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What movies make you emotional or cry by their craftmanship?


filmmusic

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Thank you for your inputs but I think many of you didn't quite understand me.

I didn't ask about films that make you emotional through their dramatic plot (eg. someone dies etc.)

but I was talking about films that you get goosebumps and get emotional by their level of craftmanship, and the connection of all the elements (photography, music, scenery etc.) which take cinema in a higher level..

Dramatic plot is a part of the art form (Yes it is art, not craft). I'd go as far to say that the writing is one of the most crucial aspects of film. If you've got a killer script, everything else comes much easier.

Yes, The Office got me at the end as well, which is especially brilliant (and welcome) since it was NEVER expected.

That ending really hit me hard. I mean seeing Steve Carell like that....it was just really moving...I didn't think a tv sitcom could do that to me...

The U.S. Office doesn't exist as far as I'm concerned.

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Thank you for your inputs but I think many of you didn't quite understand me.

I didn't ask about films that make you emotional through their dramatic plot (eg. someone dies etc.)

but I was talking about films that you get goosebumps and get emotional by their level of craftmanship, and the connection of all the elements (photography, music, scenery etc.) which take cinema in a higher level..

Field of Dreams - the finale when he asks his Dad to play catch. That emotional ending would have never had its payoff if it wasn't for all of the elements coming together perfectly. All of the actors, the cinematography, the music, all of it perfectly in sync for that final scene. I cry like a baby every time. Which is why I very rarely watch it.

Saving Private Ryan - The opening scene at Omaha Beach - I remember being a teenager and seeing the film in the theater and didn't realize what I was getting into. There were many older war veterans in the audience from WWII and Vietnam. When this scene ended, there were so many men who had to step out of the theater to gather themselves. Never being in the military myself, this was the closest I could ever understand of the impact of war. Talking to a few of them afterwards, they all expressed how realistic that scene was and that it brought out so many memories of their time in war.

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It's been renewed for another season. I still watch it. It's obviously not as good but it still has its moments and it's still enjoyable.

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No, I know what filmmusic was getting at, but the thread sort of veered away from it a bit, as to be expected I suppose. He was asking if people here love film craft so much that they have a strong emotional response to its design and construction - purely on a technical level. Do people weep with joy at the masterful direction and marriage of music during the Raiders desert chase? Yes they do.

You understood me completely Quint! ;-)

Of course the acting and the plot have their share too, but I meant mostly this..

eg. i can cry at the Ballroom dance of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Do we have drama there? someone dies? no.

I just get goosebumps by the music, the direction, the angles of shooting, the colors etc.

Of course i get emotional from the plot too ..

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Off the top of my head,

Schindler's list

E.T.

Some parts of indiana jones

Edward Scissorhands

Forrest Gump

Back to the future

And it's not so much what's actually happening on film (although that's the case for movies like ET, Schindler, Forrest), mostly the warm fuzzy feeling for me comes from the sheer craft, the creativity, the work basically that goes in.

for me the 2 top in my head are E.T. and Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

but I could equally get emotional by Indiana Jones and the temple of doom (which i consider the best adventure film ever made), Superman or even Spacecamp! ( a movie that i also watched dozens of time in VHS when i was a kid).

Curious what parts of TOD do you enjoy? Man i love when Indy says "Right....all of us", and he's bad ass standing in front of the thuggees ready to take them on. Cool part. Lots of cool parts in that movie, also my favorite of the series.

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Thank you for your inputs but I think many of you didn't quite understand me.

I didn't ask about films that make you emotional through their dramatic plot (eg. someone dies etc.)

but I was talking about films that you get goosebumps and get emotional by their level of craftmanship, and the connection of all the elements (photography, music, scenery etc.) which take cinema in a higher level..

Dramatic plot is a part of the art form (Yes it is art, not craft). I'd go as far to say that the writing is one of the most crucial aspects of film. If you've got a killer script, everything else comes much easier.

True. With a bad script you go nowhere. With a good script, you might make a good film.

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I think it ended fairly recently.

no it didn't. The office returns in the fall.

I would never cry from watching Desert chase but there is a great amount of joy. Or One Barrel Chase. These are moments of excitement where acting, writing, cinematography, art direction, music all become a total package

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True. With a bad script you go nowhere. With a good script, you might make a good film.

