# Excruciatingly Emotional Scenes in Movies (Spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150 "2006-02-26T04:49:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/1 "2006-02-26T04:49:21Z")
Ok, so I’m a very sensitive, emotional person. There are many scenes that I have found overwhelming, leaving me bawling like a baby. Some of them are cathartic and fulfilling, such as the ending of _The Notebook_. Some of them are horrifying and nightmarish, such as the Russian Roulette scene in _The Deer Hunter_, or the electrocution scene in _The Green Mile_. I couldn’t get past that scene in the first movie, so never finished it, and had to leave the room during the scene in the second movie. Another intense one is the suicide scene in _The House of Sand and Fog_. The car-crash rescue scene in ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/2 "2006-02-26T04:51:19Z")
oops, darnit, new computer anywho, the car crash scene in _Crash_ got me going. One movie I cried throughout the whole thing, practically. That was _The Passion of the Christ_. And I’m atheist. :eek: Anybody have any others? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/3 "2006-02-26T05:43:08Z")
Shadowlands, with Anthony Hopkins as C.S. Lewis, had about 5 tear-jerking endings in a row. I started out being deeply affected, but by the end, I was just feeling manipulated and pissed-off. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/4 "2006-02-26T05:57:18Z")
_Sophie’s Choice_ contains about the most wrenching scene of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/5 "2006-02-26T05:57:46Z")
Contrived as it was, the car scene in _Crash_ also had me on the edge of my seat. That was good work. If the topic is ‘scenes that left you crying’… there were a few scenes in _Malcolm X_ that had that effect on me. Probably his last scene and the eulogy, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/6 "2006-02-26T06:01:17Z")
I’d also have to add a couple of scenes in _Dancer in the Dark_. None of them made me cry, but that movie was emotionally excruciating. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/7 "2006-02-26T06:18:24Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > _Sophie’s Choice_ contains about the most wrenching scene of all time. Oh yeah. I read the book but never saw the movie. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle that. There is something about me that allows an emotional visual scenario to just devastate me emotionally. In other areas of my life, I’m a very strong woman and could go toe to toe with the biggest brute- but intense movie scenes just break me. I once knew a man like this- he was worse, though- a commercial could make him cry, while I’ve never cried over an ad. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/8 "2006-02-26T06:33:45Z")
in **City of God** there is a scene where a drug lord catches two little delinquent boys and he is telling them he is going to shoot each in either the hand or the foot for not obeying his orders and one of them, can’t be but 5 or 6, is bawling his head off. And then, IIRC, he tells one to shoot the other. It is TOUGH to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/9 "2006-02-26T06:36:18Z")
> [@trublmakr](#): > > One movie I cried throughout the whole thing, practically. That was _The Passion of the Christ_. And I’m atheist. :eek: I’m a Christian, but even if I wasn’t, I would’ve been sobbing through that whole thing. (I was, by the way.) That had to be the most intense thing I’ve ever seen. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/10 "2006-02-26T06:41:09Z")
Another that comes to mind is from Polansky’s **The Pianist**. The first time we see some Nazi thugs terrorize a Jewish family (e.g., push grandpa in the wheelchair off a 5-story balcony) that was tough to swallow, due in large part because the understanding (from historical accounts and such) is that actions like that weren’t uncommon. Of course, that was more emotionally excrutiating than excruciatingly emotional. ;j ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/11 "2006-02-26T10:07:18Z")
Less than a minute into _Grave of the Fireflies_ I was prostrate on the couch, sobbing uncontrollably, feeling like I’d been kicked in the face, and trying to breathe. The first time I saw it, I remained that way throughout most of the movie. “Emotionally excruciating” doesn’t quite say enough; it was almost a physically painful experience. (And I’m not exaggerating about the amount of time it took. I just checked (and spent a minute crying over it) and it takes about 45 seconds to get me.) Another scene that I find almost inexplicably emotionally stirring is the rainstorm in _Jean de Florette_ — I think that’s the moment when it has built up to the point that it snaps for me. ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/12 "2006-02-26T11:56:09Z")
you’ll laugh, but… I sobbed uncontrollably at the end of _Terminator 2._ no, really, I had to be carried out of the theater. I was 12. …more recently, the whole arc about the two lovers in _Hero_ was really heart-wrenching for me. ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/13 "2006-02-26T13:05:40Z")
Off the top of my head, the three scenes I am guarenteed to cry at are: 1. In The Color Purple, when Celie finally see’s her grown children for the first time. 2. Forrest Gump talking to dead Jenny at her gravesite about how smart little Forrest is. 3. The execution of John Coffey in The Green Mile. The scariest scene for me (as a person with a huge fear of flying) is when Tom Hanks is literally ripped from the airplane bathroom in Castaway. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/14 "2006-02-26T13:31:09Z")
Many of the scenes from A Color Purple - when Celie’s sister is taken away, when she’s reunited with her children, and even more so when we see Mister watching from a distance. Out of Africa, when Bror gives Karen the bad news… House of Sand and Fog, when Kingsley is praying in the hospital. Damn, that was some seriously fine acting. I truly wept. The “My friends, you bow to no one” scene, from ROTK. Ahh, I need me a good cry… Maybe I’ll dig out Out of Africa. Homeward Bound when Shadow comes over the hill (OK, so I’m a sap) ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/15 "2006-02-26T13:37:10Z")
> [@nevermore](#): > > …more recently, the whole arc about the two lovers in _Hero_ was really heart-wrenching for me. Seconded. Add to that the ending scene of the Hero leaving the palace - knowing and accepting what would have to be done. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/16 "2006-02-26T13:39:23Z")
For me, the ending of _Meet Joe Black_ is about as emotional as it gets…but few seem to think much of the movie so perhaps not. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/17 "2006-02-26T15:08:55Z")
I recently caught _The Notebook_ and I got an idea from the synopsis what the “hook” was. So I’m sitting there, with my chest tight with tears, knowing what’s coming, and from the moment James Garner tells his children, “She’s my sweetheart, I can’t leave her” I was sobbing uncontrollably to the end of the movie. I’m going to have to go find the book now. If you’re looking for emotionally intense, the D-Day scene of _Saving Private Ryan_ has to rank up there. I’m with **trublmakr**. I read the book, but never saw _Sophie’s Choice_ in the theater. I couldn’t even _begin_ having to make that decision. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/18 "2006-02-26T15:56:42Z")
_That_ scene in Sophie’s Choice is the worst. I have never been so upset or so bothered by anything in a movie before. It’s definitely one of the saddest scenes ever put on film. The scene in “My Neighbor Totoro” where the daughter wants to give her mother the ear of corn gets me too. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/19 "2006-02-26T17:32:07Z")
The Color Purple – the scenes already mentioned and the one where Shug Avery’s people dance and sing their way over to her daddy’s church. To Kill A Mockingbird – in the courthouse when Scout is told to “Stand up, your father’s passin’” and the meeting with Boo Radley. The Searchers - when Ethan picks Debbie up to take her home **All** the endings of Return of the King 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![beowulf573](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@beowulf573](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulf573)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150/20 "2006-02-26T18:39:56Z")
The last scene of [Fearless](http://imdb.com/title/tt0106881/). I already liked Jeff Bridges but this clinched it. And the music by Henryk Gorecki over it still gets to me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excruciatingly-emotional-scenes-in-movies-spoilers/346150.md?page=2)