What were the most tragic movies you actually liked?

[wouldacoulda]

Hillary & Jackie, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being are two that stuck with me long after I saw them. So much so, that I have never watched Unbearable Lightness again. Hillary & Jackie moreso because it is based on a true story, and was incredibly well acted.

[Vagabond]

I don't know... It makes it less tragic for me...

Is Iphigenia in Aulis any less of a tragedy because

Spoiler

at the instant Iphigenia is to be sacrificed, she is granted eternal life among the gods and a doe is miraculously substituted in her stead

?

[Cyn]

Lol, I was going to say, if one can actually call the PLOT a tragedy (and not something to sit there laughing at when it's not being ridiculously offensive to every real person it portrays), Titanic...I need to see "A Night To Remember." Supposedly the effects aren't as good (duh, 1958) but you can actually make it through without inappropriate snickering. But I like Cameron's Titanic for the pretty. (EVERY ONE OF KATE'S DRESSES MUST BE MINE!)

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.

Regarding the plot and character development related to the "love story" (along with the character assassination, in many cases, of several of the ship's officers/crew and passengers who were on the Titanic in real life), Cameron's Titanic is pure suckage.

I've said this before in previous threads about it, but when it comes to the technical aspects of moviemaking, Titanic is an absolute masterpiece. The special effects, editing, and sound did a good job to show what went on down in the bowels of the ship (specifically the boiler rooms and the crew working on the electrical/generators) as well as the horror and terror experienced by those who didn't make it into the lifeboats.

But for mini-series, the one that fits this thread the best IMO is Holocaust.

Oh good lord, yes. I was in 5th grade at a private Jewish school when Holocaust aired, and the 4th-7th graders were required to watch it (each class had a discussion each day about the previous night's episode). I had nightmares for about a month after watching it.

Incidentally, Meryl Streep was one of the actresses in it (this was her first major acting role, and she won an Emmy for it) - she played the Christian wife of Carl Weiss (played by James Woods), who avoided being arrested for being married to a Jew because one of the SS or Gestapo officers (I can't remember which one he was in) had been in love with her for years. In the miniseries, he extorted sex from her in exchange for keeping Carl from being sent to one of the death camps (he was instead sent to Theresienstadt due to his skills as an artist, and was caught drawing pictures depicting what went on in the camp and had the bones in his hands crushed as punishment).

Needless to say, that miniseries had an impact on me as I can remember most of it almost 35 years later .

If anyone is interested in learning about or watching Holocaust, here's the IMDB listing for it. The cast was amazing and starred a lot of well-known actors as well as several before they became established actors: Michael Moriarty, James Woods, Tovah Feldshuh, Sam Wanamaker, Fritz Weaver, Joseph Bottoms, Ian Holm, Rosemary Harris, Tony Haygarth, David Lovejoy (who, incidentally, portrayed Cal Hockley's (Billy Zane) thug assistant, Lovejoy, in Titanic ), and Blanche Baker (who played Molly Ringwald's older sister in Sixteen Candles who got trashed on muscle relaxants at her wedding ), plus many others. It won 8 Emmy Awards (and was nominated for 7 others). It's definitely worth watching, but I don't know if it's available on Netflix.

[DAngel]

I remember another movie I like: Requiem for a dream.

Is Iphigenia in Aulis any less of a tragedy because

Spoiler

at the instant Iphigenia is to be sacrificed, she is granted eternal life among the gods and a doe is miraculously substituted in her stead

?

Er, I'm not familiar with that... Is that play very well-known where you are?

But from what you said, it definitely sounds like it is less of a tragedy

Spoiler

than if she just died...

[orientalplane]

Brief Encounter, The Go-Between, Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Remains of the Day, Thhe Age of Innocence, Onegin and The End of the Affair (1999 version) are all films that have had a profound effect on me.

[cruisin]

Surely a story can both end tragically and posit an afterlife for the character. I would cite martyrdom stories like Lady Jane (mentioned upthread), A Man for All Seasons, and The Passion of Joan of Arc as examples.

In Pan's Labyrinth, however, the "afterlife" isn't real within the context of the frame story or even in the protagonist's understanding.

Spoiler

It's one of several fantasy sequences that are her attempt to assimilate the tragic events unfolding around her. The "afterlife" sequence is made up of the last thoughts of a dying girl. She does not actually end up ruling the Underworld "with a kind a just heart."

That is my interpretation, as well.

Spoiler

That she created the fantasy world in her mind to cope with the horrific reality of her life

They find the clothes by the fence much later, like months later. The mother and Lt. Kotler are having an affair (this is why he gets sent away) and she drinks to deal with what's happening. It's a fast read. You should check it out.

So, it sounds as though the mother is a far less sympathetic character in the book. I will look for the book. I will have to prepare myself for reading it. I was thinking about what we were talking about earlier, which boy's death was more tragic. And I remember thinking, at the time I watched, that - although Bruno's death was tragic, it was only tragic for him. Because he was not an evil character. That the loss, for the families, of Scmuel was far worse. That I could not feel compassion for the Nazi family. I was conflicted about feeling compassion for the mother, because she seemed to be in a situation she didn't want to be in, and had no way out. But that may be different in the book.

Something I learned about in that movie, which I was unaware of, was the PR films they made to try and fool the world that the camps were not what they really were. Revolting!

[Jimena]

Oh dear, I'd forgotten about The Constant Gardener. Wonderful film. Terribly sad.

Another one is Everything is Illuminated. I loved that movie.

Black Swan, too. I saw it again the other day and I cried.

