Movies without any semblance of a happy ending.

[GIGObuster]

@DrDeth

(In actuality both sides did some pretty horrible things and both sides had some good guys. In the end, Franco did restore Democracy, so now with 20/20 hindsight we should look upon the Nationalist as the good guys. But we don’t.)

I’m not willing to give Franco even that, It was international pressure that pressured Franco and then the king to try a different path. It is just rationalization after the fact that makes many right wingers come with the idea that Franco brought the monarchy to bring democracy back, I have seen enough evidence to say that Franco wanted to bring back the monarchy because he thought it would be the only way to continue his vision of a non-democratic, intolerantly Catholic, and deeply reactionary Spain, with a military dictator as the real power behind the throne. Unfortunately the designed by Franco’s successor was murdered and then Franco died. The King, after seeing the writing on the wall, (lots of unrest in favor of change) then changed his tune.

Spanish transition to democracy

he swore fidelity to the Principles of the Movimiento Nacional, the sole legal party of the Franco era; took possession of the crown before the Francoist Cortes Generales; and respected the Ley Orgánica del Estado (Organic Law of the State) for the appointment of his first head of government. Only in his speech before the Cortes did he show the beginning of the transformation of the Spanish political system.

Democracy finally came to Spain by despising the will of Franco.

[beowulff]

I haven’t seen it since it first opened, but** Dangerous Liaisons** was pretty much a downer, as I recall.

[Freudian_Slit]

Reservoir Dogs

Sunset Boulevard

[Lumpy]

@NDP

I know this is taking the thread OT but there’s one thing about that movie I was not clear about. Were the souls of Angel and Favorite sharing the same body? Was it similar to some type of dual-personality “Jekyll & Hyde” arrangement where after Angel would question a witness, Favorite’s soul would resurface, take control of his body, and murder the witness?

That’s possible, although with the way reality was bent by what I call a “Diabolicus ex Machina”, it’s hard to say. My own take on it was that everyone really did die of fantastically unlikely “accidents” or suicides, arranged by You-Know-Who, and the glimpses Angel was seeing were of the “retroactive reality” that would be how the rest of the world would see the events.

[lissener]

@spoke-

The Hays Code did not mandate happy endings.

What I’m saying is (and obviously this is open to debate), essentially it did.

@spoke-

If you’re saying that “the wicked get punished” equals a happy ending for larger society (or “conventional morality”), then a lot of the grim movies in this thread had such a “happy ending.”

My point exactly.

@spoke-

But I don’t think that’s what the OP had in mind.

That’s as may be. I still think it’s an interesting discussion. Douglas Sirk left Hollywood because of the tyranny of the mandatory happy ending. I.e., the Hays-dictated morally standardized resolution. Obviously, this is a broader definition of the phrase “happy ending,” but I think that many of the movies of that era that seem, on the surface, to subvert that mandate were actually (and I may say, though you may not, hypocritically) upholding and perpetuating it.

[lissener]

@Sitnam

What’s with the spoiler? If you haven’t seen a movie released 12 years ago you deserve to have it ruined.

Because around here, minimal politeness to other posters is seen as a virtue, not a failing.

[DrDeth]

@mhendo

Restored democracy? What the fuck are you smoking?

Do you realize that the Popular Front government he sought to overthrow as part of his armed rebellion was a democratically elected minority government?

Forged in violence and revolt, Spain was not stable. But what I meant was that Franco restored Democracy after years of him being an autocrat.

IMHO, if the leftists had won, Spain would have slid into a number of small Communist Dictatorships and those dudes were not exactly inclined to “restore Democracy” at all. Most- if not all- of them would have been Stalinist puppet states.

[Sefton]

Angel Heart. Not just a sad ending, but genuinely depressing.

[mhendo]

@DrDeth

Forged in violence and revolt, Spain was not stable. But what I meant was that Franco restored Democracy after years of him being an autocrat.

IMHO, if the leftists had won, Spain would have slid into a number of small Communist Dictatorships and those dudes were not exactly inclined to “restore Democracy” at all. Most- if not all- of them would have been Stalinist puppet states.

You’re perfectly welcome to believe that, but all it demonstrates is your ignorance of what was actually happening in Spain.

