Top Ten Saddest Movie Endings of All Time
#1 -Philadelphia
This Oscar-winning 1993 movie stars Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, and Antonio Banderas. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it tells the tale of Andrew Beckett’s (Hanks) legal battle against the company that fired him for being gay and having AIDS. Of course, a movie about AIDS in the early 90’s was unlikely to have a happy ending. After Beckett finally succumbs to his condition, the movie ends with the uplifting and devastating footage of his funeral, full of family and friends celebrating his life. As the camera slowly pans into home videos of Beckett as a child playing on the beach, you would need a heart of stone not to cry. Scored by Neil Young, this scene is the most powerful and beautiful ending you can imagine to a film about a legal battle.
#2 – United 93
In 2006, director Paul Greengrass released this film about a plane hijacked on 9/11. United 93 was the only flight not to reach its intended target thanks to the bravery of its passengers, who worked together to defeat the terrorists. The plane crashed in Pennsylvania, and countless lives were saved by their sacrifice. United 93 was shot in real time, and ends with the plane crashing to the ground. The fact it really happened makes this movie very painful, but very meaningful, to watch. It is dedicated to the memory of those who died that day.
#3 – The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Based on a novel by John Boyne, this 2008 film is set in Poland during the Holocaust. Main character Bruno, the son of a concentration camp Commandant, befriends Shmuel, the titular boy in a striped uniform who lives behind a barbed wire fence. After a disagreement with his father, Bruno sneaks into the camp and finds Shmuel, who gives him a uniform to help him blend in. Along with a group of inmates, Bruno and Shmuel are ushered into the “showers” by a guard. By the time Bruno’s family discover he is missing, it is too late. In addition to the horror of the camps and the fact that this was the fate of millions of innocent people, some sadness comes from the fact that Bruno’s simple desire to play with his friend led to his death. This is one of the bleakest endings in movie history.
#4 – The Green Mile
This 1999 movie, based on a book by Stephen King and directed by Frank Darabont, follows a group of Death Row (the titular Green Mile) guards led by Paul Edgcomb (Hanks again, and later Dabbs Greer) and their time with John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) before his execution for murder. Coffey, as it turns out, is a miracle worker who can heal the sick and dying; he is also innocent. Tragically, Paul and his colleagues have no choice but to execute him anyway. Many years later, Paul tells a friend that Coffey once healed him and as a result he has lived to be 108 years old. Since Coffey also healed a mouse that lived over 60 years, how long is Paul doomed to watch the people he loves die? Even worse, Paul sees this as a fitting punishment for his role in the execution. He longs for death, but does not know how long his own Green Mile will be.
#5 – Requiem for a Dream
Based on a book by Hubert Selby Jr., Darren Aronovsky’s 2000 movie follows heroin addicts Harry and Tyrone (Jared Leto and Marlon Wayans) as they try to pull off a huge drug deal. Also in the picture are Harry’s girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) who longs for fame and fortune, and his mother Sara (Ellen Burstyn) who wants nothing more than to lose weight and fit into her beloved red dress so she can be on a game show. The movie beautifully deconstructs how destructive hopeless dreams can be. It ends with Marion prostituting herself for heroin, Sara in a mental hospital after overdosing on weight-loss amphetamines, and Harry and Tyrone in jail for possession. Harry has also lost an arm to an infected injection site, and has given up hope of Marion ever loving him again thanks to his actions. This movie is not recommended when you’re feeling sad.
#6 – A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Stephen Spielberg released this take on the Pinocchio story in 2001. David (Haley Joel Osment) is an advanced robot boy capable of love. Rejected by his family when their human son returns to them, David is fated to be destroyed. Instead, his “mother” Monica (Frances O’Connor) releases him. David then goes on a quest to become a “real boy”, so she will love him. After waiting patiently for two thousand years, he finally gets his wish. Advanced robots, all that is left of humanity, can manipulate time and human DNA to bring his mother back – but only for one day. After the happiest day of David’s life, Monica tells him she loves him and goes to sleep, never to awaken. Finally happy, David shuts down for good. If you can watch the end of their last wonderful day together without crying, you may just be a robot yourself.
#7 – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Jack Nicholson’s breakout role was as mental institution inmate R.P. McMurphy in Milos Forman’s classic 1975 film (based on the book by Ken Kesey). McMurphy, with the help of the Chief (Will Sampson) overcame the terrifying Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) and taught the oppressed patients how to stand up for themselves. Tragically, his victory doesn’t last long. After the suicide of a particularly fragile inmate, McMurphy goes off the rails and, despite being perfectly sane by modern standards, is lobotomised. He is left a shell of his former self until the Chief, in an act of kindness, smothers him with a pillow (allowing him to “escape”) before breaking out of the institution. Is this movie uplifting, and does it ultimately convey a message about freedom? Yes. Is it cheerful? No.
#8 – Million Dollar Baby
Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood shine in this tale of Maggie (Swank), a young girl from a poor family who rises to the top of the women’s boxing world with the help of cantankerous coach Frankie (Eastwood). Tragically, just as Maggie reaches her peak at her first title fight, a sore loser punches her from behind. Maggie breaks her neck on a corner stool and is left paralysed from the neck down. After months of torment, poor treatment by her grasping family and the eventual loss of her leg due to poor circulation, Maggie begs Frankie to end her suffering. He does, injecting her with an adrenaline overdose before disappearing into the night. Directed by Eastwood, this film was released in 2004 to critical acclaim and received four Oscars. The ending is devastating, but it is a great story.
#9 – The Notebook
This 2004 romantic drama is based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks and directed by Nick Cassavetes. It tells the story of Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams) and their struggle to eventually be together. The tale is told by Duke (James Garner) to another resident in his nursing home (Gena Rowlands). At the end, we find out they are Noah and Allie: her devastating Alzheimer’s has robbed her of her memories, but Noah reads her their story every day in the hope she will remember him. When she does, their time together is all too brief before, heartbreakingly, she forgets him again and begins to panic. Duke himself has a heart attack. An unknown time later, Duke slips into her room at the home. She is lucid, and they talk about their love. The next morning a nurse finds them in bed, holding hands, having peacefully passed away together. This is why The Notebook is known as a weepie.
#10 – Seven Pounds
Gabriele Muccino directed Will Smith in this fantastic 2008 drama. Tim (Smith) tests people to see if they are good before donating organs to them. He donates bone marrow, a lung lobe, part of his liver, and a kidney to different people before giving his house to a struggling woman. Finally, he chooses the last two candidates before committing suicide by climbing into a bath of ice with a lethal box jellyfish. Why would he do this? Through flashbacks we discover that two years previously, Tim caused a car accident which killed his fiancée and six other people. Wracked with guilt, all of Tim’s actions since have been part of a mission of atonement. Smith’s performance is outstanding, and Tim’s suicide is heartbreaking. The final scene reveals the man who received Tim’s corneas meeting the woman who received his heart. The mixture of joy and sadness in this moment will make you cry.
Courtesy of http://www.uncoverdiscover.com
