Help me break me
March 25, 2011 8:25 AM   Subscribe

My girlfriend has suggested that I might be overdue for a no-holds-barred sob destruction and I think I agree. But I'm having a hard time overcoming my disinclination towards that degree of vulnerability, so I've decided to mount an attack based on system overload. Do you have suggestions of specific pieces of media (video clips/songs/short poems/etc) that make you tear up every time?

They don't necessarily have to be sad; the reconciliation at the end of An American Tail is definitely on my list. Ideally they will be short-duration and high-poignancy, preferably that can be easily amassed and arranged through internet links. My hope is that if I'm already on the edge (which seems to be more and more frequent), I can use this awful mix tape to push me over.
posted by ictow to Human Relations (267 answers total) 139 users marked this as a favorite
 
Well, I hear that Futuruma's Jurassic Bark ending is pretty surefire for this sort of thing.

Being a flint-hearted brute myself I wouldn't know. Probably.
posted by Decani at 8:28 AM on March 25, 2011 [25 favorites]


The end of Star Trek II.

The end of Donnie Darko.

The end of Vincent and the Doctor
posted by Gorgik at 8:30 AM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet.
posted by methroach at 8:32 AM on March 25, 2011


The most recent Moth podcast, called "The Best of Times, The Worst of Times," will be... effective?
posted by jon1270 at 8:32 AM on March 25, 2011 [10 favorites]


hang on, this version of Jurassic bark has more context at the start.
posted by Decani at 8:32 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


The Fox and the Hound. Especially when it gets to this scene/song/poem.
posted by royalsong at 8:33 AM on March 25, 2011 [4 favorites]


It's not a short, but it's hard to imagine anyone watching The Horse Boy without opening the faucets. Yup, I feel a tear welling up just thinking about it.
posted by bricoleur at 8:33 AM on March 25, 2011


Franny's Last Ride, a true story by the late Mike Destafano, makes me pour.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:33 AM on March 25, 2011 [4 favorites]


Our Town. Or, How Green Was My Valley.

Liam Clancy singing "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda."
posted by punchtothehead at 8:33 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Don't forget the beginning of Up.
posted by yaymukund at 8:34 AM on March 25, 2011 [38 favorites]


Huh. It's not short, but the end of the book 'Where the Red Fern Grows' (by Wilson Rawsl made me cry longer and harder than anything I have ever seen or read. My family listened to the book on tape on a car ride when I was....maybe 12-14. All of us were crying, even my dad and I, who are usually pretty stoic. It has been made into two movies, but I haven't seen either one, so I can't comment on their ability to produce tears.

This one is totally macho-lame, but here it is anyway. The end of Braveheart, where Robert the Bruce implores the rag-tag army of Scottish rebels to 'now bleed with me', always put a lump in my throat.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 8:36 AM on March 25, 2011 [10 favorites]


City of Angels gets me every time. As does Red and Gold by Fairport Convention.
posted by Nick Jordan at 8:36 AM on March 25, 2011


It's not all that short, but if you're going to do it, you want to do it right. You want to read The Little Prince.
posted by infinitywaltz at 8:36 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


Pixar's Up, the opening ten minutes or so.
posted by PercussivePaul at 8:37 AM on March 25, 2011 [4 favorites]


The last 5 minutes of the last Babylon 5 episode will break a heart of flint.

And the departure of the ringbearers at the end of Return of the King hits the mark every time.
posted by Freedomboy at 8:37 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Also, the song 'Casimir Pulaski Day' by Sufjan Stevens is heartbreaking. The music is so beautiful I can almost forget how sad the subject is. But I challenge anyone to not be crushed by listening closely to the lyrics in that one.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 8:38 AM on March 25, 2011 [13 favorites]


Ah, let's not forget the final scene of the final Blackadder.

It's the fade at the end that puts the lump in the throat.
posted by Decani at 8:38 AM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


Definitely Up, as well as What Dreams May Come.
posted by amicamentis at 8:39 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


OH OH OH the very end of Six Feet Under, but you'll need to have watched the rest of it. I always loved this poem:

Quarantine
Eavan Boland

In the worst hour of the worst season
of the worst year of a whole people
a man set out from the workhouse with his wife.
He was walking-they were both walking-north.

She was sick with famine fever and could not keep up.
He lifted her and put her on his back.
He walked like that west and north.
Until at nightfall under freezing stars they arrived.

In the morning they were both found dead.
Of cold. Of hunger. Of the toxins of a whole history.
But her feet were held against his breastbone.
The last heat of his flesh was his last gift to her.

Let no love poem ever come to this threshold.
There is no place here for the inexact
praise of the easy graces and sensuality of the body.
There is only time for this merciless inventory:

Their death together in the winter of 1847.
Also what they suffered. How they lived.
And what there is between a man and a woman.
And in which darkness it can best be proved.
posted by yaymukund at 8:40 AM on March 25, 2011 [35 favorites]


Definitely the Fox and the Hound.

End of Dead Man Walking.

The song Go Rest High on That Mountain

The little girl at 1:29 of this Soldier Homecoming
posted by Sassyfras at 8:40 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


I can't get through Little Women without tearing up at least five different times.
posted by litnerd at 8:41 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


I cry every time I watch Sarah McLachlan's "World On Fire" video.
posted by flex at 8:41 AM on March 25, 2011


The lonely cat animation from Allegro Non Troppo.
posted by Aquaman at 8:41 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


The Little Princess is another movie, in general, with both high and low crying points.
posted by royalsong at 8:43 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


when we first saw WALL-E in the theater, my husband turned to me at the ending sequence and said, in an utterly stunned voice, "I'm crying!"
posted by changeling at 8:43 AM on March 25, 2011 [4 favorites]


The beginning of Up, definitely; the end of Toy Story 3, and the end of Cinema Paradiso (but you have to watch the whole movie to get the impact at the end). I bawl like a spoiled little kid who is denied candy every time I watch Cinema Paradiso.
posted by pdb at 8:43 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Two songs: You'll be lying foetal making impaled cow noises within minutes, guaranteed.
posted by scruss at 8:43 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Steel Magnolias. I'm tempted to say just the funeral scene, but I've seen the movie enough times that it's also shorthand.

Agreeing on Vincent and the Doctor. Maybe it's because I'm a creative-type who has suffered from depression, but the last third of that episode wrecked me. I can't even talk about it now without tearing up.
posted by sugarfish at 8:44 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


There was a thread a while back that asked for the most touching/serious episodes of TV shows. I can't find it, but there were a number of links and suggestions there that really got me. That might be a good thing for you, if someone can remember what I'm talking about.
posted by punchtothehead at 8:45 AM on March 25, 2011


The "Class Protector Award" scene from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "The Prom" episode (S03E20). Gets me EVERY SINGLE TIME.
posted by amelioration at 8:45 AM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


... and definitely seconding the lonely cat animation from Allegro Non Troppo.
posted by scruss at 8:45 AM on March 25, 2011


The end of Big Fish.

