MC Wednesday Inventory #2: Your Five Most Devastating Films

**dreamdead** · 05-01-2013, 05:48 PM

Here's week two of the inventory. We're halfway through Take Shelter and it's perhaps the most harrowing subjective film of the past few years. So... what are the top five films that, thematically/filmically/what-have-you, just absolutely devastate you?

**Watashi** · 05-01-2013, 06:00 PM

Why are you only halfway through it?

**Spinal** · 05-01-2013, 06:06 PM

1. Breaking the Waves/entire Lars von Trier oeuvre
2. The Sweet Hereafter
3. Ikiru
4. The Bicycle Thief
5. Boys Don't Cry

Also ... Tokyo Story, The Virgin Spring, Dead Man Walking, High School

**dreamdead** · 05-01-2013, 06:09 PM

Quoting Watashi (view post)

Why are you only halfway through it?

End of semester grading/dealing with students' plagiarism issues. Really sucks the energy out of life. It's seldom that Sarah and I complete a film in one go anymore.

**Watashi** · 05-01-2013, 06:24 PM

1. Dancer in the Dark
2. It's Such a Beautiful Day
3. Secret & Lies
4. Cries and Whispers
5. The 400 Blows

**Raiders** · 05-01-2013, 06:35 PM

I'm going to avoid documentaries as they would probably make up the entire list (Shoah, Titicut Follies, Heart and Minds, etc...)

1. Come and See
2. The Life of Oharu
3. The Sweet Hereafter
4. In a Lonely Place
5. Werckmeister Harmonies

**elixir** · 05-01-2013, 06:47 PM

l'enfance nue
safe
mysterious skin
code unknown
make way for tomorrow

**Raiders** · 05-01-2013, 07:01 PM

Quoting elixir (view post)

safe
make way for tomorrow

We'll call these my #6 and 7, mmk?

**Gizmo** · 05-01-2013, 09:17 PM

Off the top of my head:

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Grave of the Fireflies
Amour
The Bicycle Thief
Mean Creek

**Skitch** · 05-01-2013, 11:45 PM

First one that popped in my head was Grave of the Fireflies.

Schindlers List
The Isle
Oldboy
Irreversible

...more...

Bloody Sunday, Legend of 1900, American History X...

**Ezee E** · 05-02-2013, 12:44 AM

Dear Zachary
Dancer in the Dark
The Virgin Spring
Kramer VS. Kramer
Two Lovers

**ledfloyd** · 05-02-2013, 12:52 AM

Hmm, I like a lot of the ones listed, but there really aren't any I would hesitate to put on again. I'll have to think on this.

**Pop Trash** · 05-02-2013, 03:05 AM

Quoting Raiders (view post)

I'm going to avoid documentaries as they would probably make up the entire list (Shoah, Titicut Follies, Heart and Minds, etc...)

Agree. Don't think documentaries should count. There are probably dozens of docs that ruined my week.

**dreamdead** · 05-02-2013, 03:22 AM

1. Naked
2. Ordet
3. The Son
4. Come and See
5. Secret Sunshine

HM: Oslo, August 31st, Breaking the Waves, It's Such a Beautiful Day

Lee and the Dardennes seem like the best contemporary filmmakers at this tradition.

**Pop Trash** · 05-02-2013, 03:48 AM

1. Breaking the Waves
2. The Bicycle Thief
3. The Sweet Hereafter
4. Lilja 4-Ever
5. Requiem for a Dream

Something like that...

**B-side** · 05-02-2013, 06:49 AM

1. A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)
2. Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996)
3. Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh, 1996)
4. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
5. Twentynine Palms (Bruno Dumont, 2003)

**Milky Joe** · 05-02-2013, 10:13 AM

Annie Hall
JFK
Paths of Glory
Rosemary's Baby
The Straight Story

First few that came to mind.

**Yxklyx** · 05-02-2013, 11:59 AM

Is Vertigo on too many lists already to make it here?

**Kurious Jorge v3.1** · 05-02-2013, 12:38 PM

Nights of Cabiria
Hiroshima mon amour
Swedish Love Story
A Woman Under the Influence
Coup de Grace

HMs: The Naked Island, The Virgin Spring, Lilya 4ever, Posession, Another Woman, Ivan's Childhood, Ballad of a Soldier, Import/Export, A Brighter Summer Day, The Mouth Agape, The Piano Teacher, The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover

**Yxklyx** · 05-02-2013, 01:36 PM

Specifically films in which a main character is devastated at the end.

1. Requiem for a Dream
2. Vertigo
3. Lilya 4-Ever
4. Scarlet Street
5. Being John Malkovich

**elixir** · 05-02-2013, 04:28 PM

Quoting Kurious Jorge v3.1 (view post)

Nights of Cabiria

Yeah, this is absolutely crushing. I used to think otherwise, too.

Though of some them mentioned, I really do find them the opposite of devastating (though I suppose there can be different ways of reading that word!). I also thought about just saying Pialat in general.

**Ezee E** · 05-02-2013, 07:33 PM

How could I forget De Sica? Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D should be in this list.

**Melville** · 05-02-2013, 09:03 PM

1. Requiem for a Dream
2. Mulholland Drive
3. In a Lonely Place
4. It's a Wonderful Life
5. Two Lovers

**wigwam** · 05-02-2013, 09:05 PM

I get it about Dancer in the Dark but the rest of LvT's movies all have happy endings, don't they?

I cry in most movies so I'm only talking about profound, lingering resonance with dark devastating feelings I always carry:

1. A Christmas Tale
2. Anti-Clock
3. Berlin Alexanderplatz
4. Woyzeck
5. Notre musique

The only devastating thing about Pialat is having to sit through his absence of artistry...

**elixir** · 05-02-2013, 09:16 PM

Quoting wigwam (view post)

The only devastating thing about Pialat is having to sit through his absence of artistry...

*rimshot*

I would substitute in LvT there, though. The idea of people finding DitD genuinely devastating, lolz.

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