What are some of the most depressing movies you've ever watched? (1 Viewer)

[nousername]

I just saw The Deer Hunter for the first time last night. Ranks right up there as one of the most depressing movies I've ever watched. Nothing happy or "feel good" about this movie at all.
Another candidate for me would be At Close Range, another movie which stars Christopher Walken. Hmmm... do I detect a pattern here?
Anyway, what are some of the most depressing movies you've ever watched?

 

[DanaA]

Sophie's Choice comes to mind. I have 2 children and wouldn't even be able to watch the film now.

 

[Steeve Bergeron]

Requiem for a Dream is quite depressing. It's a good movie but I don't really want to watch it again.

 

[Jeff_A]

Schindler's List
The impact is so strong, that I am generally in a severe state of depression for a few days afterward. :frowning:

 

[Jan H]

I question the use of the word "depressing." The above movies are very, very sad. Depressing movies are pieces of S%#$ that you're sorry you wasted 8 bucks on.

 

[Tom Ryan]

Midnight Cowboy...it just makes me think about my future (no, I'm not going to be a male prostitute ). Yeesh I had a really depressing dream after watching it.

 

[Matt Pelham]

Combat Shock was pretty bad.

 

[Travis Olson]

Dances with Wolves
Shindler's List
American History X
What Dreams May Come

 

[Brian Kissinger]

Map of the Human Heart has to be the most depressing movie I've ever seen. It's a great movie, but I can't watch it very often.

 

[Chucky P]

The flicks above plus
Dancer In The Dark.
Watching depressing flicks in the wintertime do not mix.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Damn, you guys took most of my nominees!
I would add Amadeus (the second half).

 

[nousername]

I question the use of the word "depressing." The above movies are very, very sad. Depressing movies are pieces of S%#$ that you're sorry you wasted 8 bucks on.

Depress: sadden, discourage (Webster's Dictionary)

The Godfather II was also depressing. It was very sad to see the gutting of Michael Corleone's soul in this film.

I would also rate Saving Private Ryan, Leaving Las Vegas, and Taxi Driver as kind of depressing movies. None of these films really has a happy ending...

 

[SteveGon]

Here's a few more:
Voyager - A man who has grown distant from life has an affair with a young woman who turns out to be the daughter he didn't know he had. Then she dies. There's an existential monologue which ends with: "Suicide isn't an option for me - it doesn't change the fact that one has been in the world. I only wish that I had never existed." Get out the Prozac after you watch this one!
Jude - A young boy takes something his mother says the wrong way and strangles his little brother and sister before hanging himself. A truly shocking and depressing moment.
Au Revoir Les Enfants - A group of Jewish boys and the headmaster of a Catholic boarding school who was hiding them from the Nazis are caught and taken to the camps. A brief monologue from a friend of one of the boys states that they all died. I cried like a baby.

 

[Jan H]

Good call, Webster...er..Allan. Actually, I took the word to mean "dispiriting" or "to make gloomy," or "to lower in spirits." If any of the above films "dispirit" the viewer, than they cannot be good movies. Once again, bad movies are depressing, good movies are sad. Anyway, Seven is one of the few good movies that is both

 

[Steve Enemark]

Platoon was a bit of a downer, especiallySgt. Elias' death
.

 

[Terrell]

A.I.! I went in with a good mood, I came out in a terrible mood. Ridiculously depressing.

 

[Rich Romero]

Requiem For a Dream - it's good depressing (is that possible?) I always watch it yet it always makes me feel depressed afterward
Return of the Living Dead 3 - because it sucks so bad

 

[nousername]

I almost forgot Ordinary People...

For some strange reason, I like sad/depressing movies like these. I guess it's because they don't follow the normal Hollywood convention of happy, feel-good endings that are all too common.

At Close Range and Schindler's List are particularly depressing because they are based on real-life stories.

 

[Jan H]

Hey Allan, if you feel adventurous, why not turn this in to a tournanament? The most Sad/Depressing movie of all time? These titles are making me tear up as we speak? :frowning:

 

[Steeve Bergeron]

That's actually a great idea, Jan! Let's have a tournament about those depressing movies.