Avoid unless you've seen it all the way through, obviously.
posted by ODiV at 8:46 AM on March 25, 2011 [4 favorites]


Are news articles acceptable? This story about a 9-year-old girl who broke her neck and lost a leg saving her little sister's life made me cry like a baby.
posted by sea change at 8:46 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


This article about parents whose children die when they forget them in the backseat of their car, from an ask mefi about thought provoking journalism, had me tearing up for days.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 8:47 AM on March 25, 2011 [18 favorites]


You want depressing? Watch The Plague Dogs.
posted by dortmunder at 8:47 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


The ending of this little animation makes me cry: Kiwi!
posted by keep it under cover at 8:47 AM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


If you're into Sherlock Holmes, Old Sherlock.
posted by methroach at 8:47 AM on March 25, 2011


The Velveteen Rabbit. Its not short but even thinking of the ending makes me want to cry.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 8:49 AM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


Oh lordy, I forgot all about print media. You want a good cry? Read about Bill Simmons' last few days with his beloved dog. I can't ever read this article again because the first time it made me cry for about 20 nonstop minutes - and I like neither dogs nor Bill Simmons, usually.
posted by pdb at 8:49 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Glory, at the moment where the 54th moves out to attack the fort in front of the assembled white troops. Makes me cry everytime.

"You bow to no one" at the end of Return of the King gets me, too.

'course, these are both kind of uplifting moments. Might not be the sort of breakdown you're looking for, but then, I try really hard not to find things to cry over. :)
posted by scaryblackdeath at 8:51 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Old Yeller, Brian's Song, The Yearling, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
posted by cass at 8:51 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


I want to second the end of Star Trek II. DESTROYS ME INTO A PUDDLE.

In that vein, this also makes me a sobbing wreck.
---

"Remember"

REMEMBER me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
-Christina Rossetti
posted by lettuchi at 8:51 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


If you're an uber-nerd, try the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Cheesy, I know, but it still gets me. The penultimate scene of The Iron Giant is another one.

A good start might be the Tear Jerker page at TV Tropes.
posted by zombieflanders at 8:52 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Is there a reason we're all avoiding real life? The film "God Grew Tired of Us" is about Sudanese refugees making their way to and then in America. The scenes where the refugees talk about their lost home land and marvel at the small modern conveniences Americans take for granted made me cry very hard. There's also a reunion scene end at the end that I challenge anyone to watch and not cry.
posted by unannihilated at 8:53 AM on March 25, 2011 [4 favorites]


Last Minutes with Oden, in which a guy and his friends say their farewell to his dog Oden before he's put to sleep.

This vid could make me cry on a day where I won the lottery.
posted by brand-gnu at 8:54 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Pixar is a gold mine for this. Toy Story 3 has a scene involving fire that will reduce gladiators to sobbing children.
posted by mkultra at 8:54 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]




The ending of Toy Story 3. Really, just watch the whole thing, but it's the incinerator scene that had everyone in the theater absolutely bawling.

If you're an animal person, there's a video of lab test beagles going outside for the first time that made me sob openly. And some people have written some terribly good pet eulogies that generally get me too. Thi dog comic also got me pretty hard when I saw it (there are 9 parts, click the next arrow at the bottom or see the full thing here.

Oh, and there's the video of the soldier coming home to his dog from Afghanistan that makes me tear up just thinking about it. In that same vein, this photo of a soldier coming home to her child always gets me (via reddit; I couldn't find any more info on that picture).
posted by lilac girl at 8:55 AM on March 25, 2011 [12 favorites]




Radiolab has made me cry like a baby lately more than once. Finding Emilie, the whale story from Animal Blessings.

Also, West Side Story. Gets me every time.
posted by mskyle at 8:56 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


Ack, that wasn't the best version of it. I'm sorry. This is a better version of the ending of City Lights.
posted by superlibby at 8:57 AM on March 25, 2011


Just watch Life is Beautiful.
posted by Grither at 8:57 AM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


If we're going to do real life stuff, anything about Hachiko (bonus: it's a sappy dog story).

For that matter, the story of the loyal dog protecting his friend after the tsunami.
posted by infinitywaltz at 8:57 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


If the Toy Story one got you, be sure to check out Jessie's Song from Toy Story 2. It's an extremely sad montage, made worse by the queen of heartrending songs, Sarah McLaughlin.
posted by lilac girl at 9:00 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Found it: thread of depressing sitcom episodes.
posted by punchtothehead at 9:00 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


The end of LOST - for many reasons, but most especially because of Vincent.
posted by Sassyfras at 9:01 AM on March 25, 2011 [6 favorites]


As mentioned earlier, the first 10 minutes of UP are some of the saddest you will see.
posted by markblasco at 9:01 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


If it's playing anywhere near you, go see The Last Lions. My boyfriend and I both full-on sobbed--I had a stomachache the next day from holding my muscles so tight trying not to throw up from crying so hard.
posted by so_gracefully at 9:04 AM on March 25, 2011


I can barely type the words Edward Scissorhands without crying.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:05 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]




The "present-day" sequence from Schindler's List, where all the survivors themselves, accompanied by the actors who played them, come up two by two to leave a stone on Oskar Schindler's headstone and then someone (psst: It's Liam Neeson himself) leaves a rose as well.

It didn't happen the first time I saw that film -- but the second time, I was watching at home, and ended up sobbing so loud I nearly woke my roommate.

That is the one and only time ever that a film, TV show, or other media thing has made me cry that hard.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:06 AM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


Embrace Life - British seat belt PSA, sort of breathtakingly brilliant.

Dove "Onslaught" - from their series of Real Beauty ads a few years back.
posted by Dixon Ticonderoga at 9:06 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


Ending of "It's a Wonderful Life"
Seconding 'The Velveteen Rabbit"
"Les Marseilles" scene in Abel Gance's Napoleon
Ending of "Winnie the Pooh" stories.

I bawled at the end of "Gran Torino" I think there were Native American overtures in that film that Eastwood didn't realize.

Ending of Coen's version of "True Grit"
posted by goalyeehah at 9:07 AM on March 25, 2011


The end of The Shawshank Redemption gets me a little bit every time.

Definitely seconding the end of Big Fish, which destroyed me the first time I watched it. In fact, I haven't watched it since because I remember how strongly it affected me. (Having lost a grandfather I would like to have known better not too long before probably had something to do with it.)
posted by usonian at 9:07 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Traveller by Richard Adams is a retelling of the American Civil War through the eyes of General Lee's horse, Traveller. The ending tore me up like nothing I've ever read... horses are always saying goodbye.
posted by workerant at 9:07 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


If you have any direct experience with a suicide, Colin Hay's Maggie will probably get you to a weepy place.
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 9:08 AM on March 25, 2011


This fucking penguin.
posted by theodolite at 9:08 AM on March 25, 2011 [8 favorites]




Johnny Cash's The Mercy Seat. Or basically most Johnny Cash.

The ending of Romeo+Juliet, unless Hot Fuzz ruined it for you. Damn you DiCaprioooooo!
posted by Sayuri. at 9:11 AM on March 25, 2011


The most depressing and heart-wrenching thing I've seen lately is this Zombie video game trailer. Like, seriously.
posted by amanda at 9:12 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


I don't know if it will have the same impact if you haven't seen the whole film, but the end of Smoke Signals had the entire theater sobbing, and just checking that clip to make sure it was the one I wanted is making me weepy in my cube.

