YouTube right now.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 286 | October 22, 2018 12:00 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 Anonymous | reply 288 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 289 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 290 | October 22, 2018 7:05 PM
|
OP, yes, this has to be on everyones most depressing list:
The House of Sand And Fog Precious.....
by Anonymous | reply 291 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 292 | October 22, 2018 8:08 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 Anonymous | reply 294 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 295 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 296 | October 23, 2018 12:55 AM
|
Oh, my God, "The Hours." The ending was devastating!
by Anonymous | reply 297 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 298 | October 23, 2018 12:58 AM
|
Night Mother.. with Sissy Spacek
by Anonymous | reply 299 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 300 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 301 | October 23, 2018 1:53 AM
|
GONE WITH THE WIND
Bonnie dies
Melanie dies
Rhett leaves
Seen it 30 something times, still makes me sad.
by Anonymous | reply 303 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 304 | October 23, 2018 5:42 AM
|
I was absolutely devastated after seeing the documentary Grey Gardens. I think it belongs on the list.
by Anonymous | reply 305 | October 23, 2018 5:44 AM
|
They Shoot Horses Don't They? Save the Tiger (starring Jack Lemmon) Dolores Claybourne
by Anonymous | reply 306 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 307 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 308 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 309 | October 23, 2018 6:10 AM
|
The Showtime film version of The Baby Dance starring Stockard Channing and Laura Dern. Absolutely devastating!!!
by Anonymous | reply 310 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 311 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 312 | October 23, 2018 7:35 AM
|
Anyone a fan of The Rapture starring Mimi Rogers? (and a very naked David Duchovney)
by Anonymous | reply 313 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 314 | October 23, 2018 11:52 AM
|
The Lost Weekend... Days Of Wine And Roses..
by Anonymous | reply 316 | October 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 Anonymous | reply 317 | October 23, 2018 2:51 PM
|
"What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" has not been mentioned. So, I'll mention it now.
by Anonymous | reply 319 | March 3, 2019 10:21 PM
|
"Melancholia" pretty much lived up to its title.
by Anonymous | reply 320 | March 3, 2019 10:22 PM
|
"Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," starring Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges.
by Anonymous | reply 321 | March 3, 2019 10:24 PM
|
I'm sure someone has mentioned this movie already but I'll mention it again. Ordinary People
by Anonymous | reply 322 | March 3, 2019 10:28 PM
|
Hilary and Jackie. Shoot the Moon. Terms of Endearment. If you really want to cry, Dear Zachary.
by Anonymous | reply 323 | March 3, 2019 10:43 PM
|
Black Hawk Down - wasn't prepared for it to be so devastating. Left the theater a blubbering mess.
by Anonymous | reply 324 | March 4, 2019 3:21 AM
|
"Brief Encounter," 1945, with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson.
"Tess," with Nastassja Kinski and Peter Firth.
by Anonymous | reply 327 | March 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 Anonymous | reply 328 | March 4, 2019 6:53 AM
|
^ Sorry, wrong title. I always forget the name.
by Anonymous | reply 329 | March 4, 2019 6:57 AM
|
^ "Coup de Grace"... avoid it if you can.
by Anonymous | reply 330 | March 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.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 331 | March 4, 2019 1:23 PM
|
I find Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? a great comedy.
by Anonymous | reply 333 | March 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 Anonymous | reply 334 | March 19, 2019 6:02 AM
|
The Marriage of Maria Braun.
by Anonymous | reply 336 | March 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 Anonymous | reply 337 | March 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 Anonymous | reply 338 | March 19, 2019 7:45 AM
|