Are there any great films that you'd never watch again because of how depressing/intense they are?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by acemachine26, Jan 10, 2018.

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  1. Victor/Victrola

    Victor/Victrola Makng shure its write

    I'm surprised at how many people are citing The Elephant Man. I love that film and don't think it's depressing at all. I am uplifted by Merrick's determination and courage to become more than his disability. I think it has a great message that everyone can achieve anything they want as long as they put the very best version of themselves out there. The ending is very sad, but again it's very courageous for Merrick to do what he did. I guess he finally does just give up in the end, but at least he got to experience so much more life than what he had before. I've watched the film many times and would gladly view it again.

    For me, one I won't watch again (and haven't seen pop up here yet) is Pink Floyd's The Wall. I've seen it about 20 times, and totally get what the movie is all about, but the last time I viewed it (or half of it, at least) was when my old roommate popped in the tape and blasted it through the home stereo so loud it couldn't be escaped. The audio overload really hit me with how depressing and how much a self-made-victim that "Pink" is and I just want to take him by the neck and slap him soundly across the face.
     
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  2. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Sure - but you said you'd never felt upset or disturbed by a film period, not just that you'd never been so upset/disturbed that you wouldn't watch that film again. Different concepts entirely...
     
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  3. jerico

    jerico Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    I know what you're saying about A Serbian Film. Although I don't consider it a great film. Shocking, yes (though to me, it was so shocking as to be kind of silly).
     
  4. jh901

    jh901 Forum Resident

    Location:
    PARRISH FL USA
    I took it the way he meant it.

    ____________

    Moving on, there are definitely some documentaries I'd never care to see again. Beyond this topic, but the most twisted fiction falls short of reality sometimes. Sadly.

    ___________

    Finally, I'll note that watching a film on television or a tablet, etc is a passive experience, all else equal, to experiencing a movie in a screening room (front projection + multi channel). I'm likely desensitized to something such as The Revenant, but that next level will test me on my set-up.
     
  5. Sternodox

    Sternodox SubGenius Pope of Arkansas

    The Deer Hunter
    Midnight Express
     
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  6. arley

    arley Forum Resident

    A recurring theme in this thread is movies about the Holocaust. The artistry of Sophie's Choice and Life is Beautiful is undeniable, but one of the most painful to watch is Night Will Fall, a documentary about the Nazi concentration camps. It's available on Netflix. Begun in 1945, the documentary footage languished in archives and in 2014 this film was released--a documentary about the making of the original documentary. Harrowing, especially considering you weren't seeing actors. Disturbing in the extreme, but necessary to document that horror.
     
  7. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    Films like these, and others, also remove the argument that "it isn't real, it's just a movie."
     
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  8. 93curr

    93curr Senior Member

    'Salo' was artistically well-regarded enough in the art-film community (such as it is) for Criterion to issue it as a LaserDisc and then reissue it as a DVD and then remaster and reissue it yet again as a BluRay. I've never heard 'Serbian' referenced by anyone except in lists of most disgusting or most offensive or just plain worst movies of all time.
     
  9. scotto

    scotto Senior Member

    As others have mentioned, "Night and Fog" came immediately to mind. A brilliant, near-perfect documentary, one everyone should see, and one I'll never watch again.
     
  10. Sternodox

    Sternodox SubGenius Pope of Arkansas

    My ex felt the same way about Gummo. Wouldn't speak to me for a week. Probably the worst film with the best soundtrack.
     
  11. Sternodox

    Sternodox SubGenius Pope of Arkansas

    If a person actually enjoys watching A Serbian Film, I can pretty much guarantee that person will never be a friend of mine. I wouldn't even want to be in the same room with them. Or even on the same planet!
     
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  12. Sternodox

    Sternodox SubGenius Pope of Arkansas

    Thanks for noticing. I began that other thread and have derived much fascinating trivia therefrom. Perhaps a mod should splice them together?

    Or maybe the concepts are:

    1. Movies you'd never watch again.

    vs.

    2. Movies you'd never watch in the first place.
     
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  13. Sternodox

    Sternodox SubGenius Pope of Arkansas

    Interesting observation. Seems the Motion Picture Code attempted to tackle this "problem" in the early 1930s at the behest of church and civic groups . With little success I might add.
     
  14. 93curr

    93curr Senior Member

  15. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    I’d just like to say that I never felt I had to see Salò as some sort of badge of honour. I’m 47 years old. Teenage one-upmanship is not part of my emotional makeup. If anything, I approached it with trepidation, having already been a fan of the director for a number of years.

    My first Pasolini was Mamma Roma followed by The Gospel According to Matthew. I own them all on BD, where available; where not, I own them on DVD.

