# Movies and Emotional Reaction



## Geodude (Nov 22, 2009)

I guess a subtitle would usually be "Movies that Make You Cry". I think, though, that sometimes other emotional reactions, particularly anger and joy can happen from film. 

Anyway, what films have elicited strong emotional reactions from you. Many of my favourite films I like intellectually rather than emotionally, but there are a few exceptions. Most recently

Synecdoche, New York - the thing that got me in this film was the main characters obsession with creating something true and meaningful, while spending most of his life avoiding having true and meaningful interactions. Also, when he was dying, and someone was narrating to him what he should do while he died, it really got me.

The Corporation - this filled me with righteous anger, seeing the way people will treat others to make a bit of money makes me feel sick and ashamed.

Those wll do for now, what ones stick out for other people?


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## Hiccups24-7 (Oct 17, 2009)

I'd say one more over any another would be 'Home Room'
it builds up and drawns you in to the lives and experiences that they have been through ..then all that pent up tense emotion is released and I end up in convulsions of sobbing at the end. Gets me everytime but I love it


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## Geodude (Nov 22, 2009)

So I just saw Where the Wild Things Are - great film, and absolutely shot through with sadness. There wasn't any, one specific moment, just the overall feeling of sadness and loss.


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## Entelechy (Dec 5, 2009)

One movie that elicited a huge emotional reaction from me was an animated film called Hotaru no Haka, b.k.a. Grave of the Fireflies. I watched it on IFC approximately eight years ago, oblivious of a plot synopsis. I thought it was interesting based on the pre-movie interruption given by Tom Noonan (that should show how long ago this was, back when IFC did that). I won't spoil the movie, but by the end I was wrecked. The movie is about a young boy and his younger sister as they attempt to find family during WWII-era Japan as the Allied forces bomb the country side, and although it is animated, do not expect kiddie movie manipulation of any kind. It's a wonderful film and when I tell people about it, they scoff about how an "anime" could bring tears. But trust me on it.


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## Stars (Jul 23, 2009)

Grave Of The Fireflies is devastating. That's one movie I can't watch very often because of the sheer impact.

Other movies include Brian's Song, the only movie to ever make me cry. For movies that make me laugh uncontrollably, Bad Santa, Office Space, Clerks, Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Colon Movie Film For Theaters. For movies that scare the hell out of me: The Shining and The Audition.


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## Geodude (Nov 22, 2009)

Hehehe I have a copy of Grave of the Fireflies on DVD. I haven't watched it yet, I've heard it's so good but so sad, I find it hard to bring myself to watch it. One day!


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## screamofconscious (Oct 15, 2009)

A Time to Kill - Pain, sadness, hate and contempt. The film filled me with a mass of conflicting emotions as I had empathy for the father and his circumstances, hate and contempt for the attackers of his child and a great sadness with the conclusion. Everybody lost even though the "good guys" still won.

Hostel - I was filled with disgust. I was also outraged with myself for not taking a closer look at what the movie was about before viewing it. There are now images in my head that I can never erase. Plot was one of the worst I've ever come across. 

What Dreams May Come - Tear jerking and heart wrenching; my perception of love has been permenantly altered by this movie. This is probably the best movie I have ever seen and would recommend it to everybody. There was hardly a moment through this entire movie where I was not emotionally engaged.


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## Mind Marauder (Nov 12, 2009)

Love Blood and Kryptonite is a tear jerker.

But then again all movies that have sentimental value to me make me tear up (maybe not always physically but mentally).


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## Just_Some_Guy (Oct 8, 2009)

aubrey said:


> What Dreams May Come - Tear jerking and heart wrenching; my perception of love has been permenantly altered by this movie. This is probably the best movie I have ever seen and would recommend it to everybody. There was hardly a moment through this entire movie where I was not emotionally engaged.


I thought that the casting for this film was dreadful, but maybe it wasn't engineered for my type. I found the dialog was way too "F heavy" for me to really get into it.. Other than that, it was an amazing film. Also, it presents a non-western form of the afterlife, much more in line with Hinduism and the thoughts of Hiroshi Motoyama. 

For films I get worked up over, the two I could think of were both by Darren Aronofsky.

The Fountain:  If you haven't seen this, you simply must. Not only is it one of the most visually spectacular films I have ever seen, its power is unrivaled. Hugh Jackman gives a stirring performance in this. Simply amazing. I've seen this about 6 times and it gets me to cry each and every time. I all ready look forward to the next time I'll watch it.

