# Most touching scenes in obscure movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405 "2009-12-08T03:52:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/21 "2009-12-08T15:36:57Z")
> [@StoutHearted](#): > > Oh, damn you. I had _Ponette_ stricken from my memory. I remember bawling like a baby in French class. I took the risk of going through that scene sitting at my desk in work earlier on. I just got away with it but I was close to making a show of myself šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/22 "2009-12-08T17:34:54Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > Thereā€™s a french movie called Ponette that is one of the most powerful things Iā€™ve ever seen. Itā€™s about a four year old dealing with her motherā€™s death. > > Here is a scene from it. It is the greatest child acting Iā€™ve ever seen. It blows Haley Joel out of the water in my opinion. How can a 4 year old emote like that. The real power kicks in at 5:40 in but the whole scene is a heartbreaker. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekHiMIH98vE&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekHiMIH98vE&feature=related) That is the saddest movie Iā€™ve ever seen in my life. I know whatever scene youā€™ve linked to will make me cry, because every single scene in that movie made me cry. It is indeed seriously excellent, though. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/23 "2009-12-08T17:36:57Z")
I donā€™t know if these movies ā€œcountā€ or if Iā€™ll be universally derided by the hip cool kids who will respond with, ā€œMore than EIGHT people have heard of that movieā€“youā€™re just buying into the manā€™s propaganda.ā€ ::Gulp:: Here goes. The scene in Ghost World where Enid shows Seymour the pictures in her sketch book of himā€“heā€™s only seen the stuff where she plays the joke on him, but now sheā€™s showing him stuff that shows she cares. Brought a real tear to the eye socket. And in About Schmidt, the very end, when Schmidt finally hears from Ndgugu, the kid heā€™s been writing to. I really did cry then! ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/24 "2009-12-08T18:19:31Z")
The final short of _Paris, je tā€™aime_, [14e arrondissement](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2EbK0NEl5A) (YouTube link), makes me choke up almost immediately when the woman begins her rough, heavily accented French narration; Iā€™m not even sure why, thereā€™s just such a palpable sense of loneliness and broken dreams, yet a desire to remain optimistic and carry on with life, perhaps even be happy in those small momentsā€¦ I donā€™t know, itā€™s just such a powerful little scene, to me, at least. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/25 "2009-12-08T18:41:40Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > The final short of _Paris, je tā€™aime_, [14e arrondissement](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2EbK0NEl5A) (YouTube link), makes me choke up almost immediately when the woman begins her rough, heavily accented French narration; Iā€™m not even sure why, thereā€™s just such a palpable sense of loneliness and broken dreams, yet a desire to remain optimistic and carry on with life, perhaps even be happy in those small momentsā€¦ I donā€™t know, itā€™s just such a powerful little scene, to me, at least. Wow, and I thought I was the only one! I was lukewarm on this movie until that last segment, which Iā€™ve watched at least a dozen times since. Lovely. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/26 "2009-12-08T18:57:24Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > I took the risk of going through that scene sitting at my desk in work earlier on. I just got away with it but I was close to making a show of myself šŸ˜‰ Oh you fuck. So glad Iā€™m on my own in the office right now, as Iā€™m in bits. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/27 "2009-12-08T19:32:01Z")
_ **Millions** _, a (somewhat) obscure British comedy from 2005-ish. A kid sees Catholic saints, as in, they appear to him and converse with him, and sometimes even give him gifts. He keeps asking if any of them are familiar with St. Maureen (his deceased mother). None of them have heard of her. At the end of the movie, she appears to him and they hug and talk for a few minutes. At one point in the conversation, she asks if heā€™s been worried about her. He replies: ā€œI havenā€™t been worried about you. Iā€™ve just been missing you, thatā€™s all.ā€ ā˜¹ _snif_ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/28 "2009-12-08T19:53:29Z")
Iā€™ve mentioned this one many times before, but the end of the _Diaries of Adam and Eve_ segment from Will Vintonā€™s **The Adventures of Mark Twain** always gets me dewy-eyed. And itā€™s only plasticene! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/29 "2009-12-08T20:09:27Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Years ago I saw a movie on TV featuring Haley Joel Osment. It must have been after _Sixth Sense_ because I recognized him, although in the movie he seemed slightly younger than his _Sixth Sense_ role. Actually I didnā€™t see the movie just the last little bit so I have no idea what it was. His character is dumped by his mother who leaves during the night leaving a note to explain why she canā€™t stay with him. > > In the scene where he reads the letter a voice over reads us the contents. Osmentā€™s face falls, he begins to tear up and by the end of the letter he is crying with snot running down his face. It is all done with no histrionics, he hardly makes a noise and it is heart rending. _Second Hand Lions_? It was 4 years after 6th sense, but it fits your description. Great movie too - she leaves him with his 2 crazy uncles (Robert Duvall & Michael Caine), who are full of fantastic stories from their youth. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/30 "2009-12-08T20:36:46Z")
I too love that portion of Paris, je tā€™aime! Itā€™s so sweet and sad and hopeful. > [@yojimbo](#): > > Thereā€™s a french movie called Ponette that is one of the most powerful things Iā€™ve ever seen. Itā€™s about a four year old dealing with her motherā€™s death. I saw **Ponette** in the theater and the sniffling and sobbing sounds in the audience were loud. You got the feeling that the entire audience wanted to engage in a big group hug throughout the movie. Iā€™ve never felt that kind of shared empathy with fellow theatergoers. Victoire is phenomenal, but the acting by all of the children in the movie is pretty amazing. Hereā€™s a bizarre one from a very obscure film called [Wristcutters: A Love Story](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Px-d--vrs4). The movieā€™s premise is that people who commit suicide ā€œwake upā€ in a world very much like the one they left, only more drab and dingy and hopeless. Thereā€™s no escaping this one via suicide though. Three suicides band together and forge an unlikely friendship. Itā€™s not a great movie, but it has a lot of great moments, and my favorite is the opening scene. Whether this is moving to anyone but me, I donā€™t know. Iā€™m pretty weird. Good call on About Schmidt and Ghost World **Freudian Slit**. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/31 "2009-12-08T20:39:45Z")