    Salò stands apart from the rest of Pasolini’s work. Pigsty comes the closest, sharing some of the same themes, but that film doesn’t upset me in the same way Salò does. Apparently, Pasolini envisaged it as the first instalment in his trilogy of death, to mirror his earlier trilogy of life. Christ knows what the other two instalments might have entailed, had his life not been cut so brutally short.
     
  16. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    Von Trier is a cinematic sadist, and I am not a masochist. I have no interest in ever seeing anything by him ever again.

    I loved it, but the character that hit me hardest was Anthony Hopkins' Dr. Trieves. When he asked his wife "Am I a good man? Or a bad man?" always makes me tear up. As well as "Oh, he's an imbecile. I pray to God he's an imbecile."
     
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  17. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Ooooo... no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO. Not gonna watch that again.

    I mastered a few of Pasolini's films, but happily I didn't have to work on Salo.
     
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  18. DeadParrot

    DeadParrot Forum Resident

    Location:
    MI, USA
    Don’t think I could watch Threads again. It’s a BBC docu-drama from the early 80’s about the events leading up to, during, and after a nuclear war.
    The post-apocalyptic scenes are bad enough, but the fact that for the first 40 minutes or so it plays like a regular kitchen sink drama set in the north of England, somehow makes it so much worse.
     
  19. Splungeworthy

    Splungeworthy Forum Rezidentura

    A few come to mind. Obviously Schindler's List. That's a one time thing for sure. The documentary Dear Zachary: I wish I had never seen it. For sheer intensity Black Hawk Down is hard to beat; once was enough.
     
  20. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US

    I liked "Salo." I got such a big laugh out of the three tormentors dancing arm-in-arm like Rockettes, or giddy schoolgirls, amidst the torture that it relieved all the "suffering" going on. And that one shot reminded me that Pasolini (or maybe Pasolini was reminding us) that it was all allegory and an theatrical entertainment (although some might find it the least "entertaining" film they've seen.) Yep. that one moment (for which we should probably thank Pasolini) basically said "Aren't we being silly and naughty with all these wicked scenes?" and so I left the film far from devastated or shocked, but thoughtful and appreciative of what I'd seen. It was as if Pasolini wanted to let you in on the joke and diffuse what you've been through up to the finale.

    Schindler's List I've seen at least a dozen times. Brilliant filmmaking. Gorgeous film. Great performances. Spielberg's masterpiece. Yes, it's sad. But I would never turn my back on the artistry and perfection of that film. It's one of those films that makes me think so much care and perfection should go into ALL films.

    I'm glad to see "Threads" mentioned. Fantastic devastating film. So depressing at the end, that's why I love it. If a film manages to floor you, then the filmmakers were entirely successful in creating the effect they wanted. So, that's why I admire some dark film. Of our Patron Saint early American lit is Edgar Allen Poe, and that old boy was out to knock your socks off bumming you out! There's an art to making you feel bad, people. :p

    Films I never want to see again?

    Guardian of the Galaxy II
    Baby Driver
    The Shape of Water.
    Hahaha.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 16, 2018
  21. Barnabas Collins

    Barnabas Collins Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    Well, I didn't like A Serbian Film at all, but it's interesting you say something like that. Let me ask you something: I know you're a black metal fan. Could you be friends with someone who listens to Mayhem or Emperor? Bands who had members who went to prison for murder and church arson? To me, that's a taller order than someone who might have liked a movie just because it had some tasteless scenes in it.
     
  22. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    The 'Hays' code. I think it was a success in that they rejected scripts and got films shot with the ending changed. The idea was that the 'baddie' had to be seen to face the music at the end, either caught and sent to prison or killed. They couldn't 'get away with it'. So you had famous Noir films like Double Indemnity that was rejected twice by the Hays board until it was accepted a third time.
     
  23. Sternodox

    Sternodox SubGenius Pope of Arkansas

    It's an interesting question. I guess I am more tolerant of murdering adults and burning down churches than I am of creating images of newborn infants being raped. There are certain images I simply don't want floating around in my brain. I doubt I could be pals with Varg anyway.
     
  24. Spruce

    Spruce Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brigg, England
    Reporting back for duty, Sah! (I'm British). Just watched Bone Tomahawk. Bit violent in places but nothing outrageous. My overwhelming emotion of the film was tedium. As I agree with the general thrust of your post, I was rather (un)shocked by your choice!
     
  25. jh901

    jh901 Forum Resident

    Location:
    PARRISH FL USA
    A "bit violent"?

    Sticking to mainstream films. Of those, this one seemed more graphic than any I can think of. Brutal. Oft times, it's what's not shown that is disturbing. Not in this case!

    I did note earlier in the thread that a projection screening, along with multi-channel sound, can make all the difference. Of course, we are all disturbed by different things. I sure wouldn't spring this title on someone in my theater without a fair warning.
     
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