What were the most tragic movies you actually liked?

[duane]

Dark Victory
Sunset Boulevard
Caged
A Place In The Sun
Diabolique
Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer
At Close Range
Sister My Sister
Talented Mr Ripley
Mystic River

[BittyBug]

El Norte, the story of a brother and sister who flee war-torn Guatemala and make their way to the U.S., with a backdrop of one side of life as an illegal immigrant in the U.S.

I might also add Das Boot, but I found it a very difficult movie to watch.

[PrincessLeppard]

Vash01, I watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas on cable last week. I did not know what to expect, I had never heard of it before. It was devastating on so many levels.

It is a devastating movie, but the end in the novel actually is even more powerful.

::::SPOILER ALERT:::::

In the book, as they go into the gas chamber, Bruno takes Shmuel's hand and says, "You are the best friend I've ever had."

The parents never really find out what happened to him, though they suspect once they find the clothes. I prefer this ending because it isn't fair, imo, that the Nazi family in the film gets to know what happens to Bruno. The book ending parallels most Jewish family's experiences--they suspect what happened, but never really know. The way the movie ends, it makes Bruno's death more tragic than Shmuel's and that isn't right.

Which still doesn't mean I'm not a wreck every time I show this movie in class.

[taf2002]

Even though I cried like a baby at Brian's Song, I wouldn't put a movie where only one person died in this category. And there shouldn't even be a mention of Titanic...one of the most galastically stupid movies I've ever seen. IMO nearly everyone in the movie had a more tragic story than Rose & Jack....theirs was merely laughable.

OTOH A Night to Remember haunted me for years. But my #1 choice is Shindler's List. And the last made for TV movie of The Diary of Anne Frank was the most well done & the most heart-wrenching that I've seen.

Roots wasn't just tragic....it was a long overdue education. But for mini-series, the one that fits this thread the best IMO is Holocaust.

I learned that I don't do well with tragic movies, esp the older I get. That's why I refuse to see Hotel Rwanda and many others in this thread.

[Grannyfan]

Some not already mentioned:

Back Street
My Girl
House of Sand and Fog

[Cachoo]

Oh boy I hate to admit this choice: The sad event that happened in this movie happened so suddenly that I was not prepared and cried. It was not on par with the movies we are talking about here but when you see the title you will understand why I watched it:

"Champions: A Love Story"

[cruisin]

In the book, as they go into the gas chamber, Bruno takes Shmuel's hand and says, "You are the best friend I've ever had."

Even though it goes unsaid in the film, I understood that.

The parents never really find out what happened to him, though they suspect once they find the clothes. I prefer this ending because it isn't fair, imo, that the Nazi family in the film gets to know what happens to Bruno. The book ending parallels most Jewish family's experiences--they suspect what happened, but never really know. The way the movie ends, it makes Bruno's death more tragic than Shmuel's and that isn't right.

Comparing it to the book, you might have gotten that feeling. Not having read the book, I did not get any sense of Bruno's death being more tragic. I saw two innocent, terrified children murdered.

In the book, does the Nazi family discover that Bruno snuck into the camp? Was the mother as troubled by what was going on, in the book? Did you get the impression that she wanted to leave to protect her children or because she was disgusted by what her husband was doing, or both?

[flyingsit]

I have to think about this but I do remember when I was quite young crying my eyes out watching a tv movie called "Brian's Song." I think that was my first experience with a sad movie.

The one movie that came to me first was from Canada? It was called The Sweet Hereafter and I thought it was both a sad and fantastic film.

The Sweet Hereafter is one of my favorite movies. There are so many layers to it, and so many complexities. It is just haunting.

[BigB08822]

Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father

Just horribly and it is a DOCUMENTARY! I can't express how tragic this film is, it starts off as a message of hope and love and the turns it takes are so horrible you can't believe this is actually happening and not planned.

[joeperryfan]

Galipoli

I was going to say this one. It's a war movie, you know someone will die and yet until the very last second you have hope that no one will! Pete Weir is a genius.

