Cartooniverse and gooti stated in this thread they’ll never see Schindler’s List. I assume because the subject matter is too depressing, to put it mildly*. I thought I was the only one!
I’ve watched many, many documentaries about The Holocaust, the climate in Germany leading up to the implementation of The Final Solution, the ghettos in Poland, etc. It takes me a couple of days to recover from watching them and I’ve decided I probably won’t watch anymore, at least not anytime soon.
Here is my partial list of movies I’ll probably never see because the subject matter is too depressing to me:
Schindler’s List Rosewood Amistad The Grey Zone Roots The Pianist Life is Beautiful Imitation of Life Mississipi Burning
I’m well aware I’m missing out on some of the finest pieces of cinema of the twentieth and twenty-first century and someday maybe I will watch them. I do not foresee that day, however, being in the near future.
[sub]*If my assumption is incorrect, please forgive me.[/sub]
I came to much the same conclusion last week while watching that jesus movie…I have seen so many depressing films/documentaries…I think I’m done with them more or less, i have learned all i feel i need to. I also never saw Shindler’s list and don’t feel the need to, even with its release on DVD this month (making in finally accesable to me since i don’t own a VCR). I CAN tell you what movies i don’t plan on seeing a second time
Sophie’s Choice
The Passion of The Christ
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Not ‘historical’ or ‘realistic’ some may say, still it’s a lot for me to stomach)
Pretty much any documentary on the death camps of WW2
Shoah is the most famed documentary on the Holocaust. It’s nine hours long, so it was being shown in two parts over two days.
After seeing the first part I absolutely could not force myself to watch the second. I would watch all those other movies together in a marathon before watching Shoah again.
The Grave of the Fireflies. Everything I’ve read about this movie makes me think I’ll be suicidal by the end.
I’m all for satisfyingly depressing movies (like Wings of the Dove – the ending is perfect and feels right), but not for movies that make you wish you could rewrite them entirely and erase the misery from your brain.
Being the father of a beautiful little girl, I’m really having to prep myself for Mystic River. That one is going to be tough beyond belief.
I never did see The Last Temptation Of Christ for much the same reason others have now about The Passion and I’ve never seen Kramer vs Kramer because I didn’t want to see a sad kid and parents fighting. Just not my cup of tea.
I personally think it behoove every member of human society to force themselves to watch WWI concentration camp documentaries. If all you’ve seen is Schindler’s List, then you have a candy-coated view of something that should be shown in all its depths of depravity. What’s going on in Africa, and the atrocities of post-Soviet Eastern Europe, these show that we’re capable of forgetting our history and repeating our mistakes. (We in the universal sense, though we as Americans are not nearly as outraged at these atrocities as we should be.)
*Imitation of Life * may be a tearjerker, but it’s not depressing. It is, ultimately, life-assuring.
Although having seen both *In the Bedroom * and House of Sand and Fog, I’ve kinda promised myself never again to see a movie based on and Andre Dubus story. Though I daresay, if the next one looks worthwhile, I’m likely to break my vow.
Many of the titles mentioned in the above posts are depressing because they’re true. I don’t think it’s very smart to go through life with unrealistic expectations of the goodness of the world. I think an understanding of human history–the good and the bad alike–is necessary to someone who wants to see and think clearly.
Don’t let the subject matter fool you: The Pianist is far from a depressing movie. The ending certainly is cheerful.
And Life is Beautiful isn’t depressing in the least (not even the ending, ultimately).
I saw House of Sand and Fog last night and would agree it is tragic, though it is not what the ads and promos indicate it is (which indicate Ben Kingsley is something of a bad guy; he’s actually the most admirable one in the film).
I don’t mind “depressing” films; tragedy can be very powerful and a great movie experience.
Try as I might, I’ve never been able to watch “Philadelphia.” My brother died of AIDS in 1990 and it just still hits way too close to home. I was able to make it through 95% of “Angels in America,” but parts of that were just so over the top that it lessened the blow somewhat.
I was drowned with Holocaust footage in Jr. High. I understand what happened and how horrible it is, but I don’t want to ever see another documentary or movie on it.
Movies I wish I hadn’t watched (because they were so damn depressing):
Breaking the Waves
Requiem for a Dream
Dancer in the Dark
I don’t mind a dark film if there is some sort of redemption in it, something life-affirming, but these movies just make you want to stick your head in an oven. What’s the point of making a movie like that?
A friend loaned me Grave of the Fireflies, and I tried to watch it, but the first ten minutes were so depressing that I wanted to go hang myself. I turned it off, returned it to the friend, and said “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Some people in this thread say they don’t feel the need to learn anything more. I don’t think it’s about learning…it’s about feeling. In a harsh, violent world such as ours, I need to see painfully depressing things to reaffirm that I can still feel empathy and sadness. I need to know that I’m not so conditioned that I become emotionless. I want to be upset at life’s injustices.
Besides, as someone else said, many of these movies are actually uplifting (if you can get through the sadness…Schindler’s List being one of them).
I think we have to watch Schindler’s List for the same thing I have the French brothers documentary on 9/11 on tape…we need to watch such things, every once in a while, to remember.
That said, I will never watch American Beaury again. That was a depressing waste of my time. How it won Best Picture is beyond me.