And Jane Siberry's Calling All Angels.
posted by rtha at 9:13 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]




In America
"Say goodbye to Frankie..."
posted by kristymcj at 9:14 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Joanna Newsom's Does Not Suffice and Antony's version of I Was Young When I Left Home.
posted by oinopaponton at 9:14 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


I usually cry at touching movies. It doesn't take a lot. The beginning of Up is a good example. But the end of Toy Story 3 wins a special award for having my entire body in pain trying to hold back a loud heaving sob. God I'm glad I watching that alone at home.
posted by yeti at 9:15 AM on March 25, 2011








The end of The Sea Inside makes me cry every fucking time. My fiancee makes fun of me for crying about any any movie with somebody in a wheelchair though.
posted by Uncle at 9:23 AM on March 25, 2011




Foreign film, but the ending of Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) gets me every time. It's one you have to have seen the movie, though.
posted by andrewesque at 9:25 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Music

Paul Potts Spanish-language rendition of "You Raise Me Up" -- really.
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
"You'll Never Walk Alone" (Sarah Hughes' skated to this at the 2002 Olympics in honor of victims of the 9/11 attacks. I sobbed and sobbed. It might be on YouTube)
"Goin' Home" at an Arlington funeral (I nearly lost it.)
Service cadet glee club singing "Mansions of the Lord" (on YouTube)

Poetry

Many World War I era poems
"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed"

Movie

The scene toward the end of "Driving Miss Daisy" which morphs from Daisy experiencing dementia in her house to the house being empty. (The TV version edits don't have the impact. In the theater, I sobbed and sobbed and had to leave my seat even though my date had both arms around me.)

TV

Sarah Jean's final moments in "Criminal Minds" episode "Ride the Lightning." Sarah Jean in general.
posted by jgirl at 9:26 AM on March 25, 2011


Nthing Christian the Lion. Holy crap. I remember that I loved the movie The Little Princess but I think I only saw it once. I was hesitant to put WALL-E because I can't explain why that movie makes me cry but it does.

There was an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that took place in Buffalo, NY - that's where I'm from but I thought it was just amazing. The mother is an immigrant from I think the Dominican Republic who struggled to buy a house for her family. She goes to city hall to get permits to do some upgrades when she finds out that it's condemned and scheduled to be knocked down. She has five kids and one of them wants to be an architect one day so he can build a wonderful house for his mom.

What was incredible about this episode is that usually there are people who volunteer to help with the build but in Buffalo, hundreds of people showed up to help. They ended up doing projects all over the neighborhood because they had so many people to help. I loved it and I saw my husband crying during it too.
posted by kat518 at 9:32 AM on March 25, 2011


I can't find a clip for it, but when Quellek dies in Galaxy Quest, it always, always makes me tear up (and I've seen it about a hundred times). And Boromir's death scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring should have earned Sean Bean an Oscar nod. There's a lot of context in both of them, so I suggest you watch the movies in their entirety if you haven't already.
posted by cooker girl at 9:34 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


These Thai Life Insurance commercials will punch you in the gut in less than 2 minutes.

On a happier note, this Google commercial gets me teary every time, in a sappy-romantic kind of way.
posted by castlebravo at 9:35 AM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


The scene in "Remember the Titans" where Julius walks into Gerry Bertier's hospital room after the accident (and right before that where he talks to Bertier's mother).

But if you really, really want to weep like a baby read the poem Love you Forever by Robert Munsch. Hits me like a Mac truck every time (disclaimer: only works if you love your mother). Even looking up the link made my eyes watery.
posted by dry white toast at 9:36 AM on March 25, 2011 [4 favorites]


Ugh.

I just watched the whole Boromir clip and it doesn't show the full play of the scene. Here's the rest of it.
posted by cooker girl at 9:39 AM on March 25, 2011


And the departure of the ringbearers at the end of Return of the King hits the mark every time.

This, followed by the ending credits, which roll over possibly the most tearjerking song ever: Into the West.
posted by muddgirl at 9:40 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


The scene in Saving Private Ryan where officials drive out to Mrs. Ryan's house to deliver the news of her three sons' deaths. When the priest climbs out of the car and Mrs. Ryan collapses on the porch. Gets me every damned time.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:43 AM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


Honorable Manhood, aka the Sullivan Ballou letter.
posted by leapfrog at 9:44 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


This short (The Beauty of Life) makes me a little weepy.
posted by rachaelfaith at 9:45 AM on March 25, 2011


A little old and obscure maybe, but Katherine Hepburn's monologue in "The Madwoman of Chaillot" wherre she talks about her lost love.
posted by tommyD at 9:50 AM on March 25, 2011


If none of the above work, there's always the thermonuclear option: Big Bird Learning About the Death of Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street.
posted by meadowlark lime at 9:50 AM on March 25, 2011 [18 favorites]


La Marseillaise in Casablanca, more powerful than sad but it's gotten me misty every one of the ten million times I've seen the film.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:50 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


Honest question for you: What pieces of media currently make you emotional, if any? Is there a particular movie or scene that kinda puts you in the mood? Knowing that might help people point you to similar but more intense examples of what you're looking.

Also, is there a particular type of media that impacts you? Books don't well up a whole lot of emotion, but movies, especially in a movie theatre? Something about that space can make more prone to being moved emotionally, so what does that for you?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:53 AM on March 25, 2011


Matthew at Gareth's funeral speech from Four Weddings & A Funeral. (link is the text but of course you should watch it)

Oh! Try the end of Homeward Bound when the old golden finally makes it over the hill. Jebus.

Or little Ricky Schroeder in The Champ.
posted by Glinn at 9:53 AM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


These make me sob. Neither one is about something sad.

Mysterious Commercial - don't worry about what it's about, just watch it.

Opening song of the movie "The Lion King" - this has gotten to me ever since I first saw the preview all those years ago. Something about the drums, I think.
posted by amtho at 9:53 AM on March 25, 2011 [4 favorites]


Shearwater - Snow Leopard

And the end of Terminator 2.
posted by slimepuppy at 9:53 AM on March 25, 2011


Your Hand in Mine by Explosions in the Sky brings tears to my eyes for sheer beauty.
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, of course.
Mr. Rogers's passionate defense of PBS in front of the US Senate.
posted by leapfrog at 9:53 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


"Champ, wake up, Champ! Hey, don't sleep now. We got to go home. Got to go home, Champ!" (This is the ending -- helps to watch the whole movie first, of course).
posted by pardonyou? at 9:54 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Hmm, another follow-up to Brandon's honest question: is there a reason why you feel you're in need of a good cry? Is there a particular kind of stress you're facing, or is it more a low-level crankiness?

(I am not trying to pry, just wondering if it's more general "work sucks" or "family blues" or anything like that, because that could spur more direct suggestions.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:54 AM on March 25, 2011


Four Weddings and a Funeral. Despite the title, I was enjoying the comedy and chemistry of Hugh Grant and Andy McDowell. And then they hit you with a huge, emotional moment that just dissolves you into tears. This poem stil makes me fall apart even now.

nthing the beginning of Up, and Sally Fields' grief in Steel Magnolias. If you have children, you cannot watch that scene without falling apart.

A wordless scene in Love, Actually, with placards. Actually, there are lots of scenes in that movie that build me up and break me down (mind the eels!). It's my favorite movie ever.
posted by misha at 9:56 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Linked the wrong clip for my LOST comment up thread. Sorry . . .

