Parts of films (or films) designed to anger you or upset you.

[Kryton]

What films or scenes from films have you watched that that evoked anger or made you feel distraught perhaps?
I don't want to necessarily include shit films that have stupid plot holes in this thread, more so films and scenes designed to cause a bit of an impact.

A few spring to mind, two of which involve the Holocaust.

Schindler's list is perhaps an obvious choice, several scenes with Ralph Fiennes in which you realise that not only are the Jewish people subject to systematic torture and punishment, but there's pyschopaths like Amon Goeth who are just utterly revel in it and are killing for their own pleasure. The randomly chosen mass execution scene and the humiliation of the Helen Hirsch in the cellar are two scenes that spring to mind.

Another contender is probably The Pianist, when the SS commander just pulls 5-6 men out of a passing group seemingly at random just to execute them. There's no reasoning behind, no mention of anything, just forcing people onto the ground and shooting them. It's horrific.

Completely changing subjects - but the ending to Time Bandits really fucking scared me as a young 'un. As an adult it's kind of brave and bold and perhaps a tiny bit lazy? But it left a bit of a scar on me. Not so much because it involved a child being dumped back into the real world after a wonderful-ish time travelling experience, only to see his parents die. But more so, because of the weird scenes of bleak poverty and the beige horror of their deaths at the hands of a consumer microwave.

Probably another example is Dead Man's shoes. I've seen that gang behaviour before, dominated by one nutcase and everyone else just sponges them and acts in fear and subservience. One or two hard men and the rest are just leeching, ruining lives and sucking up at the expense of the weakest.

[His Name Is Death]

That scene in Pan's Labyrinth where Captain Vidal stoves in a guy's face in with a bottle. While I understand Del Toro's intent was to show Vidal's (and fascist Spain's) utter brutality, I'd argue we didn't have to see it to believe it.

[bgmnts]

Any time Gaspar Noe turns his camera on, I wouldn't even want to watch his home movies.

[Sin Agog]

Leftist propaganda films like Punishment Park (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bRMMdaQ790) that aren't really propaganda so much as sideways versions of the truth always leave me wanting to run out to join the black panthers (and get roundly rejected by them).  Would that I could blow up just one trading district.  Just one little trading district.

[NoSleep]

Leftist propaganda films like Punishment Park (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bRMMdaQ790) that aren't really propaganda so much as sideways versions of the truth always leave me wanting to run out to join the black panthers (and get roundly rejected by them).  Would that I could blow up just one trading district.  Just one little trading district.

Peter Watkins' films scar for life (in a good way).

So do Jon Jost's. Frame Up, particularly, has one of the most harrowing endings of any film I have watched.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

I find parts of films discussed in " Picture Box" and not " Deeper Into Movies" quite upsetting.

[The Mollusk]

This is the main intention of "The House That Jack Built" because it's a load of absolute fucking wank and Von Trier is a boring cunt, but one flashback scene in particular where Jack as a young boy cuts the legs off a duckling almost had me saying "mate, fuck off" out loud in the cinema. The graphic brutality was one thing but it was the overall effort to make an excessively provocative "yeah, you want to dislike me, don't you critics?" film that was pissing me off throughout which eked that reaction from me. Also the scene which features loads of cuts of Von Trier's previous films. I know my opinion of that film is exactly what he wanted to make me feel but I don't care. It might be very nicely shot and well performed but it's still shit.

[Sin Agog]

I find parts of films discussed in " Picture Box" and not " Deeper Into Movies" quite upsetting.

You sound pretty thin-skinned.

[Sin Agog]

I remember just a bit prior to millennial/woke culture, fucking every young man had to have a collection of nothing but brutal shit, with Irreversible, Romper Stomper, yeah some Shane Meadows fo' sho' or Nick Love if they're a bit less classy, possibly Scum, some old rapey horror like Last House on the Left or a slightly newer one like Martyrs, Clockywocky Orangeywonge, Faces of Death, then a bit later shit like A Serbian Fillum and The Humon Millipede would be in there.  The movies aren't even necessarily inherently bad, but the weird numb young man psychology where they can only feel something if it's someone getting their head stove in with a fire extinguisher was always unsettling to me.  I knew so many people like this.  I can watch the occasional movie like that, but these people would dive into them like a ball pool at Go Bananas.

