Films about failed relationships, heartbreak, etc

[hewantstolurkatad]

Pretty straightforward, isn't it? What're your favourites? Which ones can you relate to most? Were there any you especially remember having a big impact on you due to a combination of timing and quality.

Annie Hall is very much my go to, for pretty obvious reasons what with that absolutely wonderful ending.

[Dex Sawash]

[tag] Heartbreak Ridge [/tag]

[Delete Delete Delete]

High Fiedilty and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.

[Custard]

Like Crazy from a few years ago is pretty bleak viewing. Stars Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, and Jennifer Lawrence in a sad little love triangle

Ruby Sparks is a strange concept, but I found that sad and depressing too

Blue Valentine is a must, too

[thecuriousorange]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

[Custard]

I also found The Break-Up with, erm, Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn pretty effective. It was sold as a mainstream knockabout comedy, but its surprisingly bleak and realistic about a failing relationship. There's little to no laughs in the last third

And you see Aniston's bum for about five seconds

[phantom_power]

Eternal Sunshine, yes
500 Days of Summer does it for me as well, despite the main character (deliberately) being a twat

[Sebastian Cobb]

Paris, Texas.

Death Wish

[Neomod]

Has to be Swingers. Cos of light and shade innit.

I couldn't stand ESoTSM. I tried, but kooky is a balancing act and Kate Winslett was on the wrong side of it.

[Custard]

I think Winslet's character was meant to be annoying though, wasn't she?

Like most kooky people she starts off as charming, but it soon becomes clear that she's a bit of a mess. Isn't that what Jim Carey realises by the end?

Or am I remembering it wrong? Not seen it since it came out

[Neomod]

I think Winslet's character was meant to be annoying though, wasn't she?

Like most kooky people she starts off as charming, but it soon becomes clear that she's a bit of a mess. Isn't that what Jim Carey realises by the end?

Or am I remembering it wrong? Not seen it since it came out

Oh, she was supposed to be charming? Thank god I bailed before it got worse.

Comfort and Joy is another favourite of mine. 80's Glasgow, the ice cream wars and the heartbreak of a middle-aged dj.

What's not to like.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Ha, I watched that last Christmas. Good old Claire Grogan.

[Wet Blanket]

I thought Kate Winslet did an excellent job of portraying that sort of self-consciously hipsterish woman. Although it's funny in a way because bailing on Eternal Sunshine because you don't like the breezy first-act version of her character is a bit like when Phoebe in Friends refuses to watch It's a Wonderful Life to the end because it's so depressing.   

For me, Eternal Sunshine is one of the most perceptive end-of-a-relationship films there is. Charlie Kaufman is the laureate of disappointment, romantic and otherwise; his other films cover similar themes in an increasingly bleak fashion. It's a real shame he finds it so difficult to get his scripts produced because I think he's a genius.

[Neomod]

Breezy or not her persona really grinds my gears. Unwatchable.

I know it's a favourite around here though so you are not alone.

edit to add: The Royal Tenenbaums.

[notjosh]

There's a lovely Hindi movie called Ijaazat about a long-divorced couple that get stuck in a train station together. Worth watching if you can find it with subtitles.

Forces of Nature is a fairly generic rom-com (but good if you like that sort of thing) that doesn't end quite as you'd expect.

And Bridges of Madison County is absolutely lovely.

[steveh]

Wonder how Chasing Amy would hold up on a rewatch. Reminds me also of a flawed but interesting Serbian film called Panama which also deals with jealousy but in a world where people's Internet history is there to be found by new partners: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2933004/.

[mrpupkin]

Another vote for Eternal Sunshine, basically everything Wet Blanket said. Kaufman is some kind of magician.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Wonder how Chasing Amy would hold up on a rewatch. Reminds me also of a flawed but interesting Serbian film called Panama which also deals with jealousy but in a world where people's Internet history is there to be found by new partners: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2933004/.