Here it is.
posted by Sassyfras at 9:59 AM on March 25, 2011


Dancer in the Dark
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 10:03 AM on March 25, 2011 [8 favorites]




Man, I was trying so hard to put in moments without giving spoilers. Some of y'all suck. Takes away from the emotional impact if you know exactly what's coming!

Thought of another:

The Cat Carol. I have cats I've rescued from the shelter and that song makes me mad and sad all at the same time!
posted by misha at 10:05 AM on March 25, 2011


Absolutely Dancer In The Dark. I saw that in a crowded theater and by the end the whole damn place was sobbing.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:07 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Iris Dement's "Our Town" and "Mom and Dad Waltz".
posted by notsnot at 10:09 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


Grave of the Fireflies: children starve to death in post-war Japan. Possibly the most depressing animated movie ever made.
posted by chengjih at 10:11 AM on March 25, 2011 [6 favorites]


I have read LOTR approximately once a month for my entire life since I was twelve. That is two hundred and fifty two times. And there are lots of bits that still make me cry.

But the below quote makes me tear up without fail. I am trying not to cry with emotion sitting at my desk at work just copy and pasting the words. If you've not read the books it may not work, but if you haven't read the books you should so you can cry at the rest of them.

And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the city, a cock crowed. shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of war nor of wizardry, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.

And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns horns, in dark mindolluins sides they dimly echoed. great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.
posted by winna at 10:13 AM on March 25, 2011


Man, Grave of the Fireflies is brutal. Ouch.

I came here to suggest an episode in Season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer called "The Body."

It's a bout the death of a fairly minor character, but damn is it sad and depressing and it tackles death in a realistic and affecting wat.
posted by elder18 at 10:14 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


Three songs.

You Stay Here
Cold Missouri Waters
The Last Fare of the Day

Game, set, and match.
posted by clavicle at 10:14 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


The anime Clannad. It's a two season show. The first season and a half is about two high school students who fall in love, get married, and live their young lives.

[SPOILER] And then the wife dies giving birth. Father becomes depressed, gives up daughter to in laws. Father gets better, reconnects with daughter. Daughter dies from same disease that killed wife. [/SPOILER]

I don't know how sad these scenes are out of context. All I know, is that after watching a whole season and a half worth of happy times, the constant emotional blows that kept on hitting me afterward left me deliriously teary-eyed.
posted by SollosQ at 10:16 AM on March 25, 2011


It's better in context, but Dan's apology from Sports Night never fails to get me.
posted by dizziest at 10:18 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Team Hoyt.
posted by phoebus at 10:19 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Also, the end of the first episode of Sports Night. Apparently that show makes me cry a lot.
posted by dizziest at 10:25 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Oh god. Seconding chengji's post. I can't even finish Grave of the Fireflies. I've tried exactly two times to watch it. The first time, I turned it off almost at the very beginning, in the station. The second time, I got past that, only to stop when the firebombs start. It's devastating.
posted by methroach at 10:25 AM on March 25, 2011


The late Senator Ted Kennedy: "When does the greed stop?" More timely than ever.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:26 AM on March 25, 2011


Puff the Magic Dragon - taking it purely at face value, the line, "A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys..." just wrecks me. Every. Single. Time. Same with Dylan's "Forever Young" - "May you build a ladder to the stars, and climb on every rung, may you stay forever young." Hmmm, I sense a theme.

Now if you'll excuse me, I seem to have something in my eye.
posted by mosk at 10:28 AM on March 25, 2011


Seconding the episode of Buffy where her mother dies, in Season 5. For a series about vampires and Big Evil, it was probably the most realistic reaction to death I've ever seen portrayed on TV.

The end of Iris made me burst-- burst!-- into tears.

And no shoutouts yet to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald? "At 7 p.m. the main hatchway caved in, he said Fellas, it's been good to know ya." Gah. Goosebumps.

And the book that made me cry so hard, in disbelief and despair, that I could no longer see the pages and had to stop reading: Antonia Byatt's Still Life.
posted by jokeefe at 10:29 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


I thought "oh, I know we've had a good list of sad songs" - it turns out we've had nearly one big thread of sad songs a year! This is apparently a common need. (I've listed these here for fun, if you really want to go digging)

The threads I was thinking of are the 2007 ones.


2004: What are the saddest songs?
2005: What are the saddest songs?
2006: I need more sad songs
2007: I need sad songs like "Everybody's Talking At Me"
2007: Music to make me cry, like Johnny Cash's American V album
2009: I need songs that are gorgeously, hauntingly sad
2010: I need sad, cathartic songs for a cryfest
2010: I need heart-wrenching classical music
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:36 AM on March 25, 2011 [8 favorites]


Goodbye Solo is a recent, very underrated move that will get the job done.
posted by Dmenet at 10:40 AM on March 25, 2011


It's not a sad one at all, but Where The Hell is Matt? makes water come out of my face every time.

I also have a habit of crying like a fool during parts of Love, Actually, but I'm basically a giant girl's blouse. Mr. Holland's Opus is one that led to my dad coming home to finding me on the couch with just a giant pile of tissues in front of me.

And for music, the band Cloud Cult has a lot of ones that tear me up. Which is what happens when a lot of your songs are about your two-year-old son dying. "Love You All" made me cry in a concert venue full of hipsters once.
posted by whitneyarner at 10:41 AM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


Collective Soul's "The World I Know" video always makes me tear up.
posted by changeling at 10:44 AM on March 25, 2011


The scene in Yossi and Jagger where Yossi meets Jagger's family... I am trying not to spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it, but if you have, you know this scene.

Also, this commercial for the SPCA + Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" = instant tears
posted by prenominal at 10:48 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


Together, a 2002 Chinese film about a boy who is a violin prodigy and his father.
posted by spec80 at 10:49 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


The ending of John Ford's "The Last Hurrah"
posted by goalyeehah at 10:55 AM on March 25, 2011


Maborosi is also deeply affecting.
posted by Dmenet at 10:55 AM on March 25, 2011


John Prine's Hello In There, about the loneliness and isolation of old age, really gets me. It's especially poignant to see him sing this now that he is an older man himself.
posted by messica at 11:00 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Movies and Documentaries:

Hearts and Minds

White Light/Black Rain

Playing for Time

Schindler's List

Any movie about the Holocaust, for that matter.

The end of The Band Played On

Pandemic: Facing AIDS


Music:

Theme from Schindler's List -- after you see the movie
posted by Fairchild at 11:03 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


This incredible photo series Days with My Father is moving, beautiful, and made me weep. Especially the last image.

It's a running gag amongst my friends how much WALL-E made me cry. I went through a period of about a year where I couldn't even talk about the film without tearing up again. It was the first half of the film, when he's all alone, it just smacks me right in the face. It's so innocent and heartbreaking.

posted by ukdanae at 11:13 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


The Bridges of Madison County makes me cry like a baby every time. If you're looking for a documentary, definitely check out Restrepo.
posted by cool whhhip at 11:21 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey for some reason made me break down weeping, which does not happen all that often with books.
posted by little cow make small moo at 11:23 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Nthing dancer in the dark. I was still bawling after the lights came up.
posted by natasha_k at 11:26 AM on March 25, 2011


I never, ever cry at movies.

