most emotionally devasting moment in film

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm glad someone put up a trailer for the most harrowing film of all time, "Come and See" (Russian, 1985). It's kind of like Schindler's List meets Apocalypse Now in Russia. The trailer is here (and wait for the final image which is just brutal):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMKwM...ed&search=

The scene with the girl and boy running and the girl looking back at the village is the most devastating thing I ever saw on film. This picture explains things better than I can:






[/ QUOTE ]



I've never heard of this film before...is it worth seeking out?

[Peter666]

"I've never heard of this film before...is it worth seeking out?"

Hell Yeah. They're selling it on Amazon. It's worth buying just to watch the performance of the teenage lead actor, Aleksei Kravchenko. It's also Sean Penn's favourite film.

The director, Elem Klimov, stopped making films after this because he felt he expressed everything he could. It's great art and you won't be the same after watching it. Another Klimov film which is interesting is "Agony: The Life and Death of Rasputin" (1975).

[omahahahaha]

I'm not a film buff and as a result, have not seen many of the films that have been mentioned. So forgive me if my suggestion is not in the ballpark with these great films all of you have listed so far.

The first movie that came to mind for me was:
What dreams may come

....with Robin Williams. I haven't seen it in awhile so I can't give you the exact scene in the film but it has something to do with Robin Williams' character trying to rescue his wife from the pits of hell. (She had committed suicide and was sent to hell) He is pleading with her to come with him so they can be together in heaven but she is unaware of his presence (kind of like the "ghost" scene) and
is sort of choosing to punish herself by staying in hell.

[Runkmud]

Another Robin Williams heart breaker occurs in The Fisher King, actually I'll name two scenes. Some background first, Robin Williams plays a school teacher who ends up wearing his beloved wife's brains after she gets shot in the head with a shotgun. He then creates Perceival his alternate persona to deal with his great tragedy. He is reminded of his former life by Jack (Jeff Bridges) and remembers enough of the incident to drive him into a stark mad screaming fit.

In another great scene, he is rejected by his new love interest played by Amanda Plummer, and before he can confess his love for her, she basically shuts him down because she believes he'll just use her. The speech he gives in this scene alone is well worth watching the movie.


Another great heartbreaker comes from my second favorite film, Little Big Man, in which Dustin Hoffman plays a boy who grows up in the world of the white man and Indian.

One particular scene comes to mind, Hoffman has finally found peace and come to live with the Cheyenne with his wife and baby, and all seems well at last. In the background drums and flutes fade in, and you know that is the sign that Custer is coming with his army. Hoffman manages to escape but watches as Custer's men slaughter his wife and child at the Battle of Washita River.

Finally my 3rd favorite movie and also a tearjerker, Harold and Maude, the scene where Harold finds out that Maude has taken the pills and has committed suicide right after thier wedding is a killer. Cat Steven's Trouble plays as he deals with her death, hell of a scene.

[silver book]

it is possibly somewhere in closer

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm glad someone put up a trailer for the most harrowing film of all time, "Come and See" (Russian, 1985). It's kind of like Schindler's List meets Apocalypse Now in Russia. The trailer is here (and wait for the final image which is just brutal):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMKwM...ed&search=

The scene with the girl and boy running and the girl looking back at the village is the most devastating thing I ever saw on film. This picture explains things better than I can:






[/ QUOTE ]



I've never heard of this film before...is it worth seeking out?

[/ QUOTE ]

Just saw this.

Wow. What a triumphant, technically brilliant, devastating motion picture. The whole film is like one long nightmare you can't wake up from, with no traditional narrative - just the chaos of war as seen through the eyes of a teenaged boy.

There were sequences in this film that were so good I was astonished at the level of film making. Most of the film is shot with a Steadicam and in long, incredibly choreographed takes that must have taken weeks to get right. But it all feels real, as if the camera is capturing events as they happen.

To me, this is the beauty of watching foreign films: to realize there are other ways to make movies, not just the Hollywood model.

Fantastic film and one I'll be thinking about for a long time.

Thanks for recommending this!

[supafrey]

when Simba is sheepishly saying "dad, wake up" while nudging Mufasa after the stampede. It's not even close.

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm glad someone put up a trailer for the most harrowing film of all time, "Come and See" (Russian, 1985). It's kind of like Schindler's List meets Apocalypse Now in Russia. The trailer is here (and wait for the final image which is just brutal):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMKwM...ed&search=

The scene with the girl and boy running and the girl looking back at the village is the most devastating thing I ever saw on film. This picture explains things better than I can:






[/ QUOTE ]



I've never heard of this film before...is it worth seeking out?

[/ QUOTE ]

Just saw this.

Wow. What a triumphant, technically brilliant, devastating motion picture. The whole film is like one long nightmare you can't wake up from, with no traditional narrative - just the chaos of war as seen through the eyes of a teenaged boy.

There were sequences in this film that were so good I was astonished at the level of film making. Most of the film is shot with a Steadicam and in long, incredibly choreographed takes that must have taken weeks to get right. But it all feels real, as if the camera is capturing events as they happen.

To me, this is the beauty of watching foreign films: to realize there are other ways to make movies, not just the Hollywood model.

Fantastic film and one I'll be thinking about for a long time.

Thanks for recommending this!

[/ QUOTE ]

Last night also saw this based on John's recommendation. This one might be too intense and horrific for something like the DVD Club but more people here in the US need to see this sort of movie.

A couple background links to the history:

Belarus During WW 2

Occupation by Nazi Germany

These links are just Wikis; if anyone has better ones focusing on the sort of thing that is show in the movie please post.

~ Rick

[Peter666]

I'm glad everyone "enjoyed" the film. The movie should be much better known. The film defines the statement "important work of art".

Another film that hasn't been seen enough is the French TV miniseries "Maison des bois, La" (1971) English Title: The House in the Woods. It tells the story of a French family during WWI, directed by Maurice Pialat. It is seven one hour episodes. Simply told, beautiful, and heartbreaking.

I saw this over three weekends at a revue theatre. Unfortunately I don't see it anywhere on DVD or VHS. I have never seen a whole theatre sob like we did on the later episodes.

[Dan87]

A lot of what I would say has already been said but here are a couple:

Downfall when one of Goebbel's daughters doesn't want to drink from the cup because she knows its poison but they make her drink it anyway

Full Metal Jacket when Pyle gets hit by soap in socks then you hear him sobbing in a giant quiet dorm.

Apocalypse Now when Tyrone (Laurence Fishbourne) gets killed while a tape from his mom is playing.