The saddest movie for me is probably "Grave of the Fireflies". Even after 4 years I sometimes think about that boy and his little sister living in that cave and it brings me on the verge of tears. Despite being animated, the characters and situations they went through felt so real like I was experiencing it myself. So much so that I would never want to watch it again.
I remember watching this movie. It's a great movie, but like you said, it's really sad (especially the ending). Two others that come to mind are The Green Mile and The Pianist.
The saddest thing about that movie is how much praise it gets, despite being dishonest, manipulative, and generally awful. (Wrote that review over five years ago; I would probably be less kind today) Focus- The ending of Kanal, the storming of the castle and ending of Ran, and the majority of and especially the ending to Seven Beauties. A lot of masterpiece films are unbelievably sad in one way or another.
I'd agree with The Green Mile though I haven't seen the others mentioned. The scene in The Shawshank Redemption when the old man (I forgot his name) is released but hangs himself. When I was a kid, I used to get pretty upset at the end of the American Godzilla movie...I really wanted that lizard to live. The Star Trek movie that was released before the latest one though not because of the storyline...More because I watched my favourite franchise get murdered.
My memory of TGM is fading...I need to watch it again. The Pianist oddly didn't make me as sad as I wanted. Still a great movie. The movie certainly manipulated me into appreciating the things I have in life. I didn't see any conniving motive behind the movie, maybe there was but I was too engrossed in the characters to notice. Anyway, to each his own. I think I'll take a look at some of those movies you mentioned. Aw it wasn't that bad I suppose if I watched the original Star Trek religiously I'd be as saddened as other fans, but I mostly just watched Voyager.
The 1969 movie, 'Kes', directed by Ken Loach. I originally watched it as a child. My primary school teacher teacher arranged for the class to see it as a reward for passing an exam. I've revisited it every decade of my life since and it has lost none of the initial impact. I've watched films that deal with the theme of transcending limitations and find many of them patronising, or excessively schmaltzy, but I think the idea is beautifully realised in 'Kes'. It makes me feel sad on a multiplicity of levels.
The Champ - I cannot watch that film without a box of hankies no matter who's in the room. The Notebook - bawled my eyes out silently in the movie theatre, then the lights came on and I could no longer hide my tears and burst out crying I know - I'm a pussy
I randomly started crying at the end of the also very random Synecdoche, New York, the first time I watched it. It's hardly the saddest film I've ever seen, but it was the first and only movie that ever made me cry in my entire life. I guess I just saw it at the "right" moment. I watched it a second time as a test, and I was almost indifferent to it.
I can't even watch The Grave of the Fireflies because reading the summary just makes me sad. Bridge to Terabithia made me bawl like a baby, despite knowing what was going to happen. I cried many times throughout the ending... That's all, no movies have really made me cry that much as the movie above did.
Yes. Grave of the Fireflies. Sad, in every way possible. Sad for the characters. Sad because that awful thing happened in the first place. BTW, I know adults who have never got over the death of Bambi's mother...
Stop-Loss, a movie about a U.S. soldier who had seen a lot of action in Afghanistan and Iraq, was a sad movie. This soldier was ordered to go back to Iraq once again because the U.S. military was short-handed when it came to soldiers.
[MENTION=53357]rhduke[/MENTION] - totally agree with you, I'm never ever EVER watching Grave of the Fireflies again, and I'm still so glad my parents never showed it to us as children. I remember the way I just gaped at the blank screen when the film finished, unable to move even a muscle because I was so disturbed. One thing I learnt from the film: in war, there're never any winners. [MENTION=35110]jazzabel[/MENTION] - but Dumbo had a happy ending! For myself, Grave of the Fireflies, and this other film, also Japanese. It's about Tao Tao the panda. You think Bambi was bad when the mother got shot - in Tao Tao, his mother not only gets shot but you see the blood on her tummy blossom. Then Tao Tao is kidnapped and taken to a zoo, where he longs for home. When finally he escapes the zoo, he runs and runs, and all he sees are the trees and the forest grounds of his homeland, with his friends waving at him, calling for him, and he's finally going home. He runs out from between the buildings, and is met by a vast, empty ocean. And he thinks to himself, "Ah. I'd forgotten that there was the ocean. I'll never get home." So he finds himself back at the zoo. It's now been many years and he is old, and so is his caretaker. It's winter and he looks up, and once again he sees his forests and his friends calling him. He leaps, and dives through the cage bars and begins to run. This time it's real, it's so real that he runs right into his mother's bosom and cries, "Mama!" The scene cuts, Tao Tao sits, facing the bars of his cage in the snow. His caretaker comes in and tells him to get inside, because it's cold. She goes up to him and tries to move him, when he falls over, a frozen smile upon Tao Tao's face, and a single tear rolls down his face. Voice over goes: "I'm finally home." AND THIS WAS FOR KIDS!!!! @_@
[MENTION=23298]Mckk[/MENTION]: I know, I saw it a million times. Still, just thinking about Dumbo alone, crying for his mum, and then his mum getting manhandled and restrained when she tried to get to Dumbo, here I go again. Seriously. ps. That movie sounds beautiful, but not for children I never go to zoos for this reason. I can't stand the sadness in those animals eyes. If it was up to me, people should be allowed to keep wild animals only in appropriate habitats, and even that with conservation of species in mind, not as freaks to be stared at by hordes of visitors, while grown wolves pace in their tiny cages, awful. It's incredible anyone ever thought animals living in cages was normal. [MENTION=53222]jannert[/MENTION]: I'm one of those. I never actually saw the entire Bambi, I was crying so much when his mum died and that was enough of that for me.
