POLL 79: LLORANDO

POLL 79: LLORANDO

My poll 79 is inspired by TENDERNESS (2009, John Polson, A+++++++++++++++), which makes me cry because the pain of the heroine touches my heart and my soul very deeply.

THESE FILMS MAKE ME CRY A BUCKETFUL OF TEARS. WHICH FILMS DO YOU LIKE?

1.AFTERNOON TIMES (2005, Tossapol Boonsinsukh, Thailand)
http://screenville.blogspot.com/2007/09/afternoon-times-2005boonsinsukh.html

I cried for the scene in which the heroine is packing up things in her restaurant, knowing that she will never find the guy she likes again.

2.AFTERSHOCKS: THE ROUGH GUIDE TO DEMOCRACY (2002, Rakesh Sharma, India)

After watching this film, I locked myself up in a toilet in a department store and cried for half an hour. The lives of the people in this film are very sad.

3.THE ASSASSINATED SUN (2004, Abdelkrim Bahloul)
I cried at the ending of this film.

4.BUNNY (2000, Mia Trachinger)
Two months after I had seen this film, I woke up and cried uncontrollably thinking about it. It is strange that this film didn't make me cry instantly after I had seen it. The pain of the characters in this film seemed to be locked up in my subconscious and one day it broke open into my dream and my consciousness.

5.CHOICES OF THE HEART (1983, Joseph Sargent)

6.DÉJÀ VU (1997, Henry Jaglom)

7.DIVINE INTERVENTION (2002, Elia Suleiman, Palestine)
This is the film that makes me cry the most in my life, and I'm not sure why.

8.HACHIKO: A DOG'S STORY (2009, Lasse Hallström)
I never expected that I would worship or cry for a film like this. But the scene in which Joan Allen finds out that Hachiko has been waiting for the return of her husband for more than ten years makes me cry. I think it is because what Hachiko does in this film is like what some human beings do—doing something unreasonably, doing something though it is utterly hopeless, doing something which you know you will not succeed but still you can't stop yourself from doing it. You know you shouldn't do it, but you still do it because your heart compels you to do it. It's like a mother who knows her son is dead but still finds it hard to accept the truth. It's like person A who still keeps on loving person B though A knows that B will never love A back.

HACHIKO: A DOG'S STORY should really be screened together with ROZA (1999, Ramon Swaab, Netherlands, A+++++). In ROZA, we saw an old man in present time sits in a train station, waiting for someone. In the end we know that this man has been waiting for Roza for more than 60 years. The last time he saw Roza is when this girl was deported in a train during WWII, because she was a Jew. This old man must know that it is useless to wait here, because Roza was likely to be killed in a gas chamber 60 years ago. But he still waits here. He does what his heart wants to do, not what his brain tells him to do. He does what is beyond reason or understanding, like Hachiko.

9.THE INVISIBLE FRAME (2009, Cynthia Beatt, Germany)
The ending of this film is tremendously touching for three reasons:

9.1 It's what Tilda Swinton says at the end of the film

9.2 It's the contrast between the image we saw at the ending of this film and the image we saw at the ending of CYCLING THE FRAME (1988, Cynthia Beatt, A+)

9.3 It's the text at the end of this film. This short text turns a film which has "a very happy ending" into a film with arguably sad ending. At the end of this film, we feel very glad to see the freedom of German people. We see the beauty of this freedom, which is the opposite of what we see in CYCLING THE FRAME. We may think, "Oh, what a wonderful world! Goodness has triumphed over evil. Bad things have been destroyed. There are still hopes in life." And then the text says, "For Palestinian people." This short text suddenly and powerfully reminds us of the misery which continues until now. This short text reminds us that happiness like in THE INVISIBLE FRAME is still being denied in some places in the world. THE INVISIBLE FRAME doesn't show us directly the misery of Palestinian people, but because it shows us what a free country looks like, it makes us feel very sad and angry that some people who should be able to live in a free and undivided country like that are still unable to do it.

10.KOENIG'S SPHERE: THE GERMAN SCULPTOR FRITZ KOENIG AT GROUND ZERO (2001, Percy Adlon)

11.THE LAST BOLSHEVIK (1993, Chris Marker)
The ending of this film makes me cry. It makes me feel that Marker still likes Aleksandr Medvedkin very much, and Marker doesn't care at all if other people like Medvedkin or not.

12.LETTER FROM THE SILENCE (2006, Prap Boonpan, Thailand)

13.LETTER TO A CHILD (2009, Vlado Skafar, Slovenia)

14.THE MISSION (1986, Roland Joffé)

15.THE MURDER OF MARY PHAGAN (1988, William Hale)
One scene that makes me cry in this miniseries is the scene in which a politician who tries to uncover the truth about the murder of Mary Phagan despite the protest of the villagers tells his young assistant something like this:

"If you want to succeed in politics, never do what I have done."

And his assistant replies, "Now I don't want to succeed in politics any more."

It is very touching for me to see that this young assistant who used to be ambitious has learned that what is more important to him now is not success, fame, or being worshipped and loved by the voting people. What is important to him now is "truth", "justice", and "helping innocent people", though choosing truth and justice might make the voting people hate him.

16.THE PAINTBALL PROJECT (2007, Wafaa Bilal)
I cried for the scene in which someone drives a long way to meet this Iraqi artist and offer him some support. And it is utterly surprising and touching for me that the person who seems to understand the most about the pain of this Iraqi artist is a US marine.

17.THE PINOCHET CASE (2001, Patricio Guzmán, Chile)

18.SEVEN POUNDS (2008, Gabriele Muccino)
I like it very much that the hero does not intend to make the heroine love him forever. Instead, he seems to intend to make the heroine find a new love after him.

19.TENDERNESS (2009, John Polson)

20.VALERIE FLAKE (1999, John Putch)
There are many things in this film which make me cry. One scene which makes me cry is the scene in which Valerie meets a woman who used to love Valerie's husband.

The woman says, "You won. I lost," and smiles. She seems to accept the truth that it is Valerie who won the heart of this guy.

"No, you won, I lost," Valerie replies, knowing fully well that happiness doesn't last forever. Things which give you happiness will not last forever. People who give you happiness will not last forever. And things which you used to hold dear might cause you unhappiness in the future.

You can cast multiple votes.

The soundtrack for this poll is LLORANDO by Rebekah del Rio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIpkMg9sh6Q