[Funcrusher]

This is the main intention of "The House That Jack Built" because it's a load of absolute fucking wank and Von Trier is a boring cunt, but one flashback scene in particular where Jack as a young boy cuts the legs off a duckling almost had me saying "mate, fuck off" out loud in the cinema. The graphic brutality was one thing but it was the overall effort to make an excessively provocative "yeah, you want to dislike me, don't you critics?" film that was pissing me off throughout which eked that reaction from me. Also the scene which features loads of cuts of Von Trier's previous films. I know my opinion of that film is exactly what he wanted to make me feel but I don't care. It might be very nicely shot and well performed but it's still shit.

Lars Von Trier's entire career fits into this thread title. He's an empty provocateur cunt and can fuck off as far as I'm concerned.

I remember just a bit prior to millennial/woke culture, fucking every young man had to have a collection of nothing but brutal shit, with Irreversible, Romper Stomper, yeah some Shane Meadows fo' sho' or Nick Love if they're a bit less classy, possibly Scum, some old rapey horror like Last House on the Left or a slightly newer one like Martyrs, Clockywocky Orangeywonge, Faces of Death, then a bit later shit like A Serbian Fillum and The Humon Millipede would be in there.  The movies aren't even necessarily inherently bad, but the weird numb young man psychology where they can only feel something if it's someone getting their head stove in with a fire extinguisher was always unsettling to me.  I knew so many people like this.  I can watch the occasional movie like that, but these people would dive into them like a ball pool at Go Bananas.

The film by a director I actually like that fits into this thread is Haneke's Funny Games (the remake, I've not seen the original). Two sadists torture a couple for the duration of a film that just made me as a viewer feel like shit for two hours for no real purpose. It's intent as far as I can make out was to shock the kind of torture porn crowd that Sin Agog describes, but in fact that crowd all loved it and saw it as validating their type of cinema because it was directed by a respected figure from the arthouse world.

[Dog Botherer]

the bit with the baby in The Nightingale fucked me up a bit. probably didn't help that my then 6m/o was asleep on the couch beside me.

[chveik]

I'd say that the shower scene in Schindler's List is more obscene than any brutal fucked up shit.

Lars Von Trier's entire career fits into this thread title. He's an empty provocateur cunt and can fuck off as far as I'm concerned.

have you watched his 'non-provocateur' works, like Medea or Riget? they might change your mind a little.

The film by a director I actually like that fits into this thread is Haneke's Funny Games (the remake, I've not seen the original). Two sadists torture a couple for the duration of a film that just made me as a viewer feel like shit for two hours for no real purpose. It's intent as far as I can make out was to shock the kind of torture porn crowd that Sin Agog describes, but in fact that crowd all loved it and saw it as validating their type of cinema because it was directed by a respected figure from the arthouse world.

agreed, the Funny Games remake was totally unnecessary, and it's his only bad film. the original is worth a watch imo.

[McChesney Duntz]

agreed, the Funny Games remake was totally unnecessary, and it's his only bad film. the original is worth a watch imo.

Isn't the remake practically a frame-by-frame remake of the first? Honest question; haven't seen either (and something about the finger-wagging, moralizing tone that I'm told is there, coupled with the senseless sadism that is said to be there as well, has put me off from trying, even though I very much like the other Haneke I've seen). What are the distinctions between the two? Or is the very fact of its unnecessaritude enough to make it "bad"? Spoiler it if need be.

