SO in agreement on “Three Colors: Red”. I’d like to add “Burnt by the Sun”…that was my fetal position movie.
The ending of Herzog’s “Stroszek” is a definite downer; I think Ian Curtis would back me up on that.
Mike Leigh’s “Secrets and Lies” end on a surprisingly uplifting note though.
Another Kieslowski film with an unforgettable ending is “Blind Chance”. It’s explosive! Highly recommended viewing.
Dreyer’s “Ordet” is ‘transcendental’ cinema at its absolute finest, the ending is so intense and profound that it will make even the most devout atheist believe in miracles!
I adore the ending to À ma soeur! Of course I was shocked at first, but the expression of Anais at the very end is so amazing I can’t help but be happy.
Endings that really affect me:
Todd Haynes’ Safe
Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark (even though I know I’m being manipulated the tears always flow)
Fassbinder’s Veronika Voss
Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence – when DDL tells his son that his wife “never asked him” – it hits me like a ton of bricks.
Requiem for a Dream
La passion de Jeanne d’arc
Life is beautiful
American history X
SALO
Sorry; Double post…
Yeah, I found the end of “Dancer in the Dark” was made even ‘more’ traumatic because it is Bjork (something Lars took much pleasure in).
Another Kieslowki film with an incredibly powerful ending (which relates somewhat to the “Dancer…” ending) is “A Short Film About Killing”, it is an uncompromisingly realistic end and completely justified.
I don’t know if it is the most dramatic, but I’d have to say that the ending to “There Will Be Blood” quite certainly blew my mind.
I would say the ending of Breaking of the Waves really traumatized me for a very long time…It is also one of the rare movies that I really really like but can’t watch many times, due to how much the movie emotionally disturbs me…
Umbrellas of Cherbourg. beautiful, eviscerating.
Brokeback mountain’s ending definitely sealed the deal for me. The movies message of forbidden love and the longing that can come when we dont admit our love for someone is conveyed so beautifully by heath ledger who is marvelous in this film. A masterpiece that shouldve been recognized by the academy as the best film of that year. Leaves you feeling the sadness that ennis will carry for the rest of his life. Truly one of the most beautiful films about love that you will ever see.
I allways cry on the end of Dantes peak
A couple of Truffaut films that have rather violent endings and leave a lasting impression are:
“Jules et Jim” (1962) Not totally unexpected but nonetheless a very disturbing and sad finale.
“The Soft Skin” (1964) The ending totally floored me when I first saw it, particularly coming from Truffaut, a very powerful ending indeed.
Irreversible. Whichever way you read it.
Yikes. I refused to see Irreversible. I just didn’t think I could handle it, cause I had a crush on Bellucci at the time.
But more to the point, I think the ending of Nights of Cabiria was just devastating. At least the way I remember it.
The ending of Frankenheimer’s Seconds was also pretty traumatic, I’ve always thought.
Memento’s also was a little unnerving, as was The Usual Suspects’s ending, I think.
The perfect film ending, achieving a higher state of pathos than any other film I can recall, is that to “City Lights.”
Jehuda, Irreversible is amazing. Apart from the fact that it’s a bleak reality check, the camerawork is deeply innovative: experimental but handled with masterful control. For all the film’s violence, it’s actually pretty understated: you get the continual impression of Noe holding back, which heightens the terror and sadness. Also, it’s use of sound design is incredible: 17khz noise, which has the effect of disturbing the human body at a vibrational level, constantly filling you with a sense of dread. And the closing scenes… there’s a beauty there, a portrait of real love and tenderness, of madonna and child womanhood, and therein lies the real trauma.
I looked it up on YouTube the other day. There’s the trailer, which is brief and abstract, and there was a clip from the closing scenes with Cassel and Bellucci. And some guy had written as a comment underneath (words to this effect): “Wow, this looks like a really romantic film…I’m going to rent it out when my girlfriend gets back, she enjoys love stories…” I sincerely hope it was an ironic statement. Because otherwise… I hate to imagine the traumatic end to that evening.
While I’m here, I’d like to add Kids to the list.
Hmm. I might yet be swayed, T. But I may have to see it on my own. May not be my fiancee’s cup of tea.
Chinatown’s end… the freeking pedophile stays on the loose…
Brian de Palma Sister’s… well it’s not disturbing nor dramatic but there’s a weird feeling
as for inspired endings:
Ozon’s reversed ending in “5×2” was such a simple idea yet totally inspired and satisfying to the viewer. After sitting through all the nasty psychological games and meltdowns in the couples relationship it is so refreshing to see them meet on the beach and walk out into the ocean and off into the sunset together (literally), it’s a great cinematic moment.
The Vanishing
The Swimmer
The Brown Bunny
The Rules of the Game
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
I love the end of Zhang Yimou’s “Shanghai Triad” (1995) when the boy Shuisheng has been hung upside down from a beam on the ship, the camera shows us his point of view, everything is upside down and gently swings back and forth, it’s a clever shot and makes for a very memorable ending.
The end of Gregg Araki’s “The Doom Generation” is certainly disturbing, yet cleverly done. You hear more than you actually see, which as many filmmakers have proven throughout cinema history, is often more disturbing than seeing the act itself.
someone spoiled the ending to the movie “29 palms” for me and let me be frank, it’s a sick and traumatizing ending and I’m afraid to see it.
a fantastically disturbing ending was that of “in my skin” by marina de van.
Oh, that’s not cool being told the end! Yeah you should be afraid! You really have to experience “Twentynine Palms” knowing nothing … it’s such a slow building film, the sense of dread that nothing is really happening keeps you on edge and then it finally hits you – a one-two punch, and it’s absolutely horrifying! It’s like the shower sequence in Psycho x100! I didn’t go to sleep for a few days, every time I closed my eyes the images would be triggered! Damn! You definitely need therapy after watching it!
Tarkovsky’s “Ivan’s Childhood” has a devastating revelation at the end.
Requiem for a Dream had such an impact on me the first time I watched it. It really is one of those rare films that effects you and gets under your skin……..
Antoine Doinel
Maybe try another tact here to do with film endings. What film endings have either enlightened, satisfied or emotionally scarred you the most?
These two films left me in the fetal position:
- Dumont’s “Twentynine Palms”
- Breillat’s “À ma soeur!”
As for an enlightening end:
- Welles’ “Citizen Kane”
- Kieslowski’s “Three Colors: Red”