by Ana-Maria Comanescu

Created on: April 17, 2009   Last Updated: April 18, 2009

I was never the type that cries a lot at movies, especially at the classical tearjerking scenes from films such as "Titanic". I was never impressed when E.T. was riding his bicycle under the moonlight, or when Bambi's mother died. Still, there are some film scenes that have always managed to make me burst into rivers of tears.

>> Million Dollar Baby (2004, Clint Eastwood)

"I got a favour to ask, Boss." The scene where Maggie (Hillary Swank) makes her death request to Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) made the Earth shake under my feet. It is what brings the audience to the conclusion that after the lost fight, Maggie is never going to recover, no matter the hope. There is no ray of happiness left in her life, there is nothing she can do except lie in her hospital bed and reminisce of the crowds chanting her Mo Cuishle; when she chokingly whispers to her coach to basically murder her, the scene is just too hurtful to watch.

>>The Hours (2002, Stephen Daldry)

Richard (Ed Harris) is dying of AIDS, but got tired of coping with it. The suicidal scene sounds like such a typical and predictable thing, though everything changes in the pace when the dialogue between him and Clarissa (Meryl Streep) softens up. The audience is cleverly tricked into relief; thinking that it was all just a hunch is really soothing until the sudden, yet so simple lean over the window. And it crashes upon you so hard, that you can't help the tears.

>>The Elephant Man (1980, David Lynch)

The scene where the drunkards come into John Merrick's room , the legendary Elephant Man (John Hurt), is so powerful that it always sends shivers down my spine. The master director Lynch shows no mercy in his black-and-white strongly-contrasting rendition of the moment when poor Merrick's