In honor of the upcoming Oscars, I have decided to make a list of some of my favorite emotional and moving moments in some of my favorite films. Obviously some are left out. I realized just now that I didn't put in any from Becket. I'm not even going to attempt to do so now...there are simply too many to choose from.
WARNING: I tried my best to avoid spoilers, but for some of these, I couldn't help it. Read at your own risk.
The Lion in Winter
I don’t remember how young I was when my father first showed me this movie, and it made such a huge impact on me. It is still my all time favorite movie today, and it is so difficult to choose one scene from this film, but there is one that always stuck out in my mind. This is the scene in Prince Phillip’s bedchamber, the scene of revelations and secrets, when Richard confesses his hurt that his father has ignored him for his entire life.
“You never called me! You never said my name! I’d have walked, I’d have crawled….I’d have done anything.”
I remember when I was little, after seeing this scene, the look on Richard’s face always stuck with me. That look of desperation, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. I couldn’t get it out of my head and whenever I thought of that scene and pictured his face, I was always filled with an overwhelming sense of sadness.
Breaker Morant
This movie is so unknown, and I am so disappointed in that. It is probably the best foreign film I have ever seen. It was made in 1980, and stars Edward Woodward, an amazing British actor with one of the best speaking voices I have ever heard (and a very good singing voice was well….I have a record of his). It is a true story about three men during the Boer war in South Africa. An order is given by the high commanders in the Australian army that no prisoners of war are to be taken, but are to be immediately executed. Then, after the fact, these officers want to cover up the disgraceful order and so they choose three lieutenants as the scapegoats, and court martial them for the ‘crime’ that they only committed under orders.
The trial is obviously fixed from the start, and once again, there are so very many scenes from this film that are incredibly moving. But if I had to choose one, I would choose the scene where Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant and Peter Handcock are given their sentences. There is such raw emotion there that, once viewed, can never be forgotten.
This story was covered up by the Australian government for years, until the third officer court-martialed managed to publish a book about it, entitled ‘Scapegoats of the Empire’
“The fact of the matter is that war changes men's natures. The barbarities of war are seldom committed by abnormal men. The tragedy of war is that these horrors are committed by normal men in abnormal situations. Situations in which the ebb and flow of everyday life have departed and have been replaced by a constant round of fear and anger, blood and death.”
The Man Who Would Be King
Those of you who haven’t seen this movie (and I’m guessing it’s a fair few) will probably still be familiar with its story due to the much more recent cartoon movie ‘The Road to El Dorado’, which is loosely based on it. It is the story of two men who go off to a small country named Kafiristan, determined to become kings. One of them becomes worshiped as a god. That’s when the trouble begins.
Most moving in this film is the bridge scene when, facing the most hopeless situation they have ever been in, Daniel and Peachy begin to sing their old song from their days as soldiers in the British army. They know they have no hope, but they will go down with a song on their lips.
"Peachy, I'm heartily ashamed for gettin' you killed instead of going home rich like you deserved to, on account of me bein' so bleedin' high and bloody mighty. Can you forgive me?" "That I can and that I do, Danny, free and full and without let or hindrance."
"Everything's all right then."
It’s a Wonderful Life
My favorite scene in this movie, the scene I find most moving, is one I have many times been called sick for loving. It is with young George Bailey, when he is working at Mr. Gower’s drug store, and discovers the telegram Mr. Gower received telling him that his son has died. Distraught, Mr. Gower has accidentally put poison in some pills meant for some sick children. George does not deliver them as he is supposed to and Mr. Gower, in his anguished state, becomes angry and begins hitting George….right in his bad ear that he lost hearing in only recently. He tells Mr. Gower what happened and you can see the revelation on the old man’s face, the relief at the disaster that has been averted, the thankfulness to George, and how bad he feels for hitting the boy. He moves to hug him and George, crying, tries to back away.
“Don’t hurt my sore ear again, don’t hurt my sore ear again!”
But Mr. Gower embraces him, thanking him and apologizing, and George swears to never tell a soul what happened.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
This is a wonderful movie set in the 60’s about what happens when a white girl and a black man want to marry. It is a time when mixed race marriages were still treated with contempt. Even their parents don’t know what to make of the situation, and the couple gives them only one evening to decide whether or not the accept the marriage.
While the mothers are willing to approve, the fathers can’t find it in them to accept the children as a couple, convinced they will face too much adversity. There is a scene between the girl’s father (Spencer Tracy) and the man’s mother (Beah Richards) about their thoughts on the subject, and it never ceases to give me goosebumps. I have never seen this woman in another movie, but when you can not only hold your own against Spencer Tracy, but upstage him, you have something special.
“What happens to men when they grow old? Why do they forget everything? I believe those to young people need each other, like they need the air to breathe in. Anybody can see that just by looking at them. But you and my husband are….you might as well be blind men. You can only see that they have a problem. But do you really know what’s happened to them? How they really feel about each other? I believe that men grow old. And when the…when sexual things no longer matter to them, they forget it all. Forget what true passion is. If you ever felt what my son feels for your daughter, you’ve forgotten everything about it. My husband too. You knew once…but that was a long time ago. Now the two of you don’t know. And the strange thing is, for your wife and me, is that you don’t even remember. If you did, how could you do what you are doing?”
Brokeback Mountain
There really is nothing I can say about this movie. Everyone knows the story. Two young men go up to the mountains to wrangle sheep. Somehow, something unexplainable explodes between the two of them, and won’t let go. I hate when people make fun of the line “I wish I knew how to quit you” because it is so fitting. Something has them, has sunk its claws into them, and they can’t let go of each other, no matter how many miles apart they live, no matter how many months or years they go without seeing each other.
I had read the synopsis of this film before I saw it, so I knew everything that was going to happen, including how it ended. Still, I wasn’t at all prepared for how I would feel.
When Ennis goes to Jack’s house, to his empty room, and finds their two shirts hanging together in the closet, both on one hanger, and embraces them, trying to breathe in the scent of Jack, I sat there in the theatre, both hands over my mouth, trying to stifle my crying. I couldn’t keep from crying, even though I had known what was going to happen. The feelings, Ennis’ overwhelming sadness welling over, knowing that he had wasted so many chances and now he could never see Jack again….I bought that movie the day it came out four years ago and haven’t watched it since. Its not something I can bear to watch on my own, it is simply too sad, and I haven’t had anyone to watch it with. Hopefully sometime soon, because it is so damn good.
Blade Runner
A science fiction movie is not where one usually looks for deep seated emotion, but this movie has one of the most moving scenes I have ever seen in a movie. It comes at the end, where Roy is sitting on the roof in the rain, the dove in his hand. His four years are up, and despite his deep hatred for Deckard, he saves his life, because knowing how it feels to have your death always hovering in front of you, knowing that it is coming for you, at that moment, he values life so much that he is even willing to save Deckard’s life.
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. Time to die.”
Maybe I'll do more of these movies, but not now. Now I'm tired. Slinkydinks.