Requiem for a Dream: Ish. Nothing will make you feel more sad, alone and more ashamed of your own addictions/compulsions that watching this film alone. Yikes.


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## Geodude (Nov 22, 2009)

EmotionallyTonedGeometry said:


> For films I get worked up over, the two I could think of were both by Darren Aronofsky.
> 
> The Fountain: If you haven't seen this, you simply must. Not only is it one of the most visually spectacular films I have ever seen, its power is unrivaled. Hugh Jackman gives a stirring performance in this. Simply amazing. I've seen this about 6 times and it gets me to cry each and every time. I all ready look forward to the next time I'll watch it.
> 
> Requiem for a Dream: Ish. Nothing will make you feel more sad, alone and more ashamed of your own addictions/compulsions that watching this film alone. Yikes.


Aronofsky is a seriously talented dude. The Fountain I liked very much. It was seriously flawed, and very earnest. The funny things was is that for me, the flawed earnestness kind of made it more appealing. It was so heartfelt, and thematically, the notion of being so obsessed with keeping someone you love that you fail to appreciate it really interested me.

Requiem for a Dream is a funny one. When I first saw it, I was convinced it was one of the best films I have ever seen. It blew me away in the cinema, when it finished, I couldn't get up for a few minutes. I still think it's a brilliant piece of filmmaking craft. But rewatching it, I noticed how manipulative and unbalanced it is, to the point where it looks almost more like an anti drug educational film than a piece of filmmaking. Admittedly, that's more my issue than the films, but it put me off some. I think all of his other films are more honest and balanced.


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## Connor Atreid (Nov 20, 2009)

Excalibur....movie from 1981....it always touches me.....it shows to me true character of human soul.....from nobility to purest evil


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## susurration (Oct 22, 2009)

aubrey said:


> What Dreams May Come - Tear jerking and heart wrenching; my perception of love has been permenantly altered by this movie. This is probably the best movie I have ever seen and would recommend it to everybody. There was hardly a moment through this entire movie where I was not emotionally engaged.


Thanks for bringing this up, Aubrey.. I had forgotten about this film. I just got this flashback.. I remember watching it when I was ten, and at first being attracted to the amazing aesthetics.. and then being completely ripped to shreds emotionally as it went along. 


Can't think of much atm, but..


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## Hiccups24-7 (Oct 17, 2009)

wow ...wow....just wow... awesome trailers!!
I've seen tarnation, I have the movie poster of it strangely. It was in the free pile meh but still a great film! 
Ok adding these to my want list: What dreams,the fountain, grave of the fireflies, candy, revolutionary road.
hhmm well apart from the movie I've already mentioned (homeroom) I really haven't seen anything that has had a huge impact on me. Well apart from the obvious everyday movies ala sixth sense, good will hunting. 
I guess 'copying beethoven', 'powder', 'before sunset' and 'gran torino' are worth mentioning. And perhaps 'american history X', I had to go outside for some fresh air after watching that.


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## Selene (Aug 2, 2009)

Paths of Glory- Stanley Kubrick war movie -- really pisses me off.

Dumbo- I cried for about 10 minutes straight the last time I saw it. Just, everything about it is Four-ish... roud:


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## susurration (Oct 22, 2009)

Selene said:


> Paths of Glory- Stanley Kubrick war movie -- really pisses me off.
> 
> Dumbo- I cried for about 10 minutes straight the last time I saw it. Just, everything about it is Four-ish... roud:


yah, good observation! it is very 4-ish. I cried in that too. I haven't seen it since I was about 6 though! 
There are many animated kids movies I cry in. The fox and the hound, for instance.. or plague dogs.

Good suggestions, Shannon. American history-x - *thumbs up*


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## Isitso (Dec 3, 2009)

Grave of the Fireflies got me tearing up a bit as well, such a wonderful yet dark movie.

Anything that has a pet/animal death really gets to me. If I know the pet dies before I watch the movie I won't watch the movie. Perhaps it is because they always seem like victims who's voices can't be heard.


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## benfoldsfive dude (Nov 24, 2009)

I remember watching _One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest_ during health class last year, since we were talking about mental health. If it wasn't the fact that there were a lot of people that were in my health class, I would have been crying out loud. This semester, during Technical Theatre, we watched the 2003 rendition of _Our Town _and _Sweeny Todd_. _Our Town_, especially at the end, made me cry because of Emily. If you have seen it, you know why, I don't want to give away the plot of the story. I also saw a performance version of _Sweeny Todd_. That was also a deep play but it didn't get into me as much as _Our Town _did. Even though those two were filmed plays, they were great and I suggest that you guys should watch it if you have some free time.


