saddest movie you've ever seen

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Grave of the Fireflies
I give this answer every month when this same thread pops up.

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Agreed. If you don't bawl like a baby after seeing this movie, you have no soul.

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Really? I watched the first half before the DVD died and it was one of those movies where I was thinking "I don't really like this but I hear it's good so I'll force myself to finish it just so I can say I've seen it."

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It doesn't have "Bambi's mom getting shot" moments, it's just after you are done watching the entire movie you'll sooner or later think about it and be overcome by profound grief.

I'm [censored] tearing up just thinking about it.

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Me too.

I think what builds this up so much is not just the death but the horrifying sense of guilt involved. Just such enormous, unshakeable despair that it feels like a sledgehammer to the heart. That it is based on a true story makes it even more astonishingly painful.

And also it gets some of its impact from the world in which these kids live in being so out of control, and their having only the ability of children to try to survive in it. It's awful that that's not even close to enough.

Finally, there are scenes of love between the two kids that are just gentle and quietly beautiful and make your heart swell up in a positive way. The gap between what should have been, and so easily could have been, and what eventually does is really wrenching.

The special features on this are an absolute must, BTW. They explain the background of the war and of the author's own life. Tears your heart out.