So last night I saw Of Mice And Men with Gary Sinise and Jon Malkovich. Damn it was a depressing film. I hadn’t read the book so I didn’t know beforehand how the story ends.
So it got me thinking what movies have you walked out of feeling more depressed than when you walked in.
Recent depressing films I’ve seen:
Requiem For A Dream - I was all excited as I really enjoyed Darren Aranofsky’s previous film Pi. But jeez, this film, everyone suffers.
The Virgin Suicides - My ex took me to see it. The theater was packed with teenage girls (first warning right there!), and when I walked out they were all just staring blankly at the credits. A good film but also one that just doesn’t make you want to feel happy.
Of course there are some older depressing films like Bladerunner (but only the Director’s Cut) and State Of Grace (with Sean Penn and Gary Oldman).
What other films (recent or old) did you walk out feeling less than happy?
Welcome to the Dollhouse was a terribly depressing film. The story of an awkward young Jr. High school girl with no magical Hollywood make-over to give her a happy ending. Just pure adolescent hell exactly as I remembered it. <<shudder>>
Whoa, whoa, whoa! With all due respect, back the truck up!
SPOILER AHOY
A movie in which a character dies happy is depressing? In that case, I would definitely recommend that you stay away from The Ice Storm, the title I came in here to name. If a character’s dying happy is grounds for depression, I’d hate to think how one dying in a completely meaningless accident would affect you.
American Beauty isn’t about living or dying, it’s about living or not living. Like the tag line suggests, look closer.
Just last weekend, Labmom and I saw The Man Who Wasn’t There. We enjoyed the Cohen brothers craft and the performances by the entire cast, but as soon as the movie was over my wife turned to me and said, “Well THAT was a bummer!”
I didn’t see the remake of Of Mice and Men, but I did see the original with Burgess Merideth and Lon Chaney Jr. (BTW: The Bugs Bunny characters, one a “smart” guy and the other “I want a little rabbit. I’ll hug him and pet him…” were taken from those characters.) I’d call it more “sad” than “depressing”. Ditto Brian’s Song.
The other films mentioned (those that I’ve seen anyway) were “sad” or “ironic” or “darkly humourous”, but Johnny Got His Gun was just downright depressing.
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon also had a quite depressing ending. Spoiler:
All of the main characters are either dead, or in deep scarring depressions for the rest of their lives, having FINALLY got their respective soulmates, only to instantly lose them to death, which they had to watch.
I remember thinking at the theater, “well that’s depressing.”
Brief plot synopsis from the site:
A man who has been unemployed for months is finally given a chance at a job putting up posters. He and his family have been living in poverty for months, and are very exited to hear the news. The only requirement for the job is a bicycle. His wife pawns the sheets off of their own bed in order to buy the bicycle. And, as you can tell from the title, it is stolen on his first day of work. Now, without it, he and his son search the crowded streets of Rome for the only thing that can give him back his dignity as a man.
Yep, gotta go with Labdad on The Man Who Wasn’t There. Good performances, good story, but a bummer nontheless.
However, the most depressing movie I’ve ever seen is Angela’s Ashes. I read the book and enjoyed it thoroughly. Frank McCourt’s story is fascinating. But seeing the grinding poverty and unrelenting misery on the screen for two-plus hours just wore me out.
After leaving the theater I wanted to take the gas pipe.