[pollyanna]

If anyone is interested in learning about or watching Holocaust, here's the IMDB listing for it. The cast was amazing and starred a lot of well-known actors as well as several before they became established actors: Michael Moriarty, James Woods, Tovah Feldshuh, Sam Wanamaker, Fritz Weaver, Joseph Bottoms, Ian Holm, Rosemary Harris, Tony Haygarth, David Lovejoy (who, incidentally, portrayed Cal Hockley's (Billy Zane) thug assistant, Lovejoy, in Titanic ), and Blanche Baker (who played Molly Ringwald's older sister in Sixteen Candles who got trashed on muscle relaxants at her wedding ), plus many others. It won 8 Emmy Awards (and was nominated for 7 others). It's definitely worth watching, but I don't know if it's available on Netflix.

Lordy yes, I remember watching this when it came out. It horrified me and broke my heart at the same time. I just checked, and yes, it is available on Netflix.

[orientalplane]

Oh dear, I'd forgotten about The Constant Gardener. Wonderful film. Terribly sad.

So had I. Great film and totally devastating.

[Rob]

Life is Beautiful

This. I was glad I saw it at home because I couldn't stop sobbing for ages after it was over.

[Seerek]

Some very good examples being listed here.

Interestingly, some of the choices here are definitely tragic movies throughout, but do have at least some glimmer of hope at the end....while others are simply tragic throughout right until the end...

Also, there also that element of "surprise" tragedy (you weren't expecting it) vs. "expected" tragedy (you were expecting it) that sometimes affects our overall impressions once the movie ends...

[duane]

Welcome To The Dollhouse

[DarrellH]

Love Story (fitting for a figure skating board)

[Rex]

House of Mirth - did not get the attention or accolades that it deserved IMO. Gillian Anderson was wonderful in that film.
On The Beach - despite the lack of Aussie accents and the miscasting of Ava Gardner and Fred Astaire, this was a heartbreaking and disturbing movie. I watched it first with my ex, and the scene where Peter and Mary talk about their lives before taking the cyanide pills made him weep. And the banner that said, "THERE IS STILL TIME....BROTHER" waving in the breeze after everyone died - not exactly subtle, but it brought the point home - nuclear bombs - bad.
Threads - one of the most frightening films I've ever seen. The depiction of civilization deteriorating after the bombs are dropped were chilling. There were too many cringeworthy scenes in it (in a good way). Way superior to the US-made The Day After (which was effective, but crude).
Anne Frank: The Whole Story - The concentration camps scenes had me bawling, especially when Anne essentially gave up. And Hannah Taylor-Gordon had an uncanny resemblance to Anne it was unreal.
A Night to Remember - from beginning to end, the story was way superior to James Cameron's version of the Titanic disaster, at least from a storytelling and structural standpoint. I loved the scenes of the passengers and crew reciting The Lord's Prayer as the water rushed over them.
Boyz In the Hood - totally captured the essence of South Central LA, all the chaos, despair, violence and hope. I thought it was tragic because of how many lives were lost and when the carnage was basically over, only Trey and his gf "survived". The rest of them either died or didn't change their lives for the better.

[Lana Lovelace]

_Hereafter_ made me cry and cry and cry until there was just no more tears left in my body to cry out. I felt hollowed out after that. The next day when I woke up I felt a painful sense of deep loss for many hours.

_Memento_ always makes me feel very sad because of Leonard's recurring request to a new hooker to wake him in a certain way after he's fallen asleep. If you've seen it you will know why.

_Shutter Island_ made me say "no, no, no, no, no, no, no ... " when I clicked on the storyline.

[cruisin]

Love Story (fitting for a figure skating board)

Maybe "love means never having to say you're sorry" but, Erich Segal should say he's sorry for writing such a sappy book.

[DarrellH]

Maybe "love means never having to say you're sorry" but, Erich Segal should say he's sorry for writing such a sappy book.

At least he didn't write "Love Story: Breaking Dawn". (Even though I believe there was an Oliver's Story)

[Grannyfan]

In response to an earlier post about the availability of Holocaust on Netflix--it is available. I watched it a couple of years ago.

Seems that I remember another Holocaust mini-series on American TV years ago, but I may be mistaken. There was a scene of a bunch of people either hiding or locked into a barn-like building, and a woman was giving birth at the exact moment that the Nazis burst in. That scene made such an impact on me. I don't think it was from The Holocaust. Does anyone else remember anything like this?

The HBO movie Conspiracy about the meeting for planning the Final Solution should be on the list of tragedies. Kenneth Branagh is absolutely chilling.

[Jimena]

House of Mirth - did not get the attention or accolades that it deserved IMO. Gillian Anderson was wonderful in that film.

Absolutely agree. She was great and should've received more recognition.

Another great and sad movie that didn't get the recognition it deserved was Wings of the Dove. Helena Bonham Carter was fantastic in the movie and so was Linus Roache.

[aliceanne]

The darkest movie I have ever seen is Capote. It was about how Truman Capote wrote his novel "In Cold Blood", which was based on a news story about a farm family who was murdered in the middle of the night in 1950's Ohio. Capote started following the story and when they captured the suspects he begain interviewing them.

Capote started at a superior cynical New York writer, but as the trial progressed and the killers were condemned to death, the one killer started to get into his head. He began to realize the killer and he shared the same abusive childhood filled with rejection, and while he felt repulsed by the killer, he begins to feel a reluctant empathy. Capote couldn't escape the feeling that for a few twists of fate, it could have been him. His most telling quote was 'it was as if we had grown up in the same house, only I went out the front door and he went out the back'. In the end, the killer invites him to his hanging, and though Capote was horrified at the thought, he felt compelled to go because the killer had no one else.

Capote never wrote another novel after "In Cold Blood".