What was the saddest moment in a movie for you?

[Bomby von Bombsville]

Xard and I are just used to Ran.

[symbv]

Xard and I are just used to Ran.

Even less reason to take the bait I'd say. But perhaps you are so used to his trolling style. I won't stop you though, but then I am sure quite a number of people here are not so keen on seeing trolls be rewarded.

[Bomby von Bombsville]

I really see it less "trolling" so much as just Ran being Ran.

Besides, there are people who legitimately hold the opinion that people shouldn't have emotional reactions to films.

[symbv]

Besides, there are people who legitimately hold the opinion that people shouldn't have emotional reactions to films.

who happens to think everything after Birth of A Nation are "shallow attempts at forgery". Sure. Now that I checked it, again only Xard and you responded to that post of his. Anyway....

[ran1]

This.

I had thought that his latest and rather limp attempt to stir up argument at the top of this page had fallen by the wayside, but suddenly people start rising to the bait.

Well, it's a sad and limp attempt to troll, yeah, but I'd like to think I'm doing it for a purpose. It raises a central question of "what is good cinema" -- i.e. cinema's ability to manipulate its audience into a false sense of immersion, or raise a red flag to alert the viewer of its own curiously metafictional elements that it so deftly tries to hide.

Yes, it's a post to stir up argument, I'd agree -- but there's a broader point at large here -- I was more curious to see if I could work through an argument in favor of cinema's anti-formalist qualities. My intial post was evidence of this. Birth of a Nation is the apex of cinema in that, when it was first produced in 1915, was the apex of cinema's formalist syle. Now, we've relegated silent film acting to "campiness" and simultaneous action within a frame to "lazyness" on the part of a director and director of photography. That sort of relegation implies a sort of observational distance towards what appears on screen. Birth of a Nation was a very specific choice on my part.

In favor of discussing cinematic distance, however, the topic at hand was immediately dismissed by artistic fascists like Bagheera, and then Dream -- who apparently left his FML thread cesspool to shitpost here. I can justify symbv missing the point -- he joined after my initial ban and probably hasn't seen all my technical analyses in the discussion forum, but it's a shame that you all think so lowly of me to imply that my trolling isn't operating towards academic discussion.

Well, at least Xard and Bomby figured it out

[Xard]

I was not here when he was banned but reading the few couple of posts he put up here I think his intention to troll is too obvious. Beats me how veterans like Bomby and Xard would take the bait so readily.

I'm not sure how playing along counts as taking bait. Generally speaking Birth is seen as the film that "created" the rules of film narrative and form but more often than not it's Battleship Potemkin that most often gets the kind of sarcastic quips about being the developmental "peak" of medium. There's great deal of truth to that of course even if it's pretty much bull in the final analysis.

Bomby just provided the non sequitur coda for the discussion.

[symbv]

I'm not sure how playing along counts as taking bait.

Playing along with a troll remark does not count as taking bait? What is taking bait then?

Generally speaking Birth is seen as the film that "created" the rules of film narrative and form but more often than not it's Battleship Potemkin that most often gets the kind of sarcastic quips about being the developmental "peak" of medium. There's great deal of truth to that of course even if it's pretty much bull in the final analysis.

True enough, but it does not mean one has to deliberately call all the movie output after Birth as "shallow attempts at forgery".

ran1 himself admitted he intentionally trolled. And in my opinion, if he had not used those troll-like remark, perhaps more people would have responded. And your reply or Bomby's may also have been more substantial than a single-line "play-along" type of remark.

But as I said, I am not going to spend a lot of time outside the Anime section, so if you like to play along I am fine as well. I just feel that perhaps I could add some of my thought after reading posts by Bagheera and Mr.Tines saying ran1 was trolling.

[ran1]

True enough, but it does not mean one has to deliberately call all the movie output after Birth as "shallow attempts at forgery".

Demonstrate to me a film that pioneered parallel editing, the close-up, and feature-length narrative storytelling before Birth of a Nation. You can't. It's the apex of cinema because it innovated every single narrative film technique with the notable exception of montage. Potemkin and Passion of Joan of Arc are the only two films that come close to Birth.

Most film scholars generally agree on this.

symbv, I get the vibe that you like to argue, and I'm A-OK with that because I like to as well, but I wouldn't continue to harp on this if it's not your area of academic experitse

[Gus Hanson]

Jack's death in Titanic made me sad the first time i saw it in the theater, i so wanted him and Rose to be together.

[MassiveInvader]

The part in E.T where he was being operated on, thats the only time I have ever cried during a movie.

[riffraff11235]

I'm not sure if these qualify as sad, but they are the only movie moments in recent memory that have forced me to painfully restrain tears:

In What Dreams May Come:

SPOILER: Show

The part where Chris (Robin Williams) decides to stay in Hell with Annie (Annabella Sciorra). It really tugged at my heart strings to see love so strong that it can make the most dreadful place on Earth livable, even if it is between characters in a movie.

In Good Will Hunting:

SPOILER: Show

The part where Will (Matt Damon) breaks down in the arms of his psychologist Sean (Robin Williams) as he realizes that the abuse he suffered at the hands of his foster father was not his fault. Just another really powerful scene.

[bobbyfischer's ghost]

This scene from Vertigo.

[Merkaba]

This scene:

SPOILER: Show

[Xard]

This scene from Vertigo.

I'm not sure if I'd describe it as the saddest scene but surely it's one of the most shocking

[bobbyfischer's ghost]

Maybe it's the use of Scene d'Amour.Bernard Herrmann's compositions kick ass.

[Xard]

Maybe it's the use of Scene d'Amour.Bernard Herrmann's compositions kick ass.

uhh I'm not saying you can't feel sad about it because it really is a sad scene. It's just that for me it was the overwhelming OH GOD NO WHY FUCK POETIC JUSTICE shockwave that hit me first

[bobbyfischer's ghost]

Yeah I was in shock too but after that well...... Damn you Scottie.

[Gus Hanson]

When Paulie the parrot got his wings cut off by the doctors, i felt really sad for him.