The CPR scene in ā€œLars and the Real Girlā€. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/32 "2009-12-08T20:42:52Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Hereā€™s a bizarre one from a very obscure film called [Wristcutters: A Love Story](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Px-d--vrs4). Btw, sorry, thatā€™s not SFW because of language. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/33 "2009-12-08T21:41:23Z")
Ditto on _Last Night_. Love that movie! Out of the whole movie, though, itā€™s the scene with Arsinee Khanjian and her daughter on the abandoned streetcar that sticks with me. Another favourite is the final scene in [_After Life_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165078/). Gets me every time. I wonā€™t give it awayā€¦ anyone curious enough can just see for themselves. The story is set in a sort of waystation on the way to the afterlife and revolves around a group of ā€œcounselorsā€ who are responsible for greeting the newly dead. Their job is to help each person re-live one moment from their lives one last time so that they carry that memory with them into the afterlife. Itā€™s sweet to see what various characters settle on as their one last memory, and how some struggle to choose. Itā€™s a quiet little movie - simple premise done on a low budget, no big special FX to speak of, but if youā€™ve got the patience to deal with the slow, measured pace of the movie, itā€™ll reward you with all sorts of wonderful little scenes. Plus itā€™s good food for thought. I mean, do you know which memory youā€™d like to carry with you into eternity, if you had to pick just one? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/34 "2009-12-08T21:44:40Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > _ **Millions** _, a (somewhat) obscure British comedy from 2005-ish. I never saw this but I remember seeing the adsā€¦definitely makes me want to check it out now. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/35 "2009-12-09T15:32:07Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Hereā€™s a bizarre one from a very obscure film called [Wristcutters: A Love Story](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Px-d--vrs4). The movieā€™s premise is that people who commit suicide ā€œwake upā€ in a world very much like the one they left, only more drab and dingy and hopeless. Thereā€™s no escaping this one via suicide though. Three suicides band together and forge an unlikely friendship. Itā€™s not a great movie, but it has a lot of great moments, and my favorite is the opening scene. Whether this is moving to anyone but me, I donā€™t know. Iā€™m pretty weird. I love that movie. I totally agree that it has a lot of great moments, but I take issue with it being ā€œnot greatā€ as a whole. Iā€™d rate it very good to great. (It also has a pretty solid 7.4 rating on imdb.) So many nice touches, like how they complain about not being able to smile in the suicide afterlife. heh. If Iā€™m remembering the opening scene correctly, a similar one is at the beginning of The Chumscrubber. I didnā€™t find either particularly moving, though I donā€™t find many movie scenes particularly moving in general. (After thinking about it since I first posted, I still donā€™t have a single contribution.) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/36 "2009-12-09T16:51:32Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > A movie from 1969 called [Run Wild Run Free](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064909/) spoke to me particularly at that time; I havenā€™t seen it since, and I rather doubt it would have the same effect on me now as then. > > The scene is at the end when the boy has to break his psychological muteness in order to save the horse he loves, to make it pull itself out of the mud, and both his parents were there to help him. Before this, his parents had been clueless about his life or what was important to him. Heavy-handed symbolism, to be sure, but at the time it cut me to the heart. > > Apparently, based on comments on [imdb.com](http://imdb.com), it is not available any more. Too bad. > Roddy Yeah, I check for its availability every few months. Major movie of my childhood. Iā€™d pay way more than I could afford for a ninth generation VHS dub. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/37 "2009-12-09T18:36:25Z")
The final scene in the movie **[Osama](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368913/)**, showing the judge lowering himself into a warm bath. Sounds pretty innocuous, but . . . it signified that he just raped the young girl who was the focus of the film.The final scene of **Children of Heaven**. Ali wins the race, but is in tears because he wanted only to finish second so he could win the pair of shoes that was a prize. ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/38 "2009-12-10T10:32:19Z")
Ponette was such a great film. I donā€™t know how a four year old can do that. Definitely the best piece of child acting Iā€™ve seen. Not really an obscure movie but a touching moment where I wasnā€™t expecting it. It was in the film Murielā€™s Wedding, near the beginning. Muriel goes to a bar to hang out with the girls she thinks are her friends. They clearly hate her. Eventually they tell her that she is not one of them and that they wish sheā€™d stop hanging around with them. As they go on she just goes ā€œIā€™m not nothing.ā€ I may have had something in my eye. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/39 "2009-12-11T08:51:38Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > _Second Hand Lions_? It was 4 years after 6th sense, but it fits your description. Great movie too - she leaves him with his 2 crazy uncles (Robert Duvall & Michael Caine), who are full of fantastic stories from their youth. No, not **Secondhand Lions**. It was a TV movie called, IIRC, **Lies of the Heart** , produced about four years before **Sixth Sense**. I was going to describe two scenes from **Mediterraneo** , but it would take too long to give context. Now Iā€™m going to have to check out **Ponette**. And **Last Night**. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Real\_Regency\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@The\_Real\_Regency\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Real_Regency_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405/40 "2010-06-20T16:16:48Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > The CPR scene in ā€œLars and the Real Girlā€. The flowers on the porch scene was the one that really got to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-touching-scenes-in-obscure-movies/520405.md?page=3)