Movies that make you cry (or sob or blubber uncontrollably)
Desson Thomson has a wonderful piece in this Sunday's Washington Post about movies that make us cry, and a list of some examples sent in by readers. The usual suspects are there, from "Dumbo" to "Field of Dreams," but some surprises, including Adam Sandler's "Click" ("Never thought I would cry at an Adam Sandler movie -- I usually don't even admit to even going to one."), "Star Trek: The Search for Spock," and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." I admit to tearing up at the end of that one, too. Some of the other movies that have made me cry: Waterloo Bridge
Be sure to listen to Thomson's graceful audio commentary on his own list, with such classic choices as "Old Yeller" and "Terms of Endearment." I enjoyed the quotes from experts, especially Professor Mary Beth Oliver of Penn State, who said that these movies
cause us to contemplate what it is about human life that's important and meaningful. . . . Those thoughts are associated with a mixture of emotions that can be joyful but also nostalgic and wistful, tender and poignant. Tears aren't just tears of sadness, they're tears of searching for the meaning of our fleeting existence.
Just reading those words made me a little damp-eyed. Sorry, I just need a minute here.
5 comments:
I was more than a little surprised when I got a little teary-eyed during Click!
Same with me! It just shows how powerful the movie's themes were. Thanks for commenting!
The Notebook and Brian's Song are my big tearjerkers! Click went from light to sad pretty quickly and surprisingly.
Please understand I'm not a monster. That said, I don't cry at movies. I cried once while watching a movie, but I was a boy and the picture in question was "Snoopy Come Home." Snoopy had to leave Charlie Brown's family. They threw a going away party and all Snoopy's friends gave him the same present -- a bone. I cried and cried. Never since -- but I find the older I get, the closer I get to my cinematic dam breaking.
Linda -- the older couple in "The Notebook" got to me. And "Brian's Song" has me weeping for about the last 40 minutes. Even the music gets to me.
Great to hear from you, Toto! "Snoopy Come Home" was one of my son's favorites. And I think we cry more because of what we bring to the movie than because of what is in it, so I think you are right about how movies affect you more as you get older. I'll bet you'll be pulling out a hankie with some frequency in a few years.
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