I generally avoid Spielberg dramas. He is just too good at what he does and I would rather not be depressed by a movie.
This may seem strange, but when I saw Saturday Night Fever I thought it was really depressing and have never seen it again.
The Grapes of Wrath
In Cold Blood.
What was depressing about it was that they made it. It was very pretty but otherwise a pointless mess.
After viewing this thread, I realize that I have a different definition of “depressing” than many.
I’ll third, fourth or fifth, Requiem for a dream. That was difficult to watch.
The thread started with Johnny Got His Gun and I’ll chime in on that one.
And while it ended on a somewhat upbeat note, I’ll add Midnight Express.
I normally try to avoid depressing movies, but one that I actually enjoyed despite it being very difficult to watch is Mysterious Skin. It has some optimism and none of the despair is at a global level, but maybe that’s what’s so sad about it… the damage that exists in small town everyday life.
Some fine choices… Depressing movies are the best.
Of the movies mentioned in this thread that I have seen, from least to most depressing I would rate:
[ul]
[li]Manos: Hands of Fate[/li][li]Titanic[/li][li]What Dreams May Come[/li][li]Glengarry Glen Ross[/li][li]Children of Men[/li][li]The Road[/li][li]Grave of the Fire Flies[/li][li]Schindler’s List[/li][li]Requiem for a Dream[/li][li]Dear Zachary[/li][/ul]
With the first five not really even being depressing at all. While the “one more” scene in Schindler’s List always destroys me (choking up just typing it), there’s redemption and doing good, and gratefulness.
All Mine To Give.
A isolated pioneering family in Wisconsin catch cholera, the parents die, and the eldest son must trudge through the snow pulling his younger siblings on a sled, giving them away piecemeal to other families so they don’t starve to death.
The End
Among movies I’ve semi-recently watched: Five Easy Pieces. Jack Nicholson’s first critically acclaimed starring role. I had seen it in the theater originally but Mrs. FtG had never seen it so we watched on a “classic movie night”.
A miserable, broken guy hanging out with other miserable, broken people and making a mess of everything. Poor Rayette, OTOH she’s better off without him. Just not stranded at gas station in the middle of nowhere.Nicholson was in some pretty depressing movies around then: Chinatown, The Last Detail, Easy Rider, etc. To stand out as depressing among that bunch is special.
Speaking of Nicholson, I was taking a girl out for the first time and she wanted to see the new Nicholson film. She hadn’t heard much about the plot or anything, but she figured it had to be cool.
The film was Carnal Knowledge, and Nicholson played a womanizer who ended up middle-aged, alone, acting out a ritual with a hooker.
Here’s a hint for the youngsters out there. If you’re going out on a first date to a film titled Carnal Knowledge, READ A REVIEW FIRST.
Atonement was horrible and depressing on so many levels. Most disgusting piece of life-hating film making ever.
The most depressing in recent memory is “Manchester by the Sea.” Two hours and 17 minutes that seem to go on forever. After the fire scene I could barely go on further. I thought perhaps it would have an uplifting ending after all that, but no, it did not.
Revolutionary Road
…after ‘Gone Baby Gone’.
Deer Hunter - so depressing seeing Christopher Walken’s character at the end.
Can’t believe I forgot that one, since I just watched it again for the first time in 20+ years. The final scene is all the more devastating when you consider the changes in the country in the last 30 years – it’s hard to imagine, now, a table of mourners singing “God Bless America” without it being bitterly ironic or shamelessly jingoistic.
I agree. A profoundly depressing movie, and yes Rayette was far better off without him. But, I pick one nit: as I remember it, he took only the clothes on his back, leaving her there with, at the very least, a car full of gas. She was brutally abandoned, but hardly stranded.
Unless my memory fails me. I’ve seen the film several times, but many years ago. So I’m open to correction.
Breaker Morant was pretty depressing.
The original isn’t so bad, but the remake is an absolute abomination.