Except the beginning of Up. That had my eyes watering big time.
posted by tdismukes at 11:28 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


How has nobody mentioned Beaches yet?

Not very short, but definitely The Lovely Bones (The book - I haven't seen the movie). I was bawling through the last third of the book.

Songs: "Cat's In The Cradle" by Harry Chapin and "Tears In Heaven" by Eric Clapton.
posted by SisterHavana at 11:30 AM on March 25, 2011


It's hard to know what to say, because there can be many different triggers.
These are more ethereal - reach up to the skies and cry to the universe feel, methinks.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Static (cut to the start of the good stuff) (or even better... around 9.5 minutes it really starts build to the good intense crying/worship of the universe part that kicks in (around 11:10ish), if you wanna get there quickly).

Moby - Into the Blue

Dead Can Dance - Cantara (Live) (Fucking A)...
posted by symbioid at 11:33 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


I tend to go through periods where nothing can make me cry or everything makes me cry. Anyway I was listening to a radiolab show about a monkey named Lucy and a woman named Jan, I think. It broke me in peices. I hope someone else recognizes this and posts a link because radio shows are blocked here. If not I will come back later.
posted by mokeydraws at 11:38 AM on March 25, 2011


Oscar the Bionic Kitty
posted by almostmanda at 11:46 AM on March 25, 2011 [4 favorites]


"Your Ex-Lover is Dead" by Stars.
posted by Ragged Richard at 11:46 AM on March 25, 2011


If you're a cat lover like me, this post from the blue
posted by utsutsu at 11:48 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


This Iron & Wine and Calexico song, Dead Man's Will, made me cry the first time I heard it.
posted by Corduroy at 11:50 AM on March 25, 2011


If you're a pet owner: Rainbow Bridge.
posted by Solomon at 11:50 AM on March 25, 2011


I don't know a single person who was able to get through this movie without turning into a sobbing, shaking mess by the end of it.

I am choking up just thinking about it.
posted by Fuego at 11:53 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


I'll say anything!
posted by -->NMN.80.418 at 11:54 AM on March 25, 2011


Also, this poem if you're a pet owner. This turns me into a weepy mess every time I read it.
posted by SisterHavana at 11:58 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


The end of Watership Down (book or movie) always makes me tear up.
posted by BadCat! at 11:58 AM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


Oh yeah, that thing Fuego posted. Heartbreaking.
posted by Glinn at 12:02 PM on March 25, 2011


The finale of Doctor Who season 4 is ridiculously sad. If you're a nerd.

The end of Touching the Void is heart wrenching and is also just an excellent documentary.
posted by Lobster Garden at 12:06 PM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


The Cure - Same deep water as you

The Cure - homesick

Hendrix - Little Wing

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

P-Funk - Mothership Connection (Glenn Goins in this, his soul just moves - He's only 22 fucking years old in this video! He died of Hodgkins Lymphoma 2 years later)

Rezső Seress - Gloomy Sunday (well he wrote it, it's not him performing it - also known as the Hungarian Suicide Song)

Neon Genesis - Rei I

Venetian Snares - Galamb Egyedül

Squarepusher - Circlewave (another 'uplifting sad cosmic praise' kind of song that just build and builds)
posted by symbioid at 12:06 PM on March 25, 2011


I had to lie down for a while after seeing Dear Zachary. Good lord.
posted by theodolite at 12:06 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I don't even know this kid, but I stumbled upon this video and it made me laugh and cry. I'm not even sure exactly why I found it so profoundly touching.

Jack is nine years old and dying from a pediatric cancer called neuroblastoma. There's also a recent video of him skydiving, but something about the way his mom says "Jack, Jack, are you okay?" right before the bungee jump in this one just made me lose it.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 12:13 PM on March 25, 2011




This video of Mister Rogers at the 1969 Senate hearing on funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting always makes me tear up a bit.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 12:14 PM on March 25, 2011 [4 favorites]


Ordinary People
Terms of Endearment -- specifically once Emma (Debra Winger) is put in the hospital
One True Thing
Philadelphia -- last scene with the montage of him on the beach as a kid
posted by jmmpangaea at 12:17 PM on March 25, 2011


Big Bird singing "It's Not Easy Being Green" at Jim Henson's funeral ends me EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Seriously. That and the opening of Up as mentioned earlier just leave me huddled in a pathetic, salty, and damp lump of temporarily inconsolable emotion.
posted by Diagonalize at 12:22 PM on March 25, 2011 [10 favorites]


The song Photograph by Air never fails to make me teary if I'm already feeling kind of fragile. It's nothing about the lyrics or anything, just the way it sounds.

Also, I read this brief essay years and years ago in, god help me, a Chicken Soup for the Soul book and they're so damn schmaltzy, but that story makes my eyes well up every time I think about it.
posted by anderjen at 12:25 PM on March 25, 2011


"We are your symphony, Mr. Holland. We are the notes and melodies of your opus and we are the music of your life. " — Governor Gertrude Lang, Mr. Holland's Opus
posted by phoebus at 12:31 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


The video of Big Bird at Jim Henson's funeral is something I can't bring myself to watch again. Big Bird cries, for God's sake.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 12:37 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Brokeback Mountain

The first time I saw it in theater, I remained in my seat unable to get up, my face wedged in my boyfriend's armpit whist ugly-sobbing until the theater staff came in to clean up for the next showing and we had to leave. I tell you, you don't need to be a gay cowboy to be totally devastated by this film. You just need to know something of love, loss, and regret.
posted by keep it under cover at 1:09 PM on March 25, 2011 [5 favorites]


This Radiolab episode: Finding Emilie.
posted by Wordwoman at 1:09 PM on March 25, 2011


Frontline just aired a program about a man's planned suicide. It's thought provoking and I personally found it helpful.
posted by cl at 1:20 PM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


never Let Me Go is really a really good dystopian flick that ends goddamn depressing.
posted by amanda at 1:27 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Once upon a time I never used to cry at movies. And then I saw Dead Poets Society.

I can't find the scene that really does it for me, which is the one with the boys in the snow (if you've seen it, you know). But this is the end, which is also pretty darn good:
Oh Captain, My Captain
posted by bookgirl18 at 1:43 PM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


Of Gods and Men - a french film I saw at the start of the year and I still think about it. I've never cried as hard (or a loudly) at a film as I did at this and I've never been in a cinema where everyone sat completely still until the lights came up. Powerful, moving & utterly devastating.

Downside in the context of your original question - it's quite long.
posted by smudge at 1:50 PM on March 25, 2011


Also, I like old movies and George Bailey is the richest man in town
posted by bookgirl18 at 1:51 PM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


Iron and Wine, Naked as we came. Oh man, that song. Joy and heartbreak. To love is to accept its inevitable loss.

Robert Munch's Love You Forever is, if you are a parent, the enriched uranium of sob-worthy stories. Had me choking uncontrollably at a magazine stand on a ferry, in public. I don't think I could read it again, actually.
posted by jokeefe at 1:52 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


This thread. I must be super-fragile today or something.

The song Anthem from the musical Chess.