I think the success of a film rests more upon its visual elements. A film could be a dramatic or narrative mess but be redeemed through the power of its imagery. A poor "script" would be far more damaging to a more textually oriented medium like, say, a novel.

but film as a medium is inherently manipulative. It's expressly manipulative. That is the point.

I don't see it that way, but that's probably because for me the word manipulative carries an intrinsically negative connotation. I could also see how one might argue that the whole of life is about manipulating thoughts, feelings, and sensations -- whether your own or those of others -- to achieve maximal happiness, but I wouldn't put it in those terms.

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Avatar could have been great if it had a great script. I could imagine a film with a poor script that is visually striking, but that alone could never redeem it. The script is the first step. Without it you can't do anything else, it's the necessary blueprint.

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I sorta rewrote the story of Avatar. It wasn't even called Avatar anymore. I even changed the name of the moon. lol

True. With a bad script you go nowhere. With a good script, you might make a good film.

I think the success of a film rests more upon its visual elements. A film could be a dramatic or narrative mess but be redeemed through the power of its imagery. A poor "script" would be far more damaging to a more textually oriented medium like, say, a novel.

They also praise novels with poor "scripts" and good "literature" (whatever that means without a good "script")

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Some fantastic choices in here (specially Alex's reference to Empire of the Sun and The Elephant Man, Mikko's mention of Lion in Winter and Quint's of Remains of the Day). Great call as well, Maurizio, on The Accidental Tourist (such a hidden jewel of a movie).

I'd add:

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (the angel scene is so poignant, it gives closure to the whole series, even though it happened even before the season began)

El Secreto de Sus Ojos (a magnificent Argentinian movie)

Lawrence of Arabia (this is cinema at his finnest, this particular movies is one of the great amalgamations of all the arts that make up cinema)

The Asteroid Field and the It's a Trap scene from the Star Wars OT are just absolutely exhilarating moments of great sensorial amplification, and JW's music is biggest factor in this

Also from Lion in Winter, the How Beautiful You Make Me scene. Incredible scoring by Barry, easily what I consider to be his greatest work

The New World, the opening using the Vorspiel from Rheingold

Master and Commader: The Far Side of the World, the crossing Cape Horn scene, with the ingenious use (even if anchronistic) of Vaughan Willams' Tallis Fantasia

Ran, the burning of the castle. And what a desolate, Mahlerian, incredible score by Takemitsu. It's one of the greatest musical representations of hopelessness I have ever heard

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There are only three films that have made me cry. It happened int this chronological order: Schindler's List, E.T. and The Iron Giant. I find interesting to notice that I didn't cry with E.T. until I was grown up.

Besides that: WALL·E (it crushed me, somehow), The Return of the King, The Abyss, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blade Runner, both Terminators.

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I find it difficult to separate film technique and emotional storytelling, considering one is - or should be, when done well - always informing the other. Certainly I admire the technical finesse of the zooms when Barry first sees the Lyndon family in Barry Lyndon, along with the inspired musical choice of Schubert's "Piano Trio in E-Flat" and Kubrick's refusal to cut away in the editing, but it's not that alone that always gives me that jolt of excitement whenever I watch it. It's the context, the strange feeling of foreboding that these elements create that is absolutely essential to the storytelling and the introduction of those characters.

Likewise, when George McFly kisses Lorraine Baines for the first time, of course I'm tearing up because of the significance of the moment, by what's happening to Marty, by what it means for George. But it's also the echo-ing out of all background noise in the sound design, the mixing of the score and diegetic music, as Alan Silvestri's variation on his main theme backs off so Marvin Berry can close out the bridge and punch into that glorious final chorus of "Earth Angel". Michael J. Fox's reaction is great, of course, but it's also supported by one of the most perfectly-timed jump match cuts I've ever seen, as we move out from a close-up and into a wide-shot, so we can see him pop up with his guitar. That's craft.

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Best scene. Far too short. I would have used a different music for the NGC 5866 bit, at the beginning. Something less sad. I see no reason to be sad at all that beauty.

Actually, screw it. Fuck Brad Pitt, fuck humanity. The whole film should have been like that.

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The ending of Ben Hur when Judah finds his mom and sister healed by the power of Christ. It's wonderful.

Dark Victory, Betty Davis in a performance beyond belief. She deceives her husband into thinking she's fine when she's really about to die. I know it's coming, yet I'm powerless.

