Thursday, August 24, 2006

A Steady Stream of Tears


There are movies that have made me cry. Often for just a short moment, or at a scene built for creating a couple tear drops.

For me it's the most random combination of movies like Big Fish, Schindler's List, World Trade Center, For Love of the Game, Dead Poet's Society, and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and I am Sam (to name a few).

But the films were I have cried most consistently through out the majority of the films are Hotel Rwanda and the documentary Paper Clips.

Last night, my wife and I watched Paper Clips and it was the most bizarre experience that I cried almost from start to finish...not because the entire film was overly emotional but it hit me in all the emotional themes that sometimes "get me."

Why are these the two movies that have made me continuously emotional? They are completly different films, but still there are many common themes between these two films. Can you seen any themes between Hotel Rwanda and Paper Clips. (I can see a few)

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14 comments:

Ando said...

Certain themes strike a chord with me as well; father's and sons, soldiers and there families, among others.

I wept pretty much all the way through The Passion of the Christ.

There are a couple movies that get me to at least get a little misty everytime and I have no idea why, one being the very end of A League of Their Own. I find this mildly embarassing.

I've been wanting to see Paperclips for a while. Sounds like a winner.

walypala said...

Fathers and sons, mothers and sons... gets me every time. Peter Pan-ish themes get me too.

When they both came together in Finding Neverland, I was a mess. In tears after 20 minutes, then at twenty minute intervals through the entire film.

By the end, I was so dehydrated I looked like Calista Flockhart.

The Iron Giant leaves me in a puddle every time, too.

Hell, I'm a crier.

Must check out paperclips!

Ryan said...

Is it bad I get a little teary each time I watch "Rudy" the football movie?
Pretty much any sad TRUE movie gets me verklempt.

Jordan M. Poss said...

I have to admit, I bawl my eyes out at the end of Braveheart. Pickett's Charge in Gettysburg really starts to get me when the Union army opens up on the Confederates at musket range, and General Armistead dies thinking that he and his best friend were killed on the same day. And I cry pretty much all the way through The Passion of the Christ.

I think the chord that really sets my tearducts to overflow is incredibly self-sacrifice. Oskar Schindler weeping over how many Jews he could have saved grabs me--it really does--but not as much as William Wallace laying his life down for freedom, Christ dying for a mob of people who hated him, or thousands of Confederate soldiers being butchered to defend their homes.

I had a chance to watch Hotel Rwanda last summer, but didn't take it because it was on a plane and I couldn't hear a thing that they were saying. Thanks for the recommendation--I'll have to go out of my way to check that out. And soon.

Paula said...

When King Theoden weeps over the loss of his son, a character we don't even meet in "The Two Towers", I weep, too. What does he say there? "A father should never have to bury their own child." He is feeling guilt, remorse, loss, pain....agh!! We all let down our children, every parent is a guilty parent, and that scene does me in.

Of course, I cry in almost every movie I see if there is a moment of truth or reality that peeps through the celluloid....

MissQuote said...

LOTR: Return of the King? Really? Well personally i find Schindler's List to be a real tear-jerker, and Pay It Forward (or any movie that involves a child dying a senseless death). Sad to say but 'Passion' left me feeling too grossed out to weep.

One Wink at a Time said...

Hotel Rwanda not only made me cry, it left me a different person. Prompted me to watch "Pieces of April" which is similar. Injustice makes me cry, among a gazillion other things. If the genocide upset you enough to want to get involved, I can recommend a couple of books. My husband saw Paperclips and was equally moved.
(Thanks for stoppin' over, hope you come back...)

Um Naief said...

Hotel Rwanda didn't make me cry. I felt a lot of pain and heartache, but this didn't start the flow. Now, I did cry thru Passion of the Christ... it really got to me. And Schindler's List gets me every time. I cry thru a lot of movies, some that aren't truly worth the tears but will pull on my heart strings, nevertheless.

J.D. said...

The end of Return of the King always gets me as well, when Sam finds out Frodo's not going back to the Shire with the rest of them.

Other than that, for me, there's Dead Poet's Society, School Ties, and definitely Passion of the Christ.

Oh, and how could I leave out A Walk to Remember. I am a big grown manly man, and I lost it at the end of that movie.

As for the oddball ones, the first episode of Punky Brewster, believe it or not, always gets me teary eyed. Oh, and I shed a tear in The Rookie when Dennis Quaid finally gets called up to the majors.

Sameer Vasta said...

I cry in every movie. Really, it's that bad.

Hotel Rwanda was particularly hard to watch because it struck so close to home. Coming from neighboring Tanzania, I know a lot of people that were directly affected by the Rwandan genocide, and every time I watch Don Cheadle fight through his exasperation, I can't help but remember the real people that I know that had to face a similar struggle.

Sadie Lou said...

I haven't seen Paper Clips, thanks for the mention, I'll add it to my que. Hotel Rwanda had the same effect on me--I was tense and in tears almost the entire time. I think the movie that had me sobbing the hardest was The House of Sand and Fog. There's a scene that lasts for about half an hour towards the end that makes me violently sob--It struck a chord. It feels good doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

Yes, Hotel Rawanda, Braveheart, they touch the heart.
Someone mentioned Pieces of April. Yes. very touching also.

I'll check out Paperclips.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't watch this. I started to but about 20 minutes in I started crying uncontrolably and couldn't watch any more. I'm sad to say I gave up without seeing the entire thing. I just couldn't bare it.

Luke said...

Aw shoot! Would you believe Return of the King and I Am Sam just barely missed the cut for me? I guess this means I should get around to seeing Hotel Rwanda, huh? :)