[Puce Moment]

I always assumed it was rather like Van Sant's remake of Psycho - something so obviously unncessary that it is hard to understand why people took it so seriously and assume it is simply a cynical and pointless remake. The US remake is incredibly similar - I haven't studied it but I would imagine that at certain points the shots and cuts are identical. The main difference is obvious - an English language film with an all-star cast tells the same story with the same postmodern/narratologicaly experimental moments. Therefore, I would say the main difference is reception.

Naturally, many audiences were irritated with the postmodern moments as it does diffuse and undercut some of the tension and immersive realism of the film (by design). It seems to matter less in the Austrian version, which seems more playful and has a quite caustic and amusing view of film violence (particularly what was becoming known as torture porn). In the US version, those moments seem to be more arch, critical, overly moral and ultimately quite pompous. For those fans that like extreme gore and violence in horror as their main genre fix, this pissed them off (of course).

[chveik]

Isn't the remake practically a frame-by-frame remake of the first? Honest question; haven't seen either (and something about the finger-wagging, moralizing tone that I'm told is there, coupled with the senseless sadism that is said to be there as well, has put me off from trying, even though I very much like the other Haneke I've seen). What are the distinctions between the two? Or is the very fact of its unnecessaritude enough to make it "bad"? Spoiler it if need be.

it is a frame-by-frame remake, but imho big hollywood actors like Roth and Watts really feel out of place in a film like that. I also don't really appreciate the idea that the us audience needed such a remake (and it implies that they're just mindless people incapable of bothering to read subtitles, which is arguably false). so yeah I'd agree that the fact it's unnecessary makes it bad.

I find the accusations towards Haneke quite lazy (when it comes to his alleged moralizing tone and sadism etc., in my mind most critics are just expressing the usual clichés about Austrian artists), Funny Games works very well as a horror film and as another instance of Haneke's consistent obsession with the way violence is represented in our culture.

[chveik]

I can't edit my post for some reason, I just want to say that Puce Moment's post on the subject is much more eloquent than mine .

[Sebastian Cobb]

I always assumed it was rather like Van Sant's remake of Psycho - something so obviously unncessary that it is hard to understand why people took it so seriously and assume it is simply a cynical and pointless remake. The US remake is incredibly similar - I haven't studied it but I would imagine that at certain points the shots and cuts are identical. The main difference is obvious - an English language film with an all-star cast tells the same story with the same postmodern/narratologicaly experimental moments. Therefore, I would say the main difference is reception.

Naturally, many audiences were irritated with the postmodern moments as it does diffuse and undercut some of the tension and immersive realism of the film (by design). It seems to matter less in the Austrian version, which seems more playful and has a quite caustic and amusing view of film violence (particularly what was becoming known as torture porn). In the US version, those moments seem to be more arch, critical, overly moral and ultimately quite pompous. For those fans that like extreme gore and violence in horror as their main genre fix, this pissed them off (of course).

Steve Martin Pink Panther's as well.

[Mister Six]

The bit with the trucks pulling away from each other - you know the bit - in The Hitcher was specifically calculated to "hurt" the audience. Likewise the tree-rape in Evil Dead 1.

Hope that helps.

[oy vey]

The documentary Earthlings narrated by Joaquin Phoenix definitely aims to disturb. I understand what it's trying to do but I had to turn off after 40 minutes. Instead of feeling inspired or motivated I felt utterly depressed.

[samadriel]

I always thought the bit in Akira where Tetsup splatters his girlfriend without even noticing was gratuitous, and an annoying fate for a character whose demise deserved more attention.  I'm pretty sure she eventually dies in the manga too, but her dying per se isn't my problem; in the manga she's given the significance she deserves.

[Non Stop Dancer]

Probably another example is Dead Man's shoes. I've seen that gang behaviour before, dominated by one nutcase and everyone else just sponges them and acts in fear and subservience. One or two hard men and the rest are just leeching, ruining lives and sucking up at the expense of the weakest.

I only managed to get through about 30 minutes of that film because the gang's treatment of matey was so upsetting. I loved This is England the film and the series up to the bit with the rape, but that had a similar effect on me and I just won't entertain the idea of watching Meadows' output now. I'm too fragile.

