# The Saddest Movie Ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 23, 2002, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515 "2002-12-23T10:32:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/101 "2002-12-31T16:57:54Z")
_The Bicycle Thief_. I went to see it with my brother, and when the lights came on he said exactly what I was thinking: “That’s the most depressing movie I’ve ever seen!” I also found _Toto le Heros_ sad as hell, even though it’s supposed to be a comedy. ---
**Author:** ![SillyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@SillyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SillyGirl)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/102 "2002-12-31T19:29:31Z")
Did anyone mention Magnolia yet? That movie haunted me for about a month. I bought it, but can’t bring myself to watch it. It wrecked me. I get teared up just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/103 "2003-01-06T04:31:12Z")
I was reminded today of one of the mostheartwrenching stories ever told, both as book and as marvelously adapted film: \*\* Sophie’s Choice. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/104 "2003-01-06T04:40:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Troy McClure SF \* > \*\*Just like any other vB tag (use square brackets, not the curly ones shown here)- > > {spoiler}They all die at the end after finding out he was a cheetah, after all.{/spoiler} > > becomes > > They all die at the end after finding out he was a cheetah, after all. > > All that coding stuff can be found in the ATMB forum. \*\* Ummm, You explained it much better than the ATMB forum. I read theirs and for some reason (could have been the migraine, when I get them I get “foggy moments”), I didn’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/105 "2003-01-06T04:47:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gazelle from Hell \* > \*\*Oh gosh how could I have forgotten **The Green Mile**? > > I read the book (again) right before seeing the movie in the theater; I started crying as soon as the opening credits began rolling. > > I wonder if I was PMSing that day. \*\* This would be my vote as well. Also Ghost, which no one mentioned and probably a few think is "corny’. At the time that movie came out, I had lost a boyfriend not too many months before, so it hit me where I lived so to speak. Any Disney movie, (okay I’m a big mushpot, but I see I’m not alone here!!). Awakenings had me openly crying. I think the one that was the absolute worst in terms of crying out loud had to be “Brian’s Song,” the original one with Gale whatsisname. I agree with another poster a few posts back who said she avoids sad movies. I used to not have a problem with them, but anymore I have to really “be in the right mood” to see one. Oh! How could I forget “Saving Private Ryan”??? The scene where (okay I’m going to TRY this spoiler thing, avert eyes just in case!!!) the young soldier is dying in the field and he cries out for his mother at the last? OMG, being a mom,of a son,whew,that was a little too real You know? Come to think of it, how can one pick one’s “saddest movie of all time”??? There are sooooooo many sad ones!!! ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/106 "2003-01-06T04:57:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Flowers for Algernon (made as Charlie I think) If you look for it , it’s actually called **Charly**. Great movie by the way. But I don’t see it as sad. I see it as a person winning out over and keeping happiness with his life over what society says a person ought to be. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/107 "2003-01-06T05:11:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > \*\*If you look for it , it’s actually called **Charly**. Great movie by the way. > But I don’t see it as sad. I see it as a person winning out over and keeping happiness with his life over what society says a person ought to be. \*\* Oh, I remember that one!! I saw it as terribly sad as well. “Charly” was okay, but his lover lost him, that was terribly sad IMO. ---
**Author:** ![LoN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@LoN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoN)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/108 "2003-01-06T07:52:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > \*\*If you look for it , it’s actually called **Charly**. Great movie by the way. > But I don’t see it as sad. I see it as a person winning out over and keeping happiness with his life over what society says a person ought to be. \*\* I never saw the movie, but I read the story (and saw the Simpsons epsisode). I saw it as a superior person being driven down by utter stupidity and anti-intellectualism of society. “I’d rather by Socrates dissatisfied then a fool satisfied” and all that… ---
**Author:** ![litost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@litost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/litost)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/109 "2003-01-06T08:12:21Z")
More votes for **Elephant Man** and **Dancer in the Dark** In **Elephant Man** tears flowed down when he starts crying on being treated with dignity by Anthony Hopkins and his wife at their house and then shares the picture of his mother. Despite \*\* Dancer in the Dark \*\* being gut-wrenching, I couldn’t help feeling manipulated… as if Lars Von Trier was pulling my emotional strings consciously. ---
