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Home > Blogs > Sir Critic on Cinema > Archives > 2009 > July > 08 > Entry
What is the saddest movie you’ve ever seen?
Recently I watched the movie The Children’s Hour, starring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine as women whose lives are ruined when they’re suspected of having a lesbian affair. A friend of mine commented that it was the “saddest movie” he’d ever seen.
And that got me to thinking - what was the saddest movie I’d ever seen? Here are a few candidates, in no particular order.
Vertigo - Unfortunately, I cannot speak about WHY this is the saddest movie I’ve ever seen without spoiling the film, but those who have seen it will surely know what I mean. You can always find out for yourself when it plays at the Victoria Theatre July 24, as part of Jimmy Stewart weekend.
The Godfather Part II: I saw this on the big screen recently, and even though I’d seen it before, I was struck at just how bleak and unforgiving the ending felt.
Unforgiven: “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”
Schindler’s List: As hard as it is to watch this film, I saw it several times in the theater because I wanted to analyze Spielberg’s technique. Never worked. By the time the movie depicted the first ghetto massacre, I would dissolve in tears.
Those are just four off the top of my head. So what are the saddest movies you’ve ever seen? I don’t necessarily mean ones that make you cry like The Wizard of Oz, or E.T., which both end happily. I mean ones that make you cry and/or wipe you out emotionally, making you feel wrung out at the end.
Discuss. And pass the tissues.
Permalink | Comments (22) | Post your comment | Categories: Ask the Audience
Comments
By Martha Hardcastle
July 24, 2009 12:56 PM | Link to this
As soon as I saw the question, it was “Sophie’s Choice” hands down. “Schindler’s List” did not have the same effect on me because of the uplifting and reverent finale. Strangely enough, as a child, “Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear” had me sobbing. I need to see it again to find out why. I think Yogi and Cindy Bear broke up or something. Hey - I was only six!By Kim
July 13, 2009 2:10 PM | Link to this
I will always remember seeing “Terms of Endearment”. From the previews I thought it was a comedy, so that is why I went. A beloved aunt had died that week and my own daughter has cystic fibrosis - considered a death sentence - and boy - that was BAD timing. That movie absolutely crushed me. Same thing with “Steel Magnolias” for the same reason - the whole daughter tie-in. Plus the young Julia Roberts even looked a lot like my daughter did in those days with that thick golden brown hair and soulful brown eyes. In fact - it became even worse years later when my daughter told me she was pregnant - and it was like I was living that movie! I was livid and she told me that she would rather live a shorter, fuller life…anyway - I BECAME Sally Fields character! Now we are getting near the end of the film - her son is 5 and she is on the list for a double lung transplant that will hopefully come in time. So yeah - that is the one that REALLY tears me apart. Guaranteed sob fest!By Sir Nunya Bidness
July 9, 2009 3:53 AM | Link to this
Imitation of Life. The final scene is just plain heart-wrenching.By Brother Phil
July 8, 2009 10:59 PM | Link to this
I almost forgot to concur with “Sophie’s Choice” and finally, “Pan’s Labyrinth” would also belong to my list of sad movies.By Brother Phil
July 8, 2009 10:52 PM | Link to this
As a child, I think the ending of “Old Yeller” really got to me, but “Bambi” certainly had its sad part. I would agree with both choices, “Road to Perdition” and “Schlindler’s List” and I think I would have to add “To Kill a Mockingbird” to that list. One of my personal favorites, “The Color Purple” certainly had its share of sadness, but its ending more than made up for all the melancholy.By Bad277kitty
July 8, 2009 7:58 PM | Link to this
The saddest movie for me is always Terms of Endearment. The part that gets me most is when her mom is screaming for pain medication…Got to watch it everytime its on though..By SRCputt
July 8, 2009 7:43 PM | Link to this
FYI Ethel S, Jessica Lange was nominated that year for playing Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams.By SRCputt
July 8, 2009 7:37 PM | Link to this