I watched Chasing Amy when I was about 15 and thought it was insipid and sentimental; there's plenty of films I've reevaluated as I've grown up but I've no desire with that one.

[BritishHobo]

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is one of my all-time favourite films, and my go-to when it comes to feeling shitty or heartbroken. I've always loved that what seems a broad comedy set-up (lovable schlub tries to get over the cold girl who cheats on him) actually gives way to something a bit more complex, as it becomes clear that Jason Segel is actually a lazy, unmotivated waster who's utterly resistant to Kristen Bell's genuine attempts to stop their relationship and their lives from stagnating. My favourite thing about it is that in the end, SPOILER Segel wins Mila Kunis over not with your predictable romantic gesture, or that Apatow/Rogen thing where the stoner manchild makes the tiniest effort possible, but instead by going home and spending months by himself, working on himself; improving his health and lifestyle, his confidence, and working on his musical passion project purely for himself. Only then is he in a healthy enough place to date again.

Possibly because it's so surprising, I always find it really inspirational. It puts me in a mindset, when I'm down, of looking at what I can fix or improve about myself.

[hewantstolurkatad]

Blue is the Warmest Colour got the whole first love thing down so well, especially the aftermath. Any attempt to pin it down as being a specifically LGBT film (or criticising it for failing to be) completely misses what it was going for.

I also found The Break-Up with, erm, Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn pretty effective. It was sold as a mainstream knockabout comedy, but its surprisingly bleak and realistic about a failing relationship. There's little to no laughs in the last third

And you see Aniston's bum for about five seconds

That's one of those films you occasionally hear someone rave about but mostly had a poor reception. Peyton Reed has a bit of a weird rep overall.

[zomgmouse]

Last Tango in Paris
Butterfly Kiss
Kill Bill, technically

[Sebastian Cobb]

Does Until The End of the World count? It should.

[Urinal Cake]

Any Wong Kar-Wai film.

[Smeraldina Rima]

Yes, particularly Chungking Express, Fallen Angels and Happy Together. The first two of those have similar pairs of in between relationship stories, getting to know someone new without it being about entering into the new relationship as such. CE feels like melancholy heartbreak that isn't a disaster. I prefer those films to the bigger pictures he made.

With a completely different tone, two Haneke films with more desperately draining failed relationships, The Castle and The Piano Teacher. My favourite is The Castle and it has a real life acting couple who both died.

Brief Encounter for its ending.

[greenman]

I thought Kate Winslet did an excellent job of portraying that sort of self-consciously hipsterish woman. Although it's funny in a way because bailing on Eternal Sunshine because you don't like the breezy first-act version of her character is a bit like when Phoebe in Friends refuses to watch It's a Wonderful Life to the end because it's so depressing.   

For me, Eternal Sunshine is one of the most perceptive end-of-a-relationship films there is. Charlie Kaufman is the laureate of disappointment, romantic and otherwise; his other films cover similar themes in an increasingly bleak fashion. It's a real shame he finds it so difficult to get his scripts produced because I think he's a genius.

He certainly used the concept really well rather than it just being a gimmick, allowing the film both to have a lot of tension/dramatic moments and feel like a natural progress of the characters which I generally find the most effective in romance films. Staying with Winslet for example Revolutionary Road was I'd say well made in a lot of ways but just felt like the characters were being flipped around by events rather too much rather than naturally unfolding.

For high concept indie romance I'm not entirely sure where I stand on Her. The level of kooky whimsy actually put me off watching it for along time but having done so more recently the concept  did make for an effective way of showing one partner outgrowing the other, not sure it needed quite as much whimsy do pull that off mind. Phoenix does handle that side of it very well I spose and its interesting to consider this came out the same year as Under The Skin(which I spose you could semi include here) yet Johansson's performances in those two films are total opposites, totally verbal in one and almost totally physical in the other.