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## Aqualung (Nov 21, 2009)

Near the end of the movie "Big" when the girl looks up & sees that the grown man walking away is now a child again. Like he's been trying to tell her all along. That scene gets me every time. Also in "Bladerunner", the scene of Rutger Hauer speaking his last before he dies sitting in the rain & the dove in his hand flies away. Very powerful. Then there's Forrest Gump. Cried through half the movie. That one caught me off guard. Knew nothing about the movie so I walked in, sat down & was blown away. Really embarrassed my girlfriend at the time, though she cried some too. I think she was an ESFJ, just a guess. I know, not a great match.


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## moon (Nov 29, 2008)

Selene said:


> Dumbo- I cried for about 10 minutes straight the last time I saw it. Just, everything about it is Four-ish... roud:


Definitely the movie that makes me cry most. Bambi, too.

Sophie's Choice, Pursuit of Happyness, Jack, Awakenings, Life Is Beautiful, My Life, The English Patient... but I cry over many commercials, so...


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## kal32205 (Dec 16, 2009)

What Dreams May Come- starring Robin Williams. For one, the kids die. I can't hack seeing child-sized caskets, makes me think of my own kids and.....ok change of subject. Then- imagining how she has to feel when she loses her husband as well, like I can really feel her pain. Combine that with all of the painting and imagination involved- the whole thing just......works for me. It really reflects a lot of how I think about things.


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## Aqualung (Nov 21, 2009)

kal32205 said:


> What Dreams May Come- starring Robin Williams. For one, the kids die. I can't hack seeing child-sized caskets, makes me think of my own kids and.....ok change of subject. Then- imagining how she has to feel when she loses her husband as well, like I can really feel her pain. Combine that with all of the painting and imagination involved- the whole thing just......works for me. It really reflects a lot of how I think about things.


 I love that movie! The imagery is amazing & the storyline somehow reminded me of some of my own personal battles. Odd but no one I know has ever heard of that movie.


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## kal32205 (Dec 16, 2009)

Aqualung said:


> I love that movie! The imagery is amazing & the storyline somehow reminded me of some of my own personal battles. Odd but no one I know has ever heard of that movie.


The only reason anyone I know has heard of it is because of me lol. I started watching it last night after posting this.....I really love that movie it stirs my emotions up because I think one of my biggest fears in life is losing someone I love.......

Have you seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? That would be on my list of favorites as well. I love strange movies like that;-p


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## Aqualung (Nov 21, 2009)

I've heard good things about it but I haven't seen it. I'm shopping around for a Blu-ray player now & I'll rent it once I get the player.


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## kal32205 (Dec 16, 2009)

I really liked it a lot- if you liked What Dreams May Come then you would definitely like it. Ha- I'm gonna go ahead and watch that one tonight lol. Do you have any similar movies to recommend? Something that shares those kinds of themes? I only usually watch movies when I have no other choice (fiancee). There aren't a lot out there that I would consider to be worth watching anymore.....


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## Entelechy (Dec 5, 2009)

The ending of _Cinema Paradiso_ always gets me. It's the story of an Italian filmmaker who returns to his hometown after learns of the news of his mentor and friend, the projection of his hometown's cinema, has died. The whole movie is about how the director grew up and experienced life whilst learning about movies. The projectionist left a film canister for the director which includes famous kissing scenes from various films. Maybe it's just the movie nut part of me, but once that scene comes up I'm bawling. Not from sorry but from happiness.


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## Zally (Nov 29, 2009)

I'm a real cry-baby, and I get emotional easily watching movies or tv series. One movie that really shook me was Amores Perros by Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu. I've seen it only once hoping that someday I have recovered enough to watch it again.

More recently I was shocked and in tears by Dexter season 4 finale. I know, this is a movie topic but I had to mention it.


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## Sweetish (Dec 17, 2009)

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind- every time that I watch this, when it gets to the very end where Nausicaa is seriously injured trying to protect a baby Moam. Complete self-sacrifice makes me cry, every time.


