The bleakest film you have seen. NO LISTING

bnt · 10-07-2011 9:15pm

I've seen a few over the years, most recently Cold Fish; that was bleak in the way it showed people are just meat. Literally. :eek:

I've recently watched the Godfather series again, with Coppola's audio commentary: Part III was supposed to be called The Death of Michael Corleone before the film company forced the change, and boy, is that bleak in a different sense. The people may change, the methods may change, but the Mafia has been around in one form or another for thousands of years, and isn't going anywhere.

jill_valentine · 11-07-2011 12:15am

I seem to be one of the only folks who thinks this, but In The Loop bleaks me out something fierce because it's all so very, very plausible.

johnny_ultimate · 11-07-2011 1:31am

jill_valentine wrote: »

I seem to be one of the only folks who thinks this, but In The Loop bleaks me out something fierce because it's all so very, very plausible.

Possibly, but I was too distracted laughing my ass off :pac:

kellso81 · 11-07-2011 10:32am

Catmologen wrote: »

Dark Days. Its a documentary by Mark Singer that follows a community living in an abandoned subway tunnel in New York. Heavy going at times but well worth the watch.

I found that pretty uplifting. As happy an ending as your going to get!

fillefatale · 11-07-2011 11:05am

Dekalog I, grim grim grim, I was in bits after watching it.

old hippy · 11-07-2011 11:10am

Leaving Las Vegas was fairly bleak. Excellent performances, mind.

Skitbra · 11-07-2011 11:17am

I don't think Irreversible is a bleak film. It's very disturbing in parts no doubt.

For me Lilya 4-Ever is the bleakest film I've ever watched.

faceman · 11-07-2011 11:34am

+1 to Sophie's Choice and Panic In Needle Park. Depressing.

I'd also add "Happiness" to the mix. I found it a very depressing and uncomfortable film to watch. Very bleak.

Also "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" An oldie now, set during the great depression. Lets hope its not a film that gets remade in current times...

Padraig Mor · 11-07-2011 12:34pm

adox wrote: »

Se7en is an exercise in bleakness IMO.

Some of the best direction I have ever seen, from the bizarre backwards opening(or closing? Can't remember) credits to the constant rain, the low lit scences. The huge amount of violent scenes without any real violence being portrayed. The fantastic unhollywood ending.

Everything about the film is bleak. It's a fantastic story with some strong characters you feel empathy with, which is essential to have any film of substance, bleak or not.

I've watched it numerous times since I saw it first on release at the cinema and it never fails to impress. The tone of the film is not only in the writing but caught on every frame of film.

Good call actually. While it may not be *quite* as bleak as some of the other suggestions, it should be remembered that this was a Hollywood 'blockbuster' starring pretty boy Brad Pitt at the height of his fame and Morgan "uplifting films" Freeman yet is overwhelmingly sordid and depressing.

duckworth · 11-07-2011 3:49pm

fillefatale wrote: »

Dekalog I, grim grim grim, I was in bits after watching it.

There is a redemptive ending though - it's not endlessly bleak. One of my al-time favourites though!

Eggy Baby! · 11-07-2011 5:36pm

Don't know if this had been mentioned yet and I'd be surprised if it hasn't, but Mad Max and Mad Max 2 are very bleak films.

CrowdedHouse · 11-07-2011 5:49pm

I thought 'Kings' was a pretty bleak film (Colm Meany mostly Irish dialogue)

Lady Chatterton · 11-07-2011 5:52pm

"Who will love my children?"

AwayWithFaries · 11-07-2011 5:56pm

Requiem for a Dream.

It is the easily the most depressing film I have ever seen. There is no happy points. Should be mandatory viewing in schools. Scare children away from drugs for good.

gugleguy · 11-07-2011 5:59pm

"Baby" - a film with Dustin Hoffman as an adult, well, being raised as a baby.

Very disturbing.

super_furry · 11-07-2011 6:01pm

Nil By Mouth. There's some great preformances in it - especially by Kathy Burke - but it's pretty much as bleak as you can get.

willow tree · 11-07-2011 6:28pm

yeah i saw nil by mouth and my name is joe around the same time, bleak because they are so real.. brilliant films..
i love garage and Adam and paul because of the characters, the realism of them made me think that this world is not for everyone:(
happiness is one of my favourite films, it potrays how people like to seem a certain way to the outside world but really all is not as it seems.
stuart a life backwards shows the unfairness of the world, sad

p to the e · 11-07-2011 6:45pm

Quite possibly the bleakest film I have ever seen was The Proposition starring Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone and Danny Heuston. The violence is harsh, the language quite cacophonous and the tone very dark throughout.