Jude - with Chris Eccleston and Kate Winslet

The constant gardener - I don't think I could watch it again.

[DAngel]

I dislike tragic movies that make you cry/feel depressed after watching them... So I usually stay away from them.

I don't know if this can be considered a tragic movie or not, but I really like "Perfume, the Story of a Murderer".

Also, the Spanish-language movie Pan's Labyrinth

I really like it a lot too, but can this movie be considered tragic? It feels a lot like a fairy tale... (a lot like Perfume-lite )

[cruisin]

I really like it a lot too, but can this movie be considered tragic? It feels a lot like a fairy tale...

Oh, I think so. It is terribly tragic.

Another Holocaust movie that was tragic - A Beautiful Life.

[IceAlisa]

I was surprised to see Everything Is Illuminated advertised as a comedy. Sure, it had lots of hilarious moments but the denouement is

[Vagabond]

I really like it a lot too, but can this movie be considered tragic? It feels a lot like a fairy tale...

Pan's Labyrinth a very dark, disturbing fairy tale that ends tragically.

Spoiler

She is shot in the stomach and dies.

That's probably the most tragic (indeed, horrific) ending of any movie mentioned in this thread.

One movie I didn't mention upthread but which is tragic in its own way is Sous le sable (Under the Sand). From the protagonist's perspective, the ending is a happy one, but from ours, it is a tragic one.

The ending of Raise the Red Lantern is wonderfully tragic too.

[smurfy]

I agree with many posted here.
One that really got me was 'Das Boot'. The story of the soldiers on the Uboat and how it showed soldiers, regardless of what side, as real people and professioina, and the respect the german captain (not sure of title) of his opponent during one encounter. But the ending was wow, just drove in what is war.

[Seerek]

Most recently, I would describe Oscar foreign film nominee "A Separation" as a tragedy, albeit in a more psychological sense...

[Vash01]

Most recently, I would describe Oscar foreign film nominee "A Separation" as a tragedy, albeit in a more psychological sense...

I saw this very recently. My reaction after coming out of the theater was that of numbness. I overheard a couple of ladies being asked about it by others and they could not say if they liked it or not. It's a movie that makes you think and think and think. It's not tragic in the traditional sense because nobody dies. Divorces take place daily and children are affected, but the families in this movie are in situations that have practically no solution, so in that sense it is tragic.

[DAngel]

Pan's Labyrinth a very dark, disturbing fairy tale that ends tragically.

Spoiler

She is shot in the stomach and dies.

That's probably the most tragic (indeed, horrific) ending of any movie mentioned in this thread.

It was definitely a dark fairy tale... I wonder if the degree of how tragic it is depends on whether

Spoiler

you believe the other world was real or not... If you do, it wasn't so tragic because she ended up returning to her kingdom and live happily ever after.

It's a lot like the Little Mermaid (original version) and whether you believe in souls and the afterlife...

[BaileyCatts]

Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father

Just horribly and it is a DOCUMENTARY! I can't express how tragic this film is, it starts off as a message of hope and love and the turns it takes are so horrible you can't believe this is actually happening and not planned.

I will second this one! I saw this while flipping channels. I had no idea what the story was about and was both angry and sobbing like a baby at the end for hours afterwards. The story was beautifully told, but so tragic and sad.

[PRlady]

This will be a good thread of movies I should never see. I hate sad movies - and heaven help me if it involves an animal dying, I'll be sobbing. I remember seeing Shadowlands on a date once - that was a mistake. It's hard to look attractive with red eyes and streaked makeup.

There's not enough money in the world to get me to see War Horse. I'm with you -- animals dying (or even aliens, I went through about twenty napkins during ET) just kills me. I couldn't even rewatch Bambi when my daughter was small.

The English Patient and Gone with the Wind. Even as a 12-year-old I knew Rhett wasn't coming back. Not a terrible tragedy like movies where someone dies, but it was so hard to watch a character I really identified with lose the love of her life due to her own stupidity.