**Author:** ![cjc3039](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d9b06d/32.png) [@cjc3039](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjc3039)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/110 "2015-08-31T21:54:08Z")
OMG, The last scene in “The Remains of the Day” without a doubt makes me bawl like no other movie. Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins starred, so you know it’s going to be a good movie (based on the book of the same name, BTW). I won’t spoil it by detailing the ending, but trust me, it’s a 3-box of tissues ending. Odd to me, though, is that I’ve seen the movie described as a comedy. There are a couple of places that made me chuckle, but I’d sure never classify it as a comedy. It’s drama at its best with the saddest ending I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/111 "2015-08-31T22:09:56Z")
\*On the Beach \* – watch the end of the world. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/112 "2015-09-01T17:18:00Z")
Hooray for this revived thread! This weekend I was emotionally traumatized by [A Single Man](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1315981/), and I’ve been thinking about posting about it, as I still feel shaken. The funny thing is, I’d seen it before and vaguely remembered I had liked it and even more vaguely remembered it was sad. Oh ho ho, sad. “Sad.” It is a film steeped to its saturation point with grief, loneliness, and despair, hiding under a placid and tasteful surface. Not unlike those lakes in Africa that look all normal but are actually hotbeds of deadly gases on the brink of release. I wept openly throughout the entire film, from the very first scene to the credits. The last scene felt like standing in the flash zone of a nuclear bomb. Afterwards, I laid down on my couch and sobbed for a solid 10 minutes, and then cried off and on for the rest of the night and all the next day. It was excellent, though! I highly recommend it! Just not if you’re depressed, grieving, or suicidal! ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/113 "2015-09-01T17:21:37Z")
I’m currently depressed, broke, and single so I think maybe I should pass on that movie 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/114 "2015-09-01T18:48:43Z")
Inside Out. I started to cry about a minute into the animated short that runs before it, and didn’t stop until we were out of the theater. Most exhausting entertainment experience of my life, and I never want to see the film again. Didn’t help that we took our small daughter to see it while in the middle of packing up for a huge transcontinental move. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rainbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@black\_rainbow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rainbow)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/115 "2015-09-01T20:14:44Z")
The first time I saw the perks of being a wallflower, I sobbed throughout the whole thing. Many similiarities between his high school experience and mine. AI and the Laramie Project both had me crying hysterically. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/116 "2015-09-01T20:14:51Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > Hooray for this revived thread! This weekend I was emotionally traumatized by [A Single Man](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1315981/), and I’ve been thinking about posting about it, as I still feel shaken. > > The funny thing is, I’d seen it before and vaguely remembered I had liked it and even more vaguely remembered it was sad. Oh ho ho, sad. “Sad.” It is a film steeped to its saturation point with grief, loneliness, and despair, hiding under a placid and tasteful surface. Not unlike those lakes in Africa that look all normal but are actually hotbeds of deadly gases on the brink of release. > > I wept openly throughout the entire film, from the very first scene to the credits. The last scene felt like standing in the flash zone of a nuclear bomb. Afterwards, I laid down on my couch and sobbed for a solid 10 minutes, and then cried off and on for the rest of the night and all the next day. > > It was excellent, though! I highly recommend it! Just not if you’re depressed, grieving, or suicidal! Oh lordy, I’d forgotten about this excellent film. So well acted and so freakin’ touching. I happened to catch \*Step Mom \*as few nights ago. I see it was mentioned when this thread was started many years ago and I only took a brief glance through all the replies so I don’t know if I already shared this back then. Fuck. Me. I was leaking throughout the whole thing and I have no idea why. I have no children (nor do I want any). My own dear mother passed several years ago, and not from a lingering illness like in the movie so I don’t think I’m relating to that. The movie is so obviously contrived to make you cry and I almost never fall for that but this one sure kicked my ass. Even the cheesy, obligatory scene where they all dance to a motown song got to me. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/117 "2015-09-01T20:25:29Z")
This isn’t a weeper for most people, but “Field of Dreams” wipes me out every time I watch it. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/118 "2015-09-01T20:28:00Z")
Contributing [When the Wind Blows](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090315/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) to the animated-post-war-devastation-misery genre. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/119 "2015-09-01T20:35:04Z")
I really believe there should be two threads for this. One for men and one for ladies. What can I say? I am the big, bad, sexist bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515/120 "2015-09-01T20:36:10Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > This isn’t a weeper for most people, but “Field of Dreams” wipes me out every time I watch it. Can you tell me why? It seems to me that film was not even particularly well done. I figured that Old Yeller would appear about 2nd or 3rd on the list. It was 6th. But, at least I checked before I posted it. I will try to find one that has not already been posted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-movie-ever/144515.md?page=7)