Your vote for the most emotionally intense films?

[Encephalon]

I guess I won't be able to complain about people posting subjects that are unrelated to Taoism, but I'd really like assistance with a project I'm working on. I'd like to ask you all to submit your votes for the most emotionally intense movies you've seen. Tearjerkers, psychological thrillers and especially love stories are my current fare because they depict character arcs so well. But any emotion, be it anguish, sadness, desire for revenge, anger, or intense happiness is welcome.

It might help if you imagined submitting a list for a film analysis class. Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Blasto, film freak

[ralis]

I have to say that Heath Ledger's role as the Joker was over the top. An emotionally intense performance as a psychotic. The Joker is an extremely complex character and difficult to categorize.

 

Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) as the android in "Bladerunner" having difficulty integrating human feeling and emotion.

 

How about the psychotic (Frank Booth) portrayed by Dennis Hopper in "Blue Velvet." A psychotic sociopath with his tank of nitrous oxide and a swatch of blue velvet that put him in a violent murderous rage.

 

Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket"

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Nf1MK7lts

 

James Mason in Lolita as the aging male being tortured by the teenage Lolita.

Edited March 26, 2011 by ralis

[growant]

breaking the waves

[torus693]

Inglourious Basterds

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Requiem for a Dream. Holy f*ck. Try it, you'll see. Darren Aronofsky. Haunting and intense film about addiction. Amazing soundtrack, too.

 

 

Jacob's Ladder.

A movie about the Bardo, where the main character played by Timothy Robbins doesn't know if he is dead or not.

 

 

I have a couple more, which I'll post later. Great topic, Blasto.

Edited March 26, 2011 by TheSongsofDistantEarth

[ralis]

Blasto you got me started! Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel in "Holy Smoke" These are two emotionally charged scenes! Keitel's glare is classic.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2011 by ralis

[adept]

Well the two films that made me cry were The Pianist and Schindler's List.

The utter disregard for the life of another is really disturbing in these two holocaust films.

[sifusufi]

At least a dozen views of the entire film.

I cannot watch without getting choked up to this day.

At 12:20 is one of my personal favorite scenes, really pulls out the emotions. There are so many instances in this film.

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

I always tell my wife it is the greatest love story!

[Ninpo-me-this-ninjutsu-me-that]

Goodfellas - Revenge/anger

 

The usual suspects - One of the best psychological thrillers of all time, in my opinion at least.

 

Identity - Great underrated thriller

 

Hana-bi - Takeshi Kitano, A stark contrast of touching sentiment and stark violence. A man who decides to treat his wife well in the last months of her life after treating her like dirt for most of it. Really moving film.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hana-bi

 

Apocalypto - Amazing film in all ways possible www.imdb.com/title/tt0472043/

 

Revolver - Thriller. Underrated. Very good.

 

The name of the Rose - Thriller. Set in medieval times. Connery

[zerostao]

Letters From Iwo Jima

 

@ninpo, The Usual Suspects is one of my all time fav's along with Snatch, Pulp Fiction in the crime movie category.

Edited March 26, 2011 by zerostao

[tumoessence]

Since my son and I watched Brave Heart last night I will add it to the list of great choices.

[Nanashi]

Sling Blade.

 

It is sappy, but Legends of the Fall will sometimes make me tear up. So much love and tragedy.

[Taomeow]

I nominate three Chinese movies -- "Red Cherry," "The King of Masks," "The Road Home."

 

Turns out someone put "The King of Masks" on youtube, which is great. I just found it there and read someone's comment -- "best movie ever made." It may or may not be, but it made me cry and I'm not particularly responsive to tear-jerking movies, so this says something about its emotional intensity. Besides, it depicts one of the rare taoist art forms not really known in the West, one involving fajin but not for fighting.

 

"Red Cherry" made me cry too.

 

"The Road Home," almost.

 

Come to think of it, it takes a really good Chinese movie to make me cry -- I guess Hollywood has lost the power.

[Bum Grasshopper]

The Deer Hunter. The whole movie is an emotional roller coaster, but this is the most powerful scene

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqakCa-MysE

[Everything]

especially love stories are my current fare

If you want to witness the Taoist saying of "love comes with great expense" this is the best love film in the world. In terms of music, style, acting, story, etc.

Oldeuboi (2003)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/

So its one hell of a unique love story for you and extremely emotionally instense as the topic title requests. Maybe even more emotional then avatar. So there you go, emotional and the most unique (fcked up?) love story. Can't think of any better one.

 

Avatar caused an increase in depression rates around the world for weeks maybe months, so emotionally intense Avatar comes second place, and the characters in this movie are very strong and solid. Especially the main character grows from a boy to a man in a way that is inspiring. Emotional, alot of love, but not really specificly about a love story. So yeah second place. Because its all fantasy and Computer Generated Images, alot of you guys here will not enjoy it.

 

But To be honest I'm not so sure what you mean with emotionally intense... Does SAW count as emotional intense? I mean, I can simply witness it and laugh to this kind of nonsense, but alot of people shake their hands and throw up. Maybe we should throw this list away. And add a more sane movie.

 

This one seems like a Taoist movie about wisdom. This film takes place in one spot: an isolated lake, where an old monk lives on a small floating temple.

Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom (2003)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374546/

 

I still think Oldeuboi wins this one in terms of unique love story, a movie about a love story, and emotionally intense, the full package of all the emotions you ordered, hehe.