The saddest movie I’ve seen, which cruches me every time I see it, is Un Coeur En Hiver. Seeing the main character shut himself off from an opportunity to love tears me up every time I see it. Too obscure. OK. The American film which is a crushing experience for me is Requiem for a Dream. Truly shows how drugs kill dreams. No one saw it either. OK, the Hollywood film which made me cry the most, I’ll vote for The Joy Luck Club. That film wore me out. Ponette is a wonderful film, with my vote for the greatest child performance ever, but I wasn’t as wiped out as I was by those I just mentioned, possibly because I didn’t feel hopeless. I saw a little girl working through the grief process, but I guess I felt optimistic for her ability to work through it. I do agree with the previous mention of Platoon. I was 18 when it came out, and and just the age where I really felt that one.By Ethel S
July 8, 2009 5:40 PM | Link to this
The saddest movie ever for me was “Sophie’s Choice.” How can a Mother decide these things? Recently I saw The Trip to Bountiful again with Geraldine Page. She is the greatest actress. The year she won the Oscar for this, 1986, she beat out Ann Bancroft for Agnes of God, Whoopie Goldberg for the Color Purple, Meryl Strip for Out of Africa, and Jessica Lang and I forget her movie. Everyone must see at least one Geraldine Page movie. Interesting topic.By flipper
July 8, 2009 5:16 PM | Link to this
Brian’s Song and Sophie’s Choice will touch your soul.By Chloe
July 8, 2009 5:14 PM | Link to this
The saddest movie I’ve seen recently is Dear Zachary:A Letter to a Son About His Father. It is a true story, which makes it even worse.By sharyn
July 8, 2009 2:53 PM | Link to this
These aren’t my favorite movies or by any means the saddest, but they are the ones that have scenes that left me sobbing: My Girl, The Crucible and Benjamin Button. As far of saddest of all time … I’ll have to think about that some more.By Ginny
July 8, 2009 2:23 PM | Link to this
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is one of the saddest that I’ve seen.By Kim S.
July 8, 2009 2:11 PM | Link to this
I can’t really explain why, but “Magnolia” wipes me out every time. As soon as they get to the point where they all sing Aimee Mann’s “Wise Up”, I usually lose it.By Jess
July 8, 2009 1:52 PM | Link to this
Eric - Ponette is easily the saddest film I’ve ever seen. See http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=940CE7DD123BF930A15756C0A961958260 for a great review. Then see it. And tell me what you think!By JimmyD
July 8, 2009 1:44 PM | Link to this
Schindler`s list left a whole theatre sobbing when I saw it. Last Exit to Brooklyn left a hopeless and angry feeling in the viewer.By ME
July 8, 2009 1:11 PM | Link to this
The Children’s Hour is an edgy movie of its day and it bothered me in the end. I hated the little girl too (great actress). But I don’t think it was the saddest movie ever. For me Schindler’s List hits the top for me. Although I will say its one of the best movies. Of Mice and Men is so tough for me (john malkovich version) and Titanic leaves me sad. I love everything up until Leo’s character dies. Awakenings with Robin Williams and Robert Denrio. I hate that everyone gets better for a bit, but he’s not able to get a cure for the people. That one wrenches my heart can’t watch it again. For me any movie that is sad in the end and doesn’t have something happy in the end I cannot watch again!By Debby Scholz-Howard
July 8, 2009 12:54 PM | Link to this
MILLION DOLLAR BABY was the saddest show I have seen as an adult. WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS was the movie that affected me as a child.By Dollar Dharma
July 8, 2009 12:32 PM | Link to this
“300” Digitronix and mythologizedism history merge into every 14 y/o boy’s dream!By Kelle
July 8, 2009 12:26 PM | Link to this
I still have not been able to get all the way through Schindler’s List but what I’ve seen I would say I agree. Also, Platoon. That was one that I left the theater wrung out and sad. Most movies try to spin it at the end so it doesn’t feel so sad but I would have to say Titanic, My Girl, Mask, A Walk to Remember, I’m sure there are more…By Tony G
July 8, 2009 12:22 PM | Link to this
Two movies I found really sad were Road to Perdition and Ladder 49 with Joaquin Phoenix. You just feel how futile it is for the characters in those movies.By Regina
July 8, 2009 11:56 AM | Link to this
i think the saddest movie i ever watched is “Steel Magnolias”. I didn’t just cry - I sobbed! Sally Fields played the grieving mother so life-like! It was so hard to watch!