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I find it difficult to separate film technique and emotional storytelling, considering one is - or should be, when done well - always informing the other. Certainly I admire the technical finesse of the zooms when Barry first sees the Lyndon family in Barry Lyndon, along with the inspired musical choice of Schubert's "Piano Trio in E-Flat" and Kubrick's refusal to cut away in the editing, but it's not that alone that always gives me that jolt of excitement whenever I watch it. It's the context, the strange feeling of foreboding that these elements create that is absolutely essential to the storytelling and the introduction of those characters.

Likewise, when George McFly kisses Lorraine Baines for the first time, of course I'm tearing up because of the significance of the moment, by what's happening to Marty, by what it means for George. But it's also the echo-ing out of all background noise in the sound design, the mixing of the score and diegetic music, as Alan Silvestri's variation on his main theme backs off so Marvin Berry can close out the bridge and punch into that glorious final chorus of "Earth Angel". Michael J. Fox's reaction is great, of course, but it's also supported by one of the most perfectly-timed jump cuts I've ever seen, as we move out from a close-up and into a wide-shot, so we can see him pop up with his guitar. That's craft.

One of those posts that make me wish the "Like This" function were enabled. Beautifully done.

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Thank you for your inputs but I think many of you didn't quite understand me.

I didn't ask about films that make you emotional through their dramatic plot (eg. someone dies etc.)

but I was talking about films that you get goosebumps and get emotional by their level of craftmanship, and the connection of all the elements (photography, music, scenery etc.) which take cinema in a higher level..

Indeed, I know what you mean, but I think you never should've used the word 'cry'. People too easily associate crying with drama, sadness or profound beauty. Like Maurizio said, the stunts of Raiders Of The Lost Ark don't make him cry (what a relief) but give him great joy.They lift up his heart.

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Perhaps "affecting" would have been clearer than "make you cry" in this instance since the fact that you are affected by the cinematic power of a film or scene is emotional but it can be anything on the emotional scale. Sometimes the images, words, music and world of the film can combine to singular moments of emotion that just affect and move you be it gut wrenching desolation, sadness or horror or pure joy of excitement and near poetic beauty.

Girl with a Pearl Earring then has to be one of the best in that category for me if craftsmanship is concerned. You could take nearly any image from that quiet, subdued but beautiful film and frame it and it would become a stunning painting. Brilliantly lit, excellently strong visuals that capture the atmosphere and mood of Vermeer paintings, the sets, the period costumes all become a subtle yet memorable mix which Desplat's music further enhances. The film it very much about seeing the world through art, people who have the gift and those do not, a personal tragedy of Vermeer and his wife in this respect and how the maid, who has the gift and who becomes to realize this ends up in the midst of family drama through it. The film is a quiet one where the images and the cinematic craftsmanship speaks volumes when the people are not.

Lord of the Rings trilogy has many moments where different aspects of cinematic craftsmanship come together in a way that is both moving and exhilarating, although I am hardly (nor should I be) impartial judge since the novel holds me a large significance. This means that some of these scenes have to an extent transferred parts of my mental images on screen with surprising similarity (in itself a joy of its own kind), others have exceeded my imagination.

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Strong men also cry.

Strong men...also cry!

You can do it Stefan! You can do it!

And I am worried when a film nor its story does not get me emotionally engaged on any significant level.

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And I am worried when a film nor its story does not get me emotionally engaged on any significant level.

So i guess you're worried a lot.

Long-running arcs of tv series are more bound to get me engaged these days. I found some of the later episodes of the british SKINS series curiously affecting for its young actors were really good. As for the cited COLOR PURPLE, it's one of Spielberg's films where he directed perfect scenes without realizing it and when he tried hard on others it just became incredibly mushy.

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And I am worried when a film nor its story does not get me emotionally engaged on any significant level.

So i guess you're worried a lot.

Indeed I am. And it is true I am gravitating towards TV-series with their longer story arcs as well.
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Who doesn't? I remember watching TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, thinking how they botched the whole denoument because the score was so subdued. The scene when Colin Firth and Mark Strong look at each other the last time cry out for some musical magic to sell us the broken love between them but the score hushed along in the background with no discernible change in tone or pace to the two hours preceding it.

