Ever see a movie that really stuck with you for a while?
12-05-07, 11:30 AM
#1
Ever see a movie that really stuck with you for a while?
I'm sure this thread has been done before, but I couldn't find an acceptable place to post this. So, screw it. New thread time.
Not to be confused with this thread which explores a similar topic: http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=492931
I was just discussing this topic with a co-worker and it really got me thinking about what movies really transcend that "watching" experience and stay with the viewer for a while afterwards.
For me, I have seen only a handful of movies that left me absolutely speechless, emotionally drained, and just so far removed from reality that it took a few days to really get over the experience.
Requiem For a Dream
One of the most depressing films I have ever seen. I believe this is the most successful anti-drug statement I have ever seen committed to celluloid. And that wasn't even the intent at all (I think). I know most of it has become a cliche and has been done better, but the first time I saw this movie it really scared the shit out of me. Just realizing the lengths that some will go to to quench an addictive thirst was enough, but to have those particular actors involved really sealed it for me. Top notch job by all involved. Though this film would not be nearly as successful if weren't for that amazing (and now overused in many trailers, commercials, and other films) and haunting score. I get goosebumps every time I hear it.
Dancer in the Dark
I hate musicals. I repeat - I HATE MUSICALS. I was in the midst of a Lars von Trier director's showcase one semester in college and had already seen The Idiots, Breaking the Waves (holy shit, another incredibly depressing movie), Europa, and Dogville. Going into "Dancer" I kind of knew what I was in for, but I was not expecting what I saw. I shocked myself during the viewing of this film. Very rarely do I allow myself to become emotionally invested in a stroyline like I had with this film. I thought Bjork's moving, shy, and unintentionally naive (in the acting sense) performance was out of this world. Her character really challenged my emotions and even the musical numbers were on point. Those scenes were beautifully photographed, choreographed, and directed. But none more so than the final musical number and last scene of the movie. I knew what was coming so I was sort of prepared, but when Bjork hit that final note, and then the sudden "drop", followed by just SILENCE - holy mother of fuck. Goosebumps, chills, a lump in the throat - I almost passed out. I replayed that scene in my head for the next few days and it just depressed the shit out of me. I was humbled by that experience. Since that scene, I have yet to see a movie that really challenged me like that one did and stay with me for so long.
Focus:
What are the movies (not necessarily single scenes) that stayed with you after you saw them and really took an emtional toll on you and why?
Not to be confused with this thread which explores a similar topic: http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=492931
I was just discussing this topic with a co-worker and it really got me thinking about what movies really transcend that "watching" experience and stay with the viewer for a while afterwards.
For me, I have seen only a handful of movies that left me absolutely speechless, emotionally drained, and just so far removed from reality that it took a few days to really get over the experience.
Requiem For a Dream
One of the most depressing films I have ever seen. I believe this is the most successful anti-drug statement I have ever seen committed to celluloid. And that wasn't even the intent at all (I think). I know most of it has become a cliche and has been done better, but the first time I saw this movie it really scared the shit out of me. Just realizing the lengths that some will go to to quench an addictive thirst was enough, but to have those particular actors involved really sealed it for me. Top notch job by all involved. Though this film would not be nearly as successful if weren't for that amazing (and now overused in many trailers, commercials, and other films) and haunting score. I get goosebumps every time I hear it.
Dancer in the Dark
I hate musicals. I repeat - I HATE MUSICALS. I was in the midst of a Lars von Trier director's showcase one semester in college and had already seen The Idiots, Breaking the Waves (holy shit, another incredibly depressing movie), Europa, and Dogville. Going into "Dancer" I kind of knew what I was in for, but I was not expecting what I saw. I shocked myself during the viewing of this film. Very rarely do I allow myself to become emotionally invested in a stroyline like I had with this film. I thought Bjork's moving, shy, and unintentionally naive (in the acting sense) performance was out of this world. Her character really challenged my emotions and even the musical numbers were on point. Those scenes were beautifully photographed, choreographed, and directed. But none more so than the final musical number and last scene of the movie. I knew what was coming so I was sort of prepared, but when Bjork hit that final note, and then the sudden "drop", followed by just SILENCE - holy mother of fuck. Goosebumps, chills, a lump in the throat - I almost passed out. I replayed that scene in my head for the next few days and it just depressed the shit out of me. I was humbled by that experience. Since that scene, I have yet to see a movie that really challenged me like that one did and stay with me for so long.
Focus:
What are the movies (not necessarily single scenes) that stayed with you after you saw them and really took an emtional toll on you and why?
