Most depressing movie or literature

Eventhorizon

Eventhorizon

Permanently relocated
Banned
MBTI
INTJ
Whats the most depressing movie or literature you have seen or read?

I cant think of anything right now more depressing than, "The Road." Anyone else see it?
 
Eventhorizon said:
Whats the most depressing movie or literature you have seen or read?

I cant think of anything right now more depressing than, "The Road." Anyone else see it?
Click to expand...
I saw the movie...it was depressing...but I feel that they missed the whole point of the book.
You should read the book....there is so much internal dialogue that you miss in the movie.
 
Skarekrow said:
I saw the movie...it was depressing...but I feel that they missed the whole point of the book.
You should read the book....there is so much internal dialogue that you miss in the movie.
Click to expand...
Thats generally the way it is with book translation. So are you saying the book was more depressing?
 
most depressing was "The Grave of the Fireflies".

also Anne Frank's diaries and Elie Wiesel's Night were overwhelmingly sorrowful. but within them was hope.
 
Eventhorizon said:
Thats generally the way it is with book translation. So are you saying the book was more depressing?
Click to expand...
It was still depressing, but I think that the book left a little more wiggle-room for the possibility of something good coming along.
 
Victor hugo's Hunch back if notre dame.

For those who don't know the book takes a far more dramatic turn than the disney adaptation. Esmerelda dies and quasimotto is left in sorrow and starves to death holding her corpse.
 
The film Tideland really bothered me.
 
Last edited:
for me id say grave of the fireflies is the saddest i've seen, i really liked schindlers list and letters from iwo jima too.

literature wise id suggest where the red fern grows or robert frost, some his sadder poems are death of a hired hand, a home burial and out, out-
 
Black Orpheus, Wuthering Heights
 
acd said:
The ending to the film version of The Mist.
Click to expand...

This will probably make me sound like a horrible person, but I found that ending hilarious. I often find that movies which try too hard to be depressing only make me laugh.

Brazil can be unsettling. There's a fight between despair and hope throughout the movie
The Idiot by Dostoevsky is a difficult read at times.
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. I found the end quite depressing. Sam's paranoia and fear finally overcame him and he made a choice which he probably regretted.
 
  • Like
Reactions: acd
Watched “The Counselor” the other day....I was really looking forward to it...good Director....good Actors.....fuck that movie...ugh!
 
"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" really upset me. I don't know if it was the most depressing movie I've seen, but it stood out in my mind.

And "Schindler's List."

And "Twelves Years a Slave."

AND! No, I'm done for now.
 
I found the book "Flowers for Algernon" to be very depressing. I loved it but it made me sad :m167:
 
So Im trying to get a foundational base here to a comparative standard. These other movies and literature, have you seen "The Road" (Or I guess read as well) and believe these are more depressing or is it that you have not seen "The Road" yet? To be honest there are a few mentions here that simply dont compare in my mind.
 
Eventhorizon said:
So Im trying to get a foundational base here to a comparative standard. These other movies and literature, have you seen "The Road" (Or I guess read as well) and believe these are more depressing or is it that you have not seen "The Road" yet? To be honest there are a few mentions here that simply dont compare in my mind.
Click to expand...

Yeah the road is pretty bleak!

'Gallipoli' is pretty depressing; Peter Weir's a good director; his 'picnic at hanging rock' is unsettling

'The proposition' is pretty atmospherically bleak

The 1970's british gangster film 'Get Carter' (not the naff remake with stallone) was described by a critic as calculated soullessness; if you want a more upbeat but still pretty intense british gangster film then 'sexy beast' is good

[video=youtube;G7V-CW_SUos]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7V-CW_SUos[/video]
 
Last edited:
muir said:
Yeah the road is pretty bleak!

'Gallipoli' is pretty depressing; Peter Weir's a good director; his 'picnic at hanging rock' is unsettling

'The proposition' is pretty atmospherically bleak

The 1970's british gangster film 'Get Carter' (not the naff remake with stallone) was described by a critic as calculated soullessness; if you want a more upbeat but still pretty intense british gangster film then 'sexy beast' is good

[video=youtube;G7V-CW_SUos]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7V-CW_SUos[/video]
Click to expand...

In your thoughts, this is on par with the road?
 
Sad and depressing are kind of distinct in my mind.

The Road is bleak, sure, but it's got a lot of hope in it. More hope than, say, Soylent Green, which leaves you with a sense of depression or despair. There's no hope there.

Grave of the Fireflies is sad. El Laberinto del Fauno is sad.

I reckon it's dependent on whether the viewer is inclined to wallow in despair or look for some measure of hope and possibility in the story.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top