And this scene from Glee just destroys me.
posted by altopower at 1:53 PM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


Oh, and: "Look under your bed. It'll set you free."
posted by clavicle at 1:53 PM on March 25, 2011


The (happy) ending of Antwone Fisher always makes me well up, when the old woman takes Antwone's hands and tells him that he's very, very welcome.
posted by fatbird at 1:55 PM on March 25, 2011


Red Dirt Girl, by Emmylou Harris.
posted by Bourbonesque at 2:00 PM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Lydia by Slaid Cleaves.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:00 PM on March 25, 2011


Moulin Rouge and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind do this to me every time.
posted by limeonaire at 2:06 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


song: Another Grey Morning by James Taylor
posted by kirst27 at 2:11 PM on March 25, 2011


Read about Tammi Terrell's life and then listen to her and Marvin Gaye singing "You're All I Need to Get By." Gaye was never the same after her death.
posted by limeonaire at 2:12 PM on March 25, 2011


Okay, here come the big guns: Teresa Stratas as Mimi, the finale from La Boheme. Brace yourself. That final "Coraggio!" fucking kills me every time.
posted by jokeefe at 2:12 PM on March 25, 2011


Also Stabbing Westward's "Sometimes It Hurts." When I go home, I'll post my "Depressed" playlist; I've got a lot of songs on there that work.
posted by limeonaire at 2:17 PM on March 25, 2011


Dumbo.
posted by oreofuchi at 2:18 PM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


lilac girl: If you're an animal person, there's a video of lab test beagles going outside for the first time that made me sob openly.

I'll say. That had me sobbing out loud as I blindly fumbled around for my wallet so I could donate to animal rescues. Then I watched it a few more times and wept equally hard each time.
posted by anderjen at 2:40 PM on March 25, 2011


Rudy - lots of bits, but especially the final scene.

And I agree with Sassyfras on the final episode of LOST, but I'd pick a different scene: Kate, Claire, and Charlie remember.

Futurama's "Jurassic Bark" has rightfully been mentioned above, but the ending of "The Luck of the Fryish" gets me too.

Music:
Mr. Tanner, Harry Chapin
Skin (Sarabeth) and Ellsworth, Rascal Flatts

And if this thread doesn't give you enough ideas, there's always the TearJerker pages on TV Tropes—scroll down to the examples section and start clicking.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:42 PM on March 25, 2011


If you can see 127 Hours, there's a scene near the end where he's picturing his unborn-haven't-even-met-the-mom son and they play this song during it. He'd been stuck already for a really long time but seeing his son gave him the motivation to do what he had to do to get out. I actually really dug that movie and felt like crying at the end - I couldn't watch all of The Scene but it was still really good.

Holy crap. Dancer in the Dark.
posted by kat518 at 2:44 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


The house of tiny cubes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX0Dvtvev1E&feature=related
posted by SassHat at 2:45 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


The end of Field of Dreams. Every time.
posted by Acton at 2:50 PM on March 25, 2011


Hey Dad, wanna have a catch?

(on preview) Acton, great minds...
posted by SisterHavana at 2:53 PM on March 25, 2011


Those Sarah McLachlan ASPCA commercials. Dammit. Might only work if you're a sucker for sad animals.
posted by elpea at 2:59 PM on March 25, 2011


W.S. Merwin's poem Elegy wins in special category: saddest single line in the world.
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:59 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


The end of Vincent and the Doctor

Oh my god, every damn time.
posted by you're a kitty! at 2:59 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Pretty much any book/article/photo/film/documentary/ANYTHING EVER that has to do with Laika or the other Russian space dogs will make me totally inconsolable for about 10 minutes, every single time.

ugh, I am wibbly just thinking about it oh god her little puppy faaaace
posted by elizardbits at 3:00 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


A poem, Distressed Haiku, by Donald Hall, on being unable to visit his wife's grave on their anniversary. I'm choking up just remembering it.

Up made me cry repeatedly throughout the film, at least four or five times, as did Wall-E. Big Fish absolutely destroys me, and since my dad passed away, I can't even think about it. The 25th Hour, at the end, where the father tell's his son that they can just keep driving, and the story he tells. Augie Wren's Christmas Story at the end of Smoke (it's two parts, the first part told entirely by Harvey Keitel's character, then told silently in black and white, accompanied by Innocent While You Dream by Tom Waits). As Acton said, "Hey dad, wanna have a catch?"

For me, though, Pompoko, and here there be SPOILERS. The Heisei Tanuki war. It's a Ghibli movie, but not directed by Miyazaki. I've mentioned it in previous asks, but the movie, a fictionalized retelling of the decision to build housing in one of the largest remaining tanuki habitats (yes, they are real) is charming and cute, until they lose. They lose badly. And then, in the end, the surviving tanuki gather on a barren hillside, on some construction equipment, and try to dream their valley back to the way it was. As the valley slowly changes, the new residents of the modern condo buildings look out their windows, stunned, as the valley reverts to the way it was years before. What gets me, even as I'm typing this, is one woman recognizing her grandmother out in the fields. In the end, though, they fail, and they can't maintain the dream. Even the so-called 'happy' ending is totally soul-crushing to me.

Enjoy. Hope it works. Just typing this, and reading the thread has me fighting back a massive wall of tears.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:00 PM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


From Billy Elliot, the musical: The Letter and The Letter - Reprise. I was bawling during these songs when I went to see it.

"I love Brian Piccolo. And I'd like all of you to love him too. And so tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him."
posted by SisterHavana at 3:04 PM on March 25, 2011


Also, every single guy I know sobbed like a tiny gassy baby at the end of Gladiator.
posted by elizardbits at 3:05 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


"Baby Mine" from Dumbo

"My Mother" from The Chipmunk Adventure

I'm bawling just thinking about these. I haven't even had the nerve to watch them.
posted by milk white peacock at 3:26 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


The Horse Whisperer (especially the last scene, although really, watch it all the way through). I am a prickly ball of cynicism but, man.

Warren Zevon's Keep Me In Your Heart (written for his wife as he was dying of cancer...if the lyrics don't make you cry, you have no soul.)

The "Why We Fight" episode of Band of Brothers where they liberate the Landsberg concentration camp--I'm Jewish and have probably seen just about every artistic representation of a concentration camp known to man (15 years of Hebrew School) and I don't think I've ever been more moved. I say watch the whole series--it's really good, and this is the second-to-last episode, so you're super-invested in the characters and how they react.
posted by thinkingwoman at 3:26 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


I Run For Life, Melissa Etheridge
Life Support, from Rent
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:27 PM on March 25, 2011


Maybe it's just me, but Late Spring makes me cry and cry and cry.
posted by ifjuly at 3:31 PM on March 25, 2011


This scene from Uptown Girls, particularly in light of Brittany Murphy's death. My sister and I watched this in the theatre when it first came out and completely LOST IT.
posted by WaspEnterprises at 3:42 PM on March 25, 2011


the end of Like Water For Chocolate (the movie)
the fairy scene in Sirens (I know, I'm weird)
the end of Orlando (the movie with young Tilda Swinton)
the end of Wicked (the book, bawled like a baby)

none of these are short though....
posted by supermedusa at 3:58 PM on March 25, 2011


nthing Grave of the Fireflies. I haven't been able to watch it without crying.
posted by patheral at 4:07 PM on March 25, 2011


The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover is a movie I can never, ever watch again, because at the end of it I was sobbing in hysterics so hard I couldn't move or stop. I just cried in a little ball for about forty minutes.