That movie caught me off guard completely. I was expecting a lovey dovey, kinda sad kid's movie until I became overwhelmed by raw sadness which is really rare to experience. The acting from those kids was pretty good. I saw "My Girl" a loooong time ago, but I can remember feeling pretty sad. Maybe it was because I was young or something. Anyone else remember that movie?
[MENTION=35110]jazzabel[/MENTION] - yeah, I'd always found that scene in Dumbo upsetting too, actually The other awful scene is when Dumbo finally finds his mother locked up in a cart with shackles upon her ankles. Then Dumbo reaches up with his trunk and Mama recognises him and nearly leaps forward with joy - the chains clang - and she finds she cannot reach her son. Then she reaches her trunk over and slips between the bars and cradles him in the only way she could... oh GOSH [MENTION=53357]rhduke[/MENTION] - I remember "My Girl" - I don't think I'd ever seen the whole movie. I don't even remember what it's about. I remember only 2 scenes - that close-up shot of the beehive as the bees came out, and the way the boy fell and lost his glasses. Then the next scene, the girl, his best friend, refusing to go to the funeral I think. And suddenly she remembers his glasses and runs and yells at the adults, "Where are his glasses!?" because she knew how he couldn't see without them. This is how I remember it anyway. It really struck me Ah and there's another one - Lion King. I don't consider it a sad movie, but seriously, I cried when Mufassa died Oh another disturbing Japanese one - about a white lion (Disney's Lion King was a slight rip-off they say of this Japanese original). I read one of the manga volumes. At the end, the white lion and his human friend were caught in the mountains in a blizzard, and the white lion, who has gone blind, says, "You can survive this, my friend." Friends asks, "How?" "All you need is food, and warmth." "And where will I get that?" "You must kill me, use my fur, and eat my meat, my friend." "I cannot do that!" "I will force you to. Take up your knife." The lion leaps at him with teeth and claws bared. The friend reacts instinctively. "What have I done?" the friend wails. "It's ok, my friend. It is what I wanted you to do. Now quickly, eat my meat, and take my fur." And the scene goes blank with snow. Next scene, the man is wrapped in white fur, drifting on a raft. He awakes in the sun and realises he's alive. Then he looks down on the white fur and weeps, "My friend..." Again, this was meant for kids... Seriously what're the Japanese thinking!?
"Grave of the Fireflies" is far from flawless, but still, it's one of my favourite movies (and I actually hate Anime except for this and "Barefoot Gen"). I just read your review and decided to comment on it a bit. Of course his aunt is right, which makes her remarks even more painful. Keep in mind that Seita is a pretty spoiled kid and the movie does not try to hide this fact, neither did the novel it is based on. Being the son of a Navy officer he is of high social status after all. They should be mature adults. They should be capable of working for a living. The thing is, some just aren't and Seita obviously isn't. I think Seita's immaturity is just as much a part of the movie as e.g. the fireflies or the air raids. Your grandparents were brought up in a much harsher environment. I think it's pretty much impossible to become a spoiled kid like Seita when growing up in a bolshevik dystopia, unless of course your parents belonged to the ruling elite. Despite common factors like war rationing the differences between daily life in country A and country B could still be immense. The fact that Seita is at least partly responsible for his sister's death is one of the things that make this movie so incredibly sad. Again, Seita's irresponsibility is simply a part of the story. It should be noted here that Nosaka wrote the original novel as an apology to his sister since he felt guilty about her death. It might be a cultural thing, perhaps the Japanese have a different relationship with death than Westerners. Or maybe it's just that different people react differently in certain situations. Or did I miss something and there's a rule on how to react when someone close to you dies? Apart from that, the aunt is not the mother's sister but a distant paternal relative as far as I remember. The aunt is obviously under stress and caring for a child is not always easy. Why does there need to be a message? It's simply a movie based on a semi-autobiographical novel. I don't get that point at all. My grandfather took part in the Warsaw Uprising as a 15 year old and went through all kinds of shit as well, but that doesn't keep me from enjoying the movie and sympathizing with the plight of Seita and Setsuko. Certainly, objectively some people may seem better off than others, but subjectively war is hell for everyone, be they Russian workers, Polish insurgents or the children of a Japanese Navy officer.
