OK, indulge me. What are your top 5 films that leave the audience feeling cynical, dark, or spiritually violated? (Not that that's a bad feeling for a film to give...)
In the Company of Men
Your Friends and Neighbors
The Ice Storm
The Magdelene Sisters
Amores Perros
"It's a good deal...it's a good deal for ME!"
just adding some more to the list
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Long Day's Journey Into Night (1996 version, starring William Hutt)
Black robe
Far North
The spy who came in from the cold
how you people feel about Twelve Monkeys in that regard?
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In no particular order (Eveb though it is supposed to be a a top5.
The Ice Storm - Just sad, nothing more to it
The Mist - Most depressing ending I have ever seen, The ending actually made me think however I liked the movie or not, and yes i did. Prefer the books ending though, its also depressing but not as much
Vertigo - Somewhat ironic ending, but it also is very sad, and leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Not a bad ending though.
Fight Club - This movie is like getting beaten the crap out of you and standing there with a big smile on your face.
Alien 3 - The ultimate ending to a fantastic trilogy (Ressurection doesnt count in my book)but it also leaves you thinking.
Probably forgot a lot of movies, well it happens.
The Hustler
Requiem for a Dream
The Deer Hunter
The Seventh Continent
Boy A
Depressing, moving, unforgettable. And cynical as hell.
Magdelene Sisters
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Irréversible
La Strada
Donnie Darko
For me it's:
Fight Club
Das Boot
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Clockwork Orange
Requiem For A Dream
I thought The Ice Storm was excellent though
I got to page 6, so I don't know if it's listed further down the line, but I was surprised that at that point I still hadn't seen "The Deer Hunter."
All we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us.
Damn, too many responses are from people who apparently don't comprehend what cynical means. Several mentioned movies have poignant endings that aren't necessarily cynical or remotely pessimistic. These endings usually are moments of realization or awakening, so just because we don't see a cliche happy ending doesn't make a movie cynical. Too often people judge movies with how it generally made them feel instead of interpreting what the movie is actually communicating.
I even doubt whether Ice Storm can be considered cynical when Kevin Kline's character displays regret, which indicates moral awareness. A cynical view would have no such remorse. Instead, Ice Storm was more about the characters' reactions to their hostile environment with the ice storm mirroring the political climate at the time. The characters weren't soulless, indulgent, amoral people, so I don't consider the movie cynical. They were victims of their environment trying to find a way out. There's nothing inherently cynical about that.
Cynicism isn't the lack of morals, it's simply the belief that all human action is selfish in nature. How exactly is that synonymous with amorality?
Also, you believe a cynical person can't display regret? I seriously doubt that.
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American Beauty
Little Children
Donnie Darko
Blue Valentine
The Virgin Suicides