12-05-07, 12:10 PM
#5
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Nearly all of David Lynch's films (except Dune, which I do like). It's his examination and meditation on the dark side of life that always hits me. The images he creates, the sounds he uses, he hits the emotional level perfectly. Plus you have to discuss his films after watching them, it's the only way to get the most out of them and let go.
12-05-07, 12:17 PM
#6
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Florida
Posts: 3,533
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by jpoppe
For me, I have seen only a handful of movies that left me absolutely speechless, emotionally drained, and just so far removed from reality that it took a few days to really get over the experience.
Seriously, most recently I'd have to say the closest would be The Fountain. A simple yet complex story that is both moving and thought-provoking.
12-05-07, 12:28 PM
#10
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Just happened a couple weeks back with Pressburger and Powells A Canterbury Tale.
I've always like Black Narcisuss, and I'd heard good things about ACT, and was going to blind buy it from DVD Planet before the last sale was up- but I decided to Netflix it first.
10 minutes into it I was glad I did, but I stayed with it, and all of a sudden, before I knew it, it was an hour and 20 minutes in and it felt like half that.
As the story entered its third act I was completely enchanted with the setting, the characters, the beautiful B&W photography- and then the resolution comes and it was flat out perfect. Not only was it charming (a lot of movies are charming), it was wholly satisfying, which is much, much rarer.
Days afterward I could not get the film out of my head, and ended up ordering it the last day of the sale.
I don't plan on watching it again for a while, partly because I don't want to dilute its potency thru over familiarity, but it is now a film that I know I will always want to own in my permanent collection.
I've always like Black Narcisuss, and I'd heard good things about ACT, and was going to blind buy it from DVD Planet before the last sale was up- but I decided to Netflix it first.
10 minutes into it I was glad I did, but I stayed with it, and all of a sudden, before I knew it, it was an hour and 20 minutes in and it felt like half that.
As the story entered its third act I was completely enchanted with the setting, the characters, the beautiful B&W photography- and then the resolution comes and it was flat out perfect. Not only was it charming (a lot of movies are charming), it was wholly satisfying, which is much, much rarer.
Days afterward I could not get the film out of my head, and ended up ordering it the last day of the sale.
I don't plan on watching it again for a while, partly because I don't want to dilute its potency thru over familiarity, but it is now a film that I know I will always want to own in my permanent collection.
12-05-07, 12:52 PM
#15
DVD Talk Hero
I did a double feature with Requiem and Dancer in the Dark. That was a fun afternoon.
For me:
No Country for Old Men - in particular a cut most people seemed to have hated but I found especially chilling.
Mulholland Drive
Oldboy
Don't ask why, but:
Kill Bill
Sin City
For me:
No Country for Old Men - in particular a cut most people seemed to have hated but I found especially chilling.
Mulholland Drive
Oldboy
Don't ask why, but:
Kill Bill
Sin City
12-05-07, 01:01 PM
#16
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Originally Posted by Giles
the imagery from Cremaster 4
12-05-07, 01:07 PM
#17
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 1,385
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I agree with pretty much all of these mentioned here. One movie which I'll probably be mocked for being affected by was The Departed.
I left the theater feeling unsettled, and I couldn't quite place way. It was an excellent film, and the direction and acting were top-notch, but it wasn't thought-provoking like Children of Men or haunting like Requiem for a Dream, and much of it was even predictable, and thus not that disturbing, such as
I think what really stuck with me, though, was
Or maybe I'm just a big Puss
-Doc
I left the theater feeling unsettled, and I couldn't quite place way. It was an excellent film, and the direction and acting were top-notch, but it wasn't thought-provoking like Children of Men or haunting like Requiem for a Dream, and much of it was even predictable, and thus not that disturbing, such as
Spoiler:
I think what really stuck with me, though, was
Spoiler:
Or maybe I'm just a big Puss
-Doc
Last edited by Doc MacGyver; 12-05-07 at 01:15 PM.
12-05-07, 01:21 PM
#18
Moderator
Originally Posted by sundog
Good call. I came across one of Barney's white plastic sculptures at the MCA in Chicago and all those squirmy memories came flooding back.
I shudder at the sight of swarming bees ...
12-05-07, 01:39 PM
#20
Moderator
Originally Posted by kilcher
Probably Menace II Society. The ending kind of blew me away, more than any other film.
12-05-07, 02:59 PM
#21
DVD Talk Legend
Irreversible
Frailty
Audition
Frailty
Audition
12-05-07, 03:04 PM
#22
DVD Talk Godfather
I don't know if took an emotional toll, but I kept thinking about The Queen for weeks on end. Same thing with the recent No Country for Old Men. Not that these movies were the best of their year (Children of Men and Lives of Others are, respectively), but they were movies I kept thinking about it for a long time.