Danny Heuston is on top form as the menacing/psychotic older brother but it's probably Emily Watson's innocence interlaced with extreme hardships that makes it hard to watch. Screenplay written by one Nick Cave so you know it's not gonna be a happy go lucky film and directed by a man named John Hillcoat who gave the world the ever grey mood in The Road.

Rubik. · 11-07-2011 7:03pm

super_furry wrote: »

Nil By Mouth. There's some great preformances in it - especially by Kathy Burke - but it's pretty much as bleak as you can get.

I think Tim Roth outdid Oldman in bleakness with War Zone.

Tango One · 11-07-2011 7:19pm

I know The road has been mention before in this thread, but the scene with the

half eaten people in the basement really got me

pretty horrific stuff.

FruitLover · 12-07-2011 1:24am

Anyone mentioned 'Dear Zachary' yet?

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

Grave of the Fireflies was another WWII film that I found horribly depressing. The fact its a cartoon makes it worse

There's also a live-action (direct-to-TV) version, well worth watching for the incredible performance of the six-year-old actress playing Setsuko.

jill_valentine · 12-07-2011 2:02am

Jesus. It's such a great film I'd be curious about the live action version, but honest to God, I'm not sure I could hack that story again without just dissolving as a human being.

The Mad Hatter · 12-07-2011 2:15am

jill_valentine wrote: »

Jesus. It's such a great film I'd be curious about the live action version, but honest to God, I'm not sure I could hack that story again without just dissolving as a human being.

Like When the Wind Blows, I think a large part of the power of Grave of the Fireflies lies in the fact that its characters are animated. In both cases, they're drawn with sympathy, simplicity and innocence, and in both cases their bodies are ravaged and destroyed to an extent nigh-on impossible in live-action film.

But yes, I'm with you one hundred per cent. I would rank it as one of my favourite films, but I don't know if I could ever watch it a second time.

henryporter · 12-07-2011 9:51am

Actually the mention of Danny Huston above reminded me of another real mind numbingly bleak affair - "Ivans xtc" - a Tolstoy inspired tale of death and disinterest as well as a good expose of Hollywood - I must watch it again - absolutely superb

Acacia · 12-07-2011 8:03pm

"The Magdalene Sisters"- uncompromising in its portrayal of the worst aspects of Irish society in the last century, and it's very important because of that. It stayed with me long after the credits rolled.

Teyla Emmagan · 12-07-2011 8:14pm

Gummo

Most depressing film I have ever seen. So bleak and twisted and hopeless. It's all about American white trash (putting it lightly) and their miserable, cruel and boring lives.

I will never get over the bit with the guy who pimps out his Down Syndrome sister.

krudler · 12-07-2011 8:49pm

Se7en is pretty freakin dreary throughout, the ending is just the icing on a very dark cake

trustno1 · 13-07-2011 8:26am

A few I would have nominated have already been mentioned (Sophies Choice, When the Wind Blows, The Mist, Grave of the Fireflies etc..) but one that stands out for me is Ladybird, Ladybird by Ken Loach about a mother and her battle with the social welfare in relation to her children.. exrremely harrowing stuff.. and surprised that Schlinder's List hasn't yet had a mention - extremely bleak..

And Man Bites Dog is a comedy and is absolutley hilarious!..:rolleyes:

spurious · 13-07-2011 9:38am

For the general effect it has on you, 'Come and See' (Idi i smotri) is a devastating film.

'Breaking the Waves' is a film that disturbed me at the time I saw it and still does. There is maybe one character in that film who exhibits any sort of empathy with others.

'Nil by mouth' - the way such an abnormal family existence was taken as normal by the members of the family was very bleak.

'Happiness' - the gradual dawning on the viewer of what is actually going on is shocking.

spoonface · 13-07-2011 9:43am

Threads. It's about the days following a nuclear war. Grim.

The bleakest film you have seen. *NO LISTING*

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The bleakest film you have seen. NO LISTING