Edited March 26, 2011 by Everything

[Medhavi]

The Count of Monte Cristo with Richard Chamberlain and Kate Nelligan in their timeless performance.

 

The tale of the avenging angel bent on finding his revenge to ultimately miss out on the one thing he truly desired.

[NeiChuan]

whats eating gilbert grape

 

the last samurai

 

the matrix

 

Im definitely missing movies. But those are 3 I can think of now.

[lazy cloud]

3:10 To Yuma

The Edge

The Emerald Forest

[GreytoWhite]

The Sea

[Seth Ananda]

The Holy mountain [one of my all times favourites] twists my guts around at points.

 

For some reason scenes where the Hero/Heroine have no hope of winning, but put them selves on the line for others totally get me. Like when Eyoine [or however you spell it] fights the ring wraith in lord of the rings...

 

Pollansky's The Tenant, made me feel like my central nervous system was being dragged out by hooks over several hours. I was literally convulsing when the movie reached Its climax.

I am not sure if that movie would work on a small tv with distractions around.

 

As far as Erotic charge goes, has anyone seen The Lover? wow!

 

Yep to Emerald Forrest as well, Outrage, heart jubilation...

I guess all 'end of a culture' movies are Intense, last samurai, dances with wolves, and Holocaust [sort of an end] movies...

 

American Beauty the first few times I watched it had many levels of differing intense

emotion including expansiveness which is rare in cinema for me.

 

Bad Boy Bubby - Australian genius heheh, brilliant and Intense.

 

The Note Book, totally sappy but I loved it.

 

The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover?

Way Intense...

 

I found the Violence in the last scene of Rambo 4 quite overwhelming...

[doc benway]

Some of my favorites have already been mentioned. And I have to give a big +1 on:

Breaking the Waves

Requiem for a Dream

The Holy Mountain

 

Here are a few more:

Life is Beautiful

The Whale Rider

Slumdog Millionaire

Saving Private Ryan

Amores Perros

Across the Universe (the gospel number made me cry like a baby)

 

Irreversible and I Stand Alone by Gaspar Noe are probably the most intense films I've ever had the misfortune of seeing. The intensity arises from extreme horror and revulsion associated with common crimes. The brilliance of the films lies in bringing the true devastation to the audience that is inherent in crimes that have become so commonplace in our daily lives as to be banal. Can't really recommend that anyone watch them - truly horrific. Images I wish I could un-see.

 

Lot's more that I can't think of right now.

Edited March 27, 2011 by steve f

[Seth Ananda]

Some of my favorites have already been mentioned. And I have to give a big +1 on:

Breaking the Waves

Requiem for a Dream

The Holy Mountain

 

Here are a few more:

Life is Beautiful

The Whale Rider

Slumdog Millionaire

Saving Private Ryan

Amores Perros

Across the Universe (the gospel number made me cry like a baby)

 

Irreversible and I Stand Alone by Gaspar Noe are probably the most intense films I've ever had the misfortune of seeing. The intensity arises from extreme horror and revulsion associated with common crimes. The brilliance of the films lies in bringing the true devastation to the audience that is inherent in crimes that have become so commonplace in our daily lives as to be banal. Can't really recommend that anyone watch them - truly horrific. Images I wish I could un-see.

 

Lot's more that I can't think of right now.

Hi steve , I like the top films but I did not mention Irreversible as I hope no one ever watches it. To me it seemed the only point of the horrible rape was to justify showing some horribly graphic violence. To me it has no artistic value whatsoever and is a scar on western civilisation. Our decadence has peaked and now we face the decline....

lol, sorry to get political on you there...

Seth.

[doc benway]

Hi steve , I like the top films but I did not mention Irreversible as I hope no one ever watches it. To me it seemed the only point of the horrible rape was to justify showing some horribly graphic violence. To me it has no artistic value whatsoever and is a scar on western civilisation. Our decadence has peaked and now we face the decline....

lol, sorry to get political on you there...

Seth.

I don't disagree with you Seth and I Stand Alone was even worse - nearly walked out.

On the other hand - I do think Noe was trying to remind theater goers that the statistics we breeze through as we flip through the paper and tv news are really people whose lives have been destroyed forever. Modern society has become so desensitized that we enjoy a steady diet of rape, murder, and so forth in our daily "entertainment." I'd like to think that Noe is rubbing our faces in our complacency and decadence. Maybe I'm being a bit to generous with him... I agree with you that these films cannot be recommended viewing. Nevertheless - they were intense.

Oh, and I've got to mention two more -

Pan's Labyrinth

Children of Men

[Seth Ananda]

 

Pan's Labyrinth

 

Oh hell yeah...

Also, The Road. I suffered for the dad during that movie...

[Mal]

I'd like to ask you all to submit your votes for the most emotionally intense movies you've seen.

 

"Unforgiven"

 

Also agree with the suggestion of "American Beauty" alway enjoyable to re-watch

 

Movies that make me physically feel intense emotion "The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover" was so revolted I had to take a break (normally if feels 'just like a movie') also Wolf Creek, very difficult to watch due to the unfeeling cruelty wrt others life.

 

I'm currently emotionally invested in watching all 7 seasons of "The Shield" I can feel my heart rate, breathing and emotions changing with the tension of the story.