Filmmaking is designed to evoke powerful emotions in the viewer and does so sometimes at most unexpected times, dredging up long-buried emotional experiences in a darkened movie theater where others can’t see our tears. So, just what is it about a movie that makes us able to cry when we often can’t cry in real life?
Human Drama Unfolds Before our Eyes
Seeing a drama played out on a theater-sized screen in front of us is an extremely powerful experience. The Greeks called this phenomenon catharsis, or emotional cleansing. The theory is that watching actors express our deep-seated, painful, and universal emotions will bring them out in us and cleanse our souls. Whether it is a Greek Tragedy or a contemporary film, it seems to work. This is why we cry at the movies: our lives are being put forth in front of us for us to see and examine without having to actually experience the situation first hand. More powerful still is the experience when the situation being dramatized in front of us actually mirrors our own experience! If done well, we can’t help but have our emotions stirred and our consciousness raised – which after all is what happens in psychotherapy.
Emotional Magic of the Movie Musical Score
An emotionally evocative, well-crafted musical score is also likely to bring on tears, whereas there’s no background musical score in real life to prompt or underscore what our emotions should be. A great musical score shouldn’t overpower the film or intrude, but rather enrich the experience and bring our emotions to the forefront. It has been said: “where words fail, music speaks.” So it is with an inspiring musical film score, of which there are many. Who wouldn’t be totally moved by Morricone’s emotionally charged score for Cinema Paradiso, or the film as a whole, for that matter?
Cinematography Enhances Experience
Films, like our dreams, reflect our lives by highlighting carefully chosen facial expressions, colors, lighting, shadows – all to underscore the intended mood, and to bring out our repressed memories and internal conflicts. As we see the images on the screen, carefully chosen to guide us where the writer and director want to take us, we are drawn into the story more powerfully than through the written word, because “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Just as photographs in a family album revive old memories, films create fictional anecdotes that help us to process our lives and to heal old wounds. Manipulative as it may be, we even have a name for such movies: tearjerkers.
Seven Classic Tearjerkers
Here, in chronological order, are some classic “tear-jerkers” to send you off to the movies armed with several handkerchiefs:
1. Porgy and Bess: (1959) George Gershwin’s classic musical/opera, directed by Otto Preminger. While this film may seem dated in terms of political correctness related to racial stereotypes, nonetheless the compelling story of suffering and enduring love is tragic and uplifting at the same time. A three-hankie experience, intensified by Gershwin’s timely classical score. Starring Dorothy Dandridge, Sidney Poitier, and Sammy Davis, Jr.
2. The Americanization of Emily: (1964) An unusual look at war and its ultimate folly, this film skillfully blends anti-war satire with romance and tragedy. Asks hard questions about the ultimate meaning of war and the definition of heroes, all the while showing the senselessness of it all and its profound affect war casualties have on loved ones left behind. Starring James Garner, Julie Andrews, and Melvyn Douglas.
3. Somewhere in Time: (1980) The beautiful, romantic and tragic love story that travels through time. Starring heartthrob Christopher Reeve, and the classy Jane Seymour. Beautiful setting (Mackinac Island, Michigan) and equally emotional musical score by John Barry which showcases Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.”
4. Cinema Paradiso: (1988) The story of the development of a great Italian film director who can portray others’ emotions on screen, but has lost emotional connections to the love of his life, his family, and his village. Morricone’s score is just one of the tear-inducing elements of this classic.
5. Shadowlands: (1993) Debra Winger and Anthony Hopkins recount the true story of C. S. Lewis’ marriage to a woman with terminal cancer. All the emotional elements are present – a heart-wrenching, true story, accompanied by superb acting and sensitive filmmaking.
6. The Notebook: (2004) Starring James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Ryan Gosling, and Rachel McAdam, also travels through time, but through the diary and memory of the male lead who is trying to reconnect with his wife who has fallen victim to Alzheimer’s disease. Has been known to even make men cry!
7. Departures: (2008) Cinematically perfect, this is the story of an out of work cellist who finds his calling in life – preparing the dead for their funerals. Blending just the right amount of humor and pathos, this picture won best foreign film from Japan. While the subject matter is often taboo in the West, this film presents a surprisingly upbeat message of hope and healing.
What Makes You Cry at the Movies?
This list of tearjerkers is only for starters. Some, many, or all of these movies might not make you cry. What makes you cry at the movies? The answer to this question is totally subjective and depends on your view of the world, your past experiences, and most importantly, your psychological issues. In short, movies hold a mirror up to your face and reflect back to you what is going on inside you. Looking in that mirror is the first step towards unlocking and resolving deep-seated issues that may have plagued you for years. First you cry, then you reflect, then you begin to heal.
Eve Visconti - Eve Visconti is a seasoned writer whose work ranges from grant writing to movie reviews; from career planning to informational internet ...