[MENTION=51739]Oswiecenie[/MENTION]: Anyone who had to live through the war, or grew up with close, personal stories of war, will know how to appreciate "Grave of the Fireflies". My grandma always used to tell me, when she came back to her village with the partisans and found her mother dead, she didn't cry about it until after the war. People just have no idea how horrific war is, and what kind of monumental suffering it causes to the innocents. Unfortunately, these days, Hollywood glorifies war, which is disgusting.
[MENTION=23298]Mckk[/MENTION] It seems normal for Japanese children to be introduced to more mature subject matter at an early age. So like what we would find unacceptable for a 12 year old in North America would be perfectly fine for an 8 year old there. Death and the supernatural I find are common themes among their child shows/movies... Also romance, including same sex interest like in Cardcaptor Sakura.
[MENTION=53357]rhduke[/MENTION] - there's same sex interest in Cardcaptors? I've only seen a few episodes and seen the manga in passing. Yeah I agree with you totally re the adult content. I watched Sailor Moon as an 8-year-old and in the penultimate episode, 4 out of 5 main characters die, with detailed views on exactly how they die, even the way their body lay, the way Sailor Moon wailed over their deaths and the brutality of it all as they must continue and leave the bodies behind without even burying them. I watch it now as an adult and it still moves me, and Sailor Moon is by no means an anime with particularly unusual content or geared at any special audience. It was an ordinary, simple anime meant only for kids. Tonnes of same sex relationships and transgender stuff there too. And then I saw Sailor Moon airing on Fox Kids many years later and loathed the Americans for cutting out everything that made the episode of the Sailor Soliders' deaths beautiful!!! The characters just died and Sailor Moon just ran away crying, without any of the bodies, without the last words, without the flashbacks - everything that made the deaths poignant, they cut - ARGH! Oh and the Americans changed the sex of one of the characters so the gay relationship was transformed into a straight one, and turned two other characters into cousins when they were in fact lesbian lovers.
Wrong. Having an idea of civilian life during war is precisely why I disliked the manipulative bullshit of "Grave of the Fireflies". Especially considering the director based the movie on his own life during the war, with two very important differences. He lived, and his sister died from starvation because he was stealing her food. But you do? Now, on to the more serious response; I partially disagree with you, since Seita is strongly portrayed as a victim and not the spoiled brat that you agree he is. However, even if I agree, Seita's behavior necessarily detracts from the sympathy I feel for him. The USSR in the 30s and 40s was a "much harsher environment" than Japan during that same time? I wouldn't know firsthand. The stories from my grandparents are certainly far more extreme than anything I had to deal with, but I doubt life was particularly easy and idyllic in Japan, either. This is a bit besides the point, though; Seita's behavior is still ridiculous given the age, era, and societal standards. You're missing the whole point of my quote. (Although admittedly, I would write it more clearly now than I did five years ago) "Grave of the Fireflies" relies on its emotional impact. Without that, it's a fairly dull and drab story. However, I didn't feel sadness upon watching "Grave of the Fireflies" for all the reasons mentioned above. (Seita's problems being the product of his own selfishness and idiocy, unnatural and theatrical reactions to realistic events, the historical context of tens of millions of other people just as badly/worse) Ergo, I'm left with a boring, emotionally manipulative movie with amazing animation for its time.
[MENTION=23298]Mckk[/MENTION] Yeah in the unedited version of Cardcaptors (Cardcaptor Sakura), Tori and Julian (Touya and Yukito) have feelings for eachother. All of the scenes implying so are either cut or translated differently in the Canadian version. I never actually watched the Japanese episodes, mostly because I loved the voices in the English dub and it has awesome intro music, but I did watch the last few episodes from the original and it's quite clear Tori and Julian have a thing. Also in Cardcaptors, Li is seen to be afraid of Julian everytime they meet. I kind of thought he sensed he was a guardian or something when in fact, Li has a crush on him. Ohh Zoicite was a man? Why did I still get the impression he was a woman in the subbed version?? lol It makes you wonder if Japanese kids grow up more tolerant than the ones over here.
Yes, war movies made in Hollywood are usually awful, more often than not blending sensationalism with one-sidedness and atrocious storytelling. Though I have to say Clint Eastwood did a good job with "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima". Seita is as much a victim as everyone else, his flaws have nothing to do with that. He could be the most perfect brother ever and the bombers would still wreak havoc, food would still be scarce etc. As I already explained, Seita's inability to live up to these standards is a part of the tragedy. I'm afraid we're going in circles here.
I loved that scene from TNES because of the empathy I felt. It's like a shitstorm and here's this unmovable, tender giant in the middle of it, but he's still not strong enough to save his animal friends. Imagine if that movie never had a happy ending.. -_-. That would have been like the most tragic child movie in history.
