Re: most emotionally devasting moment in film
 

I knew the word as "macushla" from my Irish grandmother, and a rough translation of that word is "heart of my heart" or "pulse of my heart." Sometimes it not a good thing to know this stuff beforehand.

Re: most emotionally devasting moment in film
 

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Anyone seen Fellini's La Strada, the one about the circus strong-man and the kind-hearted prostitute (played by Fellini's wife)? The ending of that really cut me up, though it's years since I've seen it.

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I just watched it three weeks ago at a cinema, and yes, it is sad. You get use to it though because it falls in the footsteps of all the Italian Neo realist films of the time by De Sica, Visconti, Rosellini etc.

Re: most emotionally devasting moment in film
 

Great thread. The knifing from "Saving Private Ryan" has already been mentioned, that probably would have been my top choice.

Another moment that causes me to well up every time I see it is from an older (1990) movie called "Awakenings" starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams. A brief summary:

"Based on a true-life story, this film is a fictionalized account of neurologist Oliver Sacks experiments with the victims of a rare "sleeping sickness" called encephalitis lethargica. His experimental use of a synthetic drug, L-Dopa (normally administered in the treatment of Parkinsons disease) resulted in the dramatic re-awakening of patients from a decades long state of paralyzed unresponsiveness. This medical "miracle" came with a heavy price however, as the effects of the drug gradually diminished, and the patients slowly degenerated back into their frozen state. Stephen Zaillian's Oscar nominated screenplay is based on Sack's book of the same name, recounting his experiences at the Bronx hospital where these events took place in 1969."

De Niro plays Leonard Lowe, the first patient to be awakened. The scene that gets me is his first, and last, dance with Paula, a woman he had fallen for.

Re: most emotionally devasting moment in film
 

In The Big Lebowski, when Donny dies...made me sad [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: most emotionally devasting moment in film
 

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In The Big Lebowski, when Donny dies...made me sad [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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okaaaaay....it made u sad....but is it (check the thread title) THE MOST DEVASTATING MOMENT YOU'VE EVER HAD IN THE CINEMA?

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Re: most emotionally devasting moment in film
 

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"Platoon" The part where Dafoe is running in the field to be shot down.

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Re: most emotionally devasting moment in film
 

As a child: Baloo dying in The Jungle Book
As an adult: The 'hand or foot' scene in City of God
As a TV watcher: The very last scene of Twin Peaks

Re: most emotionally devasting moment in film
 

The final scene in Stepmom, where they all take the family photo together.

The ending of Stay, where Henry asks Lila to marry him.

The last ten minutes of Misunderstood, where as the child is dying he is explaining to his father that he never felt he was loved by him.

Re: most emotionally devasting moment in film
 

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Speaking of David Milch being a heartless bastard...when Andy Jr gets killed on NYPD Blue. The entire cast emotes off the chart (Donna Abandando can barely hold it together).


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Nice one. Andy Jr. was one of my favorite subplots of the first few seasons of NYPD Blue, the actor played him as such a sweet kid, it was unreal.

Far superior to Simone's death, which was a bit overdone (though I can remember Dan Dierdorf praising it to high heaves on a MNF broadcast, strange thing to remember)

Re: most emotionally devasting moment in film
 

The conclusion of Manon De Sources most definitely.

Both Jean De Florette and Manon De Sources are perfectly paced; beginning with a simmering, light-heard sense of frustration and very gradually building up to the Greek-tragedy-esque conclusion and making it all the more horrifying.