Powder- right at the beginning when the father won't even approach his baby, hold it, protect it, accept it, love it. I felt very angry and cried in a pissed off manner. The first emotions/experiences a baby should know are to feel safe and loved, be embraced- not rejected, feared, misunderstood. It's a damn infant for crying out loud, it has the same needs! That scene made me want to strangle the father. A mother would at least do the right thing, but, I believe she died, so, the father totally dropped the ball, setting the baby up for even more pain down the road.


Kids- My husband saw this movie as a teenager after renting it from Blockbuster. I just barely saw it in the past 2 weeks. It showcases the lives of young teens in NYC in 1995 in an organic fashion, the script being written by an 18 year old who'd had the very experiences filmed in the movie- drug use, casual sex, growing up without much parental intervention or supervision with mostly only your friends to care about you. Though it is scripted, using very young actors, it's filmed so you feel like a voyeur watching these kids live their literally careless lives. From the beginning of the movie you may feel the urge to vomit, the male antagonist is that despicable. You see the ignorance and ego- watching the self-destruction of these kids really angered me. No one, in my opinion, should grow up oblivious to the world around them and how they are hurting others as well as themselves in the mindless pursuits of pleasure, running after adult distractions, playing around with their own mortality. The characters are kids, but they have thrown themselves into danger with no one to slap them good and hard and tell them they are messing around with death. It's pathetic, really, that our society would let this happen- would let innocence degrade to such depravity and selfishness. I was mad for most of the day afterward, because I couldn't stop thinking about how irresponsible it is to bring kids into the world only to let them run wild with no greater understandings taught to them. How could humanity fail SO MUCH as a community to let this garbage happen... The worst part is, the feeling that I can't do anything- that I'm powerless. The end of the movie is not a happy one; there's nothing I could do to fix it- Unless I have my own kids and resolve to raise them right.


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## screamofconscious (Oct 15, 2009)

SweetSurrender said:


> Kids- My husband saw this movie as a teenager after renting it from Blockbuster. I just barely saw it in the past 2 weeks. It showcases the lives of young teens in NYC in 1995 in an organic fashion, the script being written by an 18 year old who'd had the very experiences filmed in the movie- drug use, casual sex, growing up without much parental intervention or supervision with mostly only your friends to care about you. Though it is scripted, using very young actors, it's filmed so you feel like a voyeur watching these kids live their literally careless lives. From the beginning of the movie you may feel the urge to vomit, the male antagonist is that despicable. You see the ignorance and ego- watching the self-destruction of these kids really angered me. No one, in my opinion, should grow up oblivious to the world around them and how they are hurting others as well as themselves in the mindless pursuits of pleasure, running after adult distractions, playing around with their own mortality. The characters are kids, but they have thrown themselves into danger with no one to slap them good and hard and tell them they are messing around with death. It's pathetic, really, that our society would let this happen- would let innocence degrade to such depravity and selfishness. I was mad for most of the day afterward, because I couldn't stop thinking about how irresponsible it is to bring kids into the world only to let them run wild with no greater understandings taught to them. How could humanity fail SO MUCH as a community to let this garbage happen... The worst part is, the feeling that I can't do anything- that I'm powerless. The end of the movie is not a happy one; there's nothing I could do to fix it- Unless I have my own kids and resolve to raise them right.



It's been a really long time since I've seen this movie... probably because like you, it makes me feel sick.
I've walked away disgusted and in the blackest of moods every time I have seen this movie.

You know what's really sad though? When I first heard of the movie, in high school, the kids were talking about what an awesome "party" movie it was.


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## Hiccups24-7 (Oct 17, 2009)

SweetSurrender said:


> Powder- right at the beginning when the father won't even approach his baby, hold it, protect it, accept it, love it. I felt very angry and cried in a pissed off manner. The first emotions/experiences a baby should know are to feel safe and loved, be embraced- not rejected, feared, misunderstood. It's a damn infant for crying out loud, it has the same needs! That scene made me want to strangle the father. A mother would at least do the right thing, but, I believe she died, so, the father totally dropped the ball, setting the baby up for even more pain down the road.


YES! Powder is awesome and a must see, I watched it again recently with my mum! ^_^


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## FiNe SiTe (Dec 11, 2009)

Freedom Writers:
A film that i have watched lots of times. 
It touched me deeply, probably because it's based on a true story. 
I recommend it to anyone.

Wikipedia:
"It is based on the book _The Freedom Writers Diary_ 
by teacher Erin Gruwell who wrote the story based on 
Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, California."


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## seraphiel (Dec 26, 2009)

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time just kills me...
It's an anime movie but still a movie which just rips my heart out.


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