In fact, the only reason that Stalin and the Soviets gained any sort of stronghold in Spain was that the Russians were the only nation-state to defend an elected government from a coup d’etat. That Stalin did this out of naked self-interest doesn’t change the fact that no-one else would help. The government itself, and much of Spain’s ruling coalition, were fairly standard 1930s Popular Front types, not that much different in their general politics from New Deal Democrats. To the extent that the lefitsts were radical, the radicals tended to be anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists, especially in areas like Catalonia. Soviet-style communism was a minor position, and only gained power as a result of the arms provided by Stalin. In a time of dire military need, the republicans were in a position where they had virtually no choice but to exchange influence for arms.

Had western European and other democratic countries (France, US, UK, etc.) actually helped the ELECTED GOVERNMENT of Spain in its time of need, they would have been in a position to exert even greater influence on the politics of the country. Had the leftists won with the help of countries allegedly concerned about democracy, Spain in the postwar period most likely would have been just another western European country, probably characterized by multiple parties and volatile politics, but no more a tool of the Soviets than France or Italy.

[Sleel]

There are actually quite a lot of movies that don’t have happy endings.

Memento, Leonard is left without direction or conscience, and like he said, “How can I heal if I can’t feel time passing?”

Young Poisoner’s Handbook, real life was a bit worse than this movie, but the movie still has no upturns at all.

The Collector, the movie that all serial killers could point to and say, “That was the first time I ever saw a movie that made me think that someone else understood exactly how I feel.”

Spider, shows a schizophrenic’s descent into further madness.

The Well, the best thing that can be said about the tone of this movie is that the older woman was at least happy for a while.

The Man in the Moon, very good coming of age story, bittersweet ending.

The Limey, it’s not a happy movie, and the best thing that the main character gets out of it is the realization that he’s been a shitty father, but it’s not his fault his daughter died.

Hard Candy, I wouldn’t call the ending even remotely happy. There were two twisted sociopaths in that room, but only one of them got off on intentionally causing pain.

Miller’s Crossing, sure the main character survives, but that doesn’t a happy ending make. Ditto Road to Perdition.

Cube, very few answers to questions and even the question of what happens if someone makes it out is unclear.

The Machinist, it gets weirder and worse as the movie goes on. The best thing that happens is that he might be able to sleep from now on.

[TheMerchandise]

I just watched a movie today that fits the bill: Curse of the Golden Flower.

Depressing and brutal. But preternaturally beautiful.

[Ike_Witt]

How about The Grifters?

[PBear42]

A few more:

Cabaret
All That Jazz
The Third Man
American Beauty
Planet of the Apes
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
And a typo correction. Of course, that should have been Donny Darko. I am not obsessive, I am not obsessive, I am NOT obsessive!!

[FriarTed]

How did I forget “Johnny Got His Gun”? Whew!

I’d debate “Donny Darko”- I’d also categorize that as “bittersweet”.

[kaylasdad99]

Boy, I sure hope I get to be the first person to say Requiem for a Dream.

Just kidding, I’ve read the whole thread, and I’ve seen how many people seem to be thinking that.

But I AM the first person to mention The Pumpkin Eater, Easy Rider, and American Me.

ETA: Ooh, also Sayonara with Marlon Brando and Red Buttons. And The Detective, starring Kirk Douglas.

[DrDeth]

@mhendo

You’re perfectly welcome to believe that, but all it demonstrates is your ignorance of what was actually happening in Spain.
.

Meh. Start a thread in GD.

[NDP]

@kaylasdad99

Boy, I sure hope I get to be the first person to say Requiem for a Dream.

Just kidding, I’ve read the whole thread, and I’ve seen how many people seem to be thinking that.

But I AM the first person to mention … Easy Rider …

I hate to tell you this but I mentioned Easy Rider back in post 95.

[mhendo]

@DrDeth

Meh. Start a thread in GD.

Hey, you’re the one who started the political hijack.

[kaylasdad99]

@NDP

I hate to tell you this but I mentioned Easy Rider back in post 95.

Dang, I shoulda done a Ctrl+F. Well done.

Oh, well, four out of five ain’t all that bad for me in a CS list-type thread.

[Koxinga]

I’m not that much of a film buff, but I appreciate the movies where there’s no happy ending at all–once you stop and think about it, or realize what’s really going on.

E.g., Blade Runner and Minority Report. Must be something about Philip K. Dick.