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Undeniably I crave for emotional fulfilment of some kind, which can also be very ambiguous and leave you raw inside, but also intellectual stimulus. Not all films have to have an ending where everything is resolved and find a neat finish, happy more often than not. Sometimes the best ones are those where the ending poses questions, not by being non-sensical or unduly mysterious, but leaving you thinking and feeling about the whole story and the possible what comes after.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a great example of this. The gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, the electric acting and enormously accomplished script and North's psychologically charged score for a film leaves you in the end nearly as exhausted emotionally and intellectually as the main protagonists. It is a film of high emotions but leaves you thinking about the tragedy and relationship of the characters on a much more general scale and how it might end for them and what makes them as they are. The film partially answers that yes but there is a lot of space for viewer's own input.

Who doesn't? I remember watching TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, thinking how they botched the whole denoument because the score was so subdued. The scene when Colin Firth and Mark Strong look at each other the last time cry out for some musical magic to sell us the broken love between them but the score hushed along in the background with no discernible change in tone or pace to the two hours preceding it.

Yes that film was an example where I really found Alberto Iglesias' musical style rather wall paperish. It is good for the music to be part of the whole of the story telling not just showing off how it is intellectual and doesn't care for emotion.
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I saw TTSS and WAR HORSE on one day and both sucked for being on opposite sides of the spectrum. The first was emotional detached feeling like a scientist observing an insect under a microscope, the second was depressingly mundane oscar-whoring on a scale that puts Ron Howard to shame. So it's hard to do find a golden middle ground.

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That is very true. Finding that right balance of elements is really difficult and especially for all (even majority) of viewers at the same time.

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Only in this one instance. Don't think it will become a habit! Never I say, never! :stick:

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for me the 2 top in my head are E.T. and Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

but I could equally get emotional by Indiana Jones and the temple of doom (which i consider the best adventure film ever made), Superman or even Spacecamp! ( a movie that i also watched dozens of time in VHS when i was a kid).

Curious what parts of TOD do you enjoy? Man i love when Indy says "Right....all of us", and he's bad ass standing in front of the thuggees ready to take them on. Cool part. Lots of cool parts in that movie, also my favorite of the series.

Oh, I love the whole movie.

most of all

-the opening song (absolutely love it, get goosebumps, hehe)

-the whole thuggie ceremony

-the tunnel chase scene

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Wait for my long-winded anal track-by-track analyses of recent Williams scores. They will make our bond even stronger!

:biglaugh:

You wouldn't dare! :o
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Thank you for your inputs but I think many of you didn't quite understand me.

I didn't ask about films that make you emotional through their dramatic plot (eg. someone dies etc.)

but I was talking about films that you get goosebumps and get emotional by their level of craftmanship, and the connection of all the elements (photography, music, scenery etc.) which take cinema in a higher level..

I think I totally got what you were trying to express (see my post on first page).

The New World, the opening using the Vorspiel from Rheingold

Every Malick film does it for me sans Badlands, but it's been a long time since I've seen that one.

[media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkUBECRoAwM

Once 1:57 hits I'm there.

This is for me a prime example of a director's pretentiousness. Kubrick's 2001 (with which someone made comparisons) still beats this to a pulp.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 had me on the verge of tearing up for the last half of the movie, and none of the other Potter films did this to me

Hunger Games had a few scenes that got me

A.I., the reunion scene

Return of the King, when Frodo and Sam climb Mount Doom

Star Trek 2, when Kirk realizes something happened to Spock at the end

E.T, the Separation and Departure scenes

Close Encounters, the ending sequence

Star Trek 2009. The Kirk birth scene got to me

For TV shows, Lost had a lot of tear inducing episodes

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I can get emotional but crying is another story. In my whole life i only cried two times over films in cinema and two times over television episodes.

Films that made me very emotional were off the top of my head: Schindler's List, The Pianist, To Kill a Mockingbird, ET (watching it as a child)

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Lord of the Rings trilogy has many moments where different aspects of cinematic craftsmanship come together in a way that is both moving and exhilarating, although I am hardly (nor should I be) impartial judge since the novel holds me a large significance. This means that some of these scenes have to an extent transferred parts of my mental images on screen with surprising similarity (in itself a joy of its own kind), others have exceeded my imagination.

You're telling me. When I first watched The Two Towers, my breath was taken away at how accurately they nailed Edoras. I didn't think they could find such a place, even in all of New Zealand. But there it is! Edoras as described in the book! A lone hill under the mighty mountain of Starkhorn.

I think LOTR is so full of moments that will affect with its degree of craftmanship. The sheer amount of work put into that work to really nail the Middle-Earth experience is truly mind-blowing.

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