Like Water for Chocolate will indeed make you cry.

The Devil's Backbone is billed as a horror movie, but it made me cry as well.
posted by winna at 4:09 PM on March 25, 2011


Ella giammai m'amò from Don Carlo made me cry, but it is probably far more of an impact if you watch the entire opera. It is nearly five hours, so that may not be a thing you want to do.

Klaus Nomi singing The Cold Song from Purcell's King Arthur.

Dvorak's entire opera Rusalka, but particularly the Song to the Moon. Naturally Lucia Popp's performance.
posted by winna at 4:19 PM on March 25, 2011


This video of a horse getting a prosethetic leg might get you a little weepy.
posted by whitneyarner at 4:22 PM on March 25, 2011


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8073865125170809223#

Watch it and cry your manly eyes out.
posted by roboton666 at 4:32 PM on March 25, 2011


Whiskey Lullabye. Every time.
posted by Dimpy at 4:37 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


The film My Boy Jack about Rudyard Kipling losing his son to a war he promoted. Absolutely brilliant acting.
posted by Anything at 4:39 PM on March 25, 2011


Little Women

If you don't want to read the whole novel, then first read the plot and character summaries on wikipedia, then read the chapters "Beth's Secret" (starts halfway down page 303) and/or "The Valley of the Shadow" (page 338).

That's what I turn to on my bookshelf whenever I need a good cry.
posted by marsha56 at 4:56 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Not sure why this gets to me, but...

Also, and also.
posted by bricoleur at 5:14 PM on March 25, 2011


The Little Match Girl is a short fairytale that is bittersweet in a devastating way.

Also, in the same vein, Pan's Labyrinth.
posted by amodelcitizen at 5:26 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Breaking the Waves.

And yes, Up.

(sadly I must admit that Up destroyed me more).
posted by inkytea at 5:35 PM on March 25, 2011


Joe Frank's Windows
posted by Hairy Lobster at 5:42 PM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff is a very short, sad story that seems to apply to your situation, too.


https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ro/www/LiteratureandMedicineInitiative/20080304/bullet.pdf
posted by amodelcitizen at 5:47 PM on March 25, 2011


SisterHavana: "Hey Dad, wanna have a catch?
"

When they originally shot this, Costner called him "John" instead of "Dad". Notice how they cut away to accomodate the overdub. The change makes it much more emotive, even though it doesn't quite make sense.
posted by meadowlark lime at 5:49 PM on March 25, 2011


These songs have done it for me:

Nina Simone "Tom Thumb's Blues"
Hope Blister "Only Human"
Bulgaria Music Idol Nevena Traditional Bulgarian Song

Moments of perfect beauty get to me:
SYTYCD Katee + Joshua (Mia Michaels) "Hometown Glory"
American Beauty Plastic Bag Scene
Donnie Darko Ending "Mad Mad World"
posted by Hairy Lobster at 6:06 PM on March 25, 2011


There's a chapter in Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel 'Persepolis', in which as a child she goes to visit her uncle just before his execution. I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
posted by chmmr at 6:37 PM on March 25, 2011


The last scene in Pan's Labyrinth kills me every time.
posted by Zophi at 6:48 PM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


The end of Strictly Ballroom. Has me sobbing every time, including now.

Branagh's Henry V, the St. Crispin's Day speech.

If you've read the rest of the series, the end of Lois McMaster Bujold's latest Miles Vorkosigan novel, Cryoburn, is like being punched in the chest.

The last episode of Firefly is pretty rough.

I remember crying at the end of Fly Away Home. Animals always up the tear factor.
posted by Lexica at 7:05 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


I have no idea why, as it's utterly ridiculous, but Communist Love Song as illustrated by Gomer Pyle USMC.
posted by LucretiusJones at 7:21 PM on March 25, 2011


Best answer: I did not read most of this thread because I really don't want to be crying now, but based on my Ctrl + F abilities, there's a relavent website which hasn't been mentioned yet: http://ineedacry.com/

There are several sections, but I find the Animals does in most everyone. I may be tearing up just thinking about it.
posted by Grafix at 7:25 PM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


The episode of ER where Mark Green dies and they play the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole version of Over the Rainbow gets me every time.
posted by chiababe at 7:25 PM on March 25, 2011 [6 favorites]


Seconding Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About his Father.
posted by ick at 7:29 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


The end of A.I., when they're back in the house. Without fail.
posted by andeles at 7:30 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


chiababe, i was just thinking of that!

The ending of "Lords of Dogtown", when Radiohead's cover of Floyd's "Wish you were here" as they were skating around the kid in the wheelchair...

"The Iron Giant", "Watership Down," and yes, that "fucking penguin", mentioned earlier up. My gawd!
posted by foxhat10 at 7:37 PM on March 25, 2011


oops, that cover by Floyd was Sparklehorse (with Thom Yorke).
posted by foxhat10 at 7:39 PM on March 25, 2011


so, um, let us know what worked for ya.
posted by Sassyfras at 7:43 PM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


For me it's the chapter of The Once and Future King that ends with the hedgehog.
posted by casarkos at 8:43 PM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


The children's book Stone Fox.
posted by southern_sky at 8:57 PM on March 25, 2011


Jackson C. Frank (this clip puts it with a different scene from the film it's in. the scene where the song actually plays in the film is even sadder)
posted by citron at 9:32 PM on March 25, 2011


Moon
posted by Room 641-A at 9:41 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


I have little to no tolerance for things that make me cry, so I usually avoid stuff like this like the plague. So I'm really, really glad it's not just me that utterly loses it at Vincent and The Doctor. Seriously, I just can't...
posted by Space Kitty at 10:15 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Movies: Stepmom, Marley & Me, Hachi: A Dog's Story.

Here's a news story about 2 parents who were diagnosed with advanced cancer within a week of each other. Their daughter is 18 months old.
posted by IndigoRain at 10:19 PM on March 25, 2011


The ER episode Love's Labor Lost.
posted by gatorae at 10:31 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


I bawled my eyes out watching figure skater Joannie Rochette flawlessly perform her short program at the 2010 Winter Olympics the day after her mom died suddenly of a heart attack. I still tear up thinking about it.
posted by just_ducky at 10:48 PM on March 25, 2011 [3 favorites]


The film Creation, about Charles Darwin and his daughter, who dies and whose memory haunts him while he writes "Origin."

Sting's song, "Fields of Gold."
posted by slab_lizard at 10:52 PM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Sassyfras: "The little girl at 1:29 of this Soldier Homecoming "

It's in the very beginning of that clip, but this video of a soldier returning Iraq and surprising his daughter is really enough on its own. I never, ever make it past the 0:26 mark.
posted by Deathalicious at 12:12 AM on March 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'd add that I personally find it harder, and less satisfying, to cry in response to watching something sad. I prefer crying when watching something happy. YMMV.
posted by Deathalicious at 12:28 AM on March 26, 2011


Gosh, I'm crying just from reading all these suggestions!