Blue is the Warmest Colour got the whole first love thing down so well, especially the aftermath. Any attempt to pin it down as being a specifically LGBT film (or criticising it for failing to be) completely misses what it was going for.

I think first love underplays it a bit but beyond general prudishness I'd agree a lot of the negative fuss seemed to be that it wasn't totally focused on being a LGBT film as many expected(maybe should have kept the French name?) when really it was more a romance/breakup film driven by social class(made by a working class background immigrant director, cast the leads by there class background as well) with the gay angle being part of the way this was brought out. Like Eternal Sunshine I think it does a great job making everything seem like the natural outcome of the characters involved. Isnt perhaps as dramatic without the high concept but for a slow burning naturalistic drama I think its incredibly well made/acted, one of the few the non cartoon rabbit films(that poor cartoon shoe) likely to get tears out of me by the end.

I must admit I do generally find this a genre were my tastes remain more modern, 70's on latter generally.

[zomgmouse]

Truffaut's Domicile conjugal. Part of the Doinel series. Very good.

Haneke

There's also Amour if you want grief/loss/illness-based heartbreak

[hewantstolurkatad]

I think first love underplays it a bit but beyond general prudishness I'd agree a lot of the negative fuss seemed to be that it wasn't totally focused on being a LGBT film as many expected(maybe should have kept the French name?) when really it was more a romance/breakup film driven by social class(made by a working class background immigrant director, cast the leads by there class background as well) with the gay angle being part of the way this was brought out. Like Eternal Sunshine I think it does a great job making everything seem like the natural outcome of the characters involved. Isnt perhaps as dramatic without the high concept but for a slow burning naturalistic drama I think its incredibly well made/acted, one of the few the non cartoon rabbit films(that poor cartoon shoe) likely to get tears out of me by the end.

I must admit I do generally find this a genre were my tastes remain more modern, 70's on latter generally.

That's a really good point about the gay angle operates as a bridge between the social classes, they're not two people whose worlds would've overlapped if Adele wasn't so unsure of who she was.

Does the title Blue is the Warmest Color actually mean something? The original name, being more tightly tied to the source material (which I gather it deviated from hugely), seems more troublesome.

There's also Amour if you want grief/loss/illness-based heartbreak

I felt nothing while watching this tbh. Like, I get that it covers the area a lot better than most other films on similar ground (which tend to over-sentimentalise and whatnot), but I was totally disconnected from them and it wasn't sufficiently eye opening or enlightening to warrant it. It presented it well, but I gained absolutely nothing from watching it.




Only somewhat related to the topic, but Make Way for Tomorrow is absolutely crushing in a really sweet way. It's an 80 year old hollywood movie and it lays things on thick at times, but the whole thing is so fucking sincere.

[slavestate]

Would Tell No One count?  It's certainly about loss.  The ending always has me weeping

[Small Man Big Horse]

Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me - I was really rooting for the main couple to stay together, just think what the new series of Twin Peaks would be like if Leland hadn't fucked it all up.

[greenman]

That's a really good point about the gay angle operates as a bridge between the social classes, they're not two people whose worlds would've overlapped if Adele wasn't so unsure of who she was.

Does the title Blue is the Warmest Color actually mean something? The original name, being more tightly tied to the source material (which I gather it deviated from hugely), seems more troublesome.

A bridge at first but then a divide I'd say with one coming from a social class were coming out is easy and the other were its obviously much less so. The same with career choices and social circles, neither really being comfortable with the others which obviously feeds into how things work out. I remember reading somewhere(guardian?) around the release that the director Kechiche was viewed as a "non  auteur" due to coming from a working class north African immigrant background which seems to obviously feed into an anti elitist message with some of the arty types in the film being pretentious prats and a general dismissal of a more blue collar teaching career as worthwhile.

The French title was actually "the life of Adele part 1 & 2", not nearly as memorable I spose but seems a better description of the film and obviously removes it a bit more from the source material which sounds a lot more specifically LGBT focused.