[Blue Jam]

I have to cover my eyes when Jack Black turns up in Anchorman. I genuinely cannot watch his character kicking poor little baxter off the Golden Gate Bridge. I know Baxter survives but I'm just soppy for dogs.

Pretty much any scene where a dog dies really:

https://www.doesthedogdie.com

[BlodwynPig]

I have to cover my eyes when Jack Black turns up in Anchorman. I genuinely cannot watch his character kicking poor little baxter off the Golden Gate Bridge. I know Baxter survives but I'm just soppy for dogs.

Pretty much any scene where a dog dies really:

https://www.doesthedogdie.com

Cape Fear. cunt.

[Icehaven]

Bit near the end of Bone Tomahawk, where the prehistoric creatures scalp and kill a man, is grossly disturbing and I never want to see it again.

[Blue Jam]

Cape Fear. cunt.

*shudder* I even get upset by that bit in Our Man In Havana where a would-be assassin accidentally spills the poison on the waiter's dog and the dog licks it off and dies. Worse because it's a sausage dog and I love those.

Alita: Battle Angel has an unexpected one, where a puppy gets lasered to death. It may happen offscreen, but then Alita decides to wear the puppy's blood as warpaint... Not what I was expecting from a 12-rated family film.

[Phil_A]

I always thought the bit in Akira where Tetsup splatters his girlfriend without even noticing was gratuitous, and an annoying fate for a character whose demise deserved more attention.  I'm pretty sure she eventually dies in the manga too, but her dying per se isn't my problem; in the manga she's given the significance she deserves.

He knows he's doing it but can't control himself enough to stop it I think. The treatment of that character is unnecessarily cruel though, I agree. I think in the only scenes she appears in she gets beaten up, molested and then horribly crushed to death. No character development at all, she's just there to be victimised.

[El Unicornio, mang]

The bit with the trucks pulling away from each other - you know the bit - in The Hitcher was specifically calculated to "hurt" the audience. Likewise the tree-rape in Evil Dead 1.

Hope that helps.

I always thought that seemed like an over-the-top killing method which wouldn't happen in real life, but recently read a book where they described how Soviet soldiers did this to German women in Königsberg after the war. Possibly where the idea in the film came from.

Another contender is probably The Pianist, when the SS commander just pulls 5-6 men out of a passing group seemingly at random just to execute them. There's no reasoning behind, no mention of anything, just forcing people onto the ground and shooting them. It's horrific.

I always found the wheelchair part in that film the most disturbing. Just the way they casually tip him over the balcony like he's a piece of rubbish. And knowing that kind of thing was going on every day during that time.

[El Unicornio, mang]

I always thought the bit in Akira where Tetsup splatters his girlfriend without even noticing was gratuitous, and an annoying fate for a character whose demise deserved more attention.  I'm pretty sure she eventually dies in the manga too, but her dying per se isn't my problem; in the manga she's given the significance she deserves.

In the manga her character has a slightly different story. She starts out as one of Tetsuo's many young girl sex slaves when he's reached the height of his powers and has his own empire ruling over Tokyo (so pretty late on) but he ends up falling for her. She still dies, but by being shot by the Colonel rather than at the hands of Tetsuo.

[weaseldust]

the phone ringing for four minutes in once upon a time in america

https://youtu.be/VWHTxByzXDs

love the film but found this bit unbearable, which i guess is the point

[Mister Six]

I always thought the bit in Akira where Tetsup splatters his girlfriend without even noticing was gratuitous, and an annoying fate for a character whose demise deserved more attention.  I'm pretty sure she eventually dies in the manga too, but her dying per se isn't my problem; in the manga she's given the significance she deserves.

Watched this the other week - he knows she's dying, he just can't control his body at that point. He even says something like "I can feel her pain!"

It's definitely an upsetting moment as she's one of the few characters who's basically a decent sort - but I think that's the point. And narratively it shows us how out of control Tetsuo is.