My suggestion: the scene in Titanic where the violins are playing and they show lots of different people drowning.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 12:32 AM on March 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


Monsters, Inc.
Days of Being Wild
Moonlight Shadow by Yoshimoto Banana (there is just something about the living wearing the clothes of the dead that just gets me...see also this nyt article on japan tsunami survivors, esp. the picture of this father)
posted by ultrapotato at 12:54 AM on March 26, 2011


The Giving Tree. I tried to read it to my son once and was a crying mess halfway through.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 5:40 AM on March 26, 2011 [2 favorites]


nthing The lonely cat animation from Allegro Non Troppo.

Magic - Ben Folds

The ending of Beautiful Thing.
posted by Wuggie Norple at 6:23 AM on March 26, 2011


Even commercials can do it, such as Visa's "Go World" ad with Dan Jansen, or this one from Levi's "Go Forth" campaign.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:22 AM on March 26, 2011


Aaaahhh, the soldier and his daughter! Tears.

Nthing the beginning of "Up". I just re-watched it and had to run to the bathroom to wash away my mess of sloppy black eyeliner.

For some reason this video of a cute little kid playing his ukulele and singing Ob-la-di Ob-la-da gets to me. It's so adorable but then I just tear up. Bittersweet.
posted by sucre at 8:01 AM on March 26, 2011


Also, Sigur Ros' Untitled 3 and Untitled 4. Aieeeee.
posted by sucre at 8:12 AM on March 26, 2011


Nthing the end of Toy Story 3 and the beginning of Up. If those were both in the same movie we'd all be lying in pools of tears and cursing Pixar to our dying days.

What ALWAYS pushes me over into crying (I just have to think of a few words and I'm a goner) is a song by Eddie From Ohio called In Paradise. It's about losing someone way too soon. That link has the lyrics, which might come off plainly maudlin, but as recorded, it's much sweeter than it reads.
posted by kostia at 10:12 AM on March 26, 2011


The episode of ER where Mark Green dies and they play the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole version of Over the Rainbow gets me every time.

Or the episode where Mark's father-- a retired naval officer-- is dying, and Mark arranges for him to go out on a boat one last time-- he's standing at the prow, facing into the wind, and the music is Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends. I've always loved the double meaning of the final line ("preserve your memories, they're all that's left you") and it makes me tear up every time I hear it.

And for a bunch of nerds, has nobody mentioned yet the STNG episode, The Inner Light? This had my whole family enrapt and crying, back in the day...
posted by jokeefe at 11:46 AM on March 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


On the topic of Simon & Garfunkel, IMO their most heartbreaking song is the lesser-known Sparrow.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 1:05 PM on March 26, 2011


And for a bunch of nerds, has nobody mentioned yet the STNG episode, The Inner Light?

I was telling my husband about this thread last night, and this was the first thing he said. It kills him every time. He also mentioned the episode of Deep Space Nine where Sisko (?) is unstuck in time, and appears to Jake at different points in his life. I haven't seen the episode, so I may not be identifying it right, but hopefully someone knows what I'm talking about.

And dittoing Love's Labor Lost from ER...I made the mistake of watching that soon after my daughter was born and spent the rest of the day sobbing.
posted by altopower at 4:09 PM on March 26, 2011


Sassyfras: "The little girl at 1:29 of this Soldier Homecoming "

It's in the very beginning of that clip, but this video of a soldier returning Iraq and surprising his daughter is really enough on its own. I never, ever make it past the 0:26 mark.

Thanks, Sassyfrass, for nothing. Thanks. I'm just sitting here, and there's a lot of moisture on my cheeks, but I'm not crying oh no I'm not crying oh no not a tough guy like me.

Sweet mother of mercy, that video broke me at 0:25.
posted by math at 4:12 PM on March 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


One more suggestion: The Fountain.
posted by Lobster Garden at 4:23 PM on March 26, 2011


Sorry math. The whole clip kills me too, but that little girl at 1:29 slays me.
posted by Sassyfras at 5:02 PM on March 26, 2011


He also mentioned the episode of Deep Space Nine where Sisko (?) is unstuck in time, and appears to Jake at different points in his life. I haven't seen the episode, so I may not be identifying it right, but hopefully someone knows what I'm talking about.

The episode is "The Visitor," and I consider it the best episode of any TV series I have ever seen.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:30 PM on March 26, 2011


I think you need to see the whole movie, but about the last 5 minutes of Pay it Forward has me weeping every time, even just thinking about it I'm starting to get teary eyed.
posted by raccoon409 at 2:14 AM on March 27, 2011




Relatedly, this article about him never fails to make me weep: "Can you say... hero?"
posted by Lexica at 9:48 AM on March 27, 2011


nthing the ER episode when Mark Greene dies. I still can't listen to that version of Over the Rainbow without bawling.

My Dog Skip and Milk made me weep inconsolably in the movie theater.
posted by coppermoss at 11:01 AM on March 27, 2011


A lot of the It Gets Better videos make me cry, and Pixar's It Gets Better in particular, around 5.30, makes me cry every single time. Pixar is awesome.
posted by pluot at 11:42 AM on March 27, 2011 [3 favorites]


The final scene of Don McKellar's Last Night (spoilers, obviously). The whole movie is depressing as hell.
posted by benzenedream at 1:03 AM on March 29, 2011


I'll n'th the end of Watership Down. The GF and I finished it this past Sunday. I can get to the last page, but no further. Fucking rabbits.

I had the same reaction with the last chapter of A Prayer for Owen Meany.
posted by allkindsoftime at 5:48 AM on March 29, 2011


Has anyone mentioned Carolyn Scott and Rookie dancing to "You're The One That I Want?"

Watching the sheer joy of that dog as he does this routine makes me cry every time I watch it. Here's the link:
posted by Amy NM at 11:37 AM on March 29, 2011 [1 favorite]


Tim McGraw performing his song If You're Reading This always does it for me.
posted by aclevername at 6:01 PM on March 29, 2011


All I Want by Joni Mitchell
posted by Betty's Table at 8:32 PM on March 29, 2011


Restrepo.
posted by Kale Slayer at 11:44 AM on March 30, 2011


Oh yes, the last episode of Season 4 of The Wire is absolutely devastating.

You'd probably have to watch the whole season to understand what's going on, but wow.
posted by elder18 at 1:05 PM on March 30, 2011


Oh yes, the last episode of Season 4 of The Wire is absolutely devastating.

Season 4, episode 12.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:55 PM on March 30, 2011


I'm going to be thread killer, absolutely.

But please read this letter.

Previously

Please.
posted by aclevername at 12:24 AM on March 31, 2011


The Lorax by Dr. Suess. My late husband would cry at the end every time he read it to our kids so now I can't even look at the cover without tearing up.
posted by in the methow at 9:33 AM on April 1, 2011


following in the methow's suggestion, I recently planned an elective ESL lesson where I introduced the students to The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and gave them only the text to work with to create their own images. Before setting them loose to draw, I read the story to them, outloud. I was surprised how difficult it was for me to read it, and I had to stop a couple times for a second here and there to keep from crying in front of the students. So, yeah, read it, and read it out loud. There's something about speaking the lines that makes it more real, that makes it hit harder.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:47 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]


I saw this cartoon and absolutely lost it. Especially poignant if you've lost a pet.
posted by SisterHavana at 10:02 PM on April 6, 2011


Ray Bradbury's short story "All Summer in a Day" [DOC] is the most heartbreaking story I've ever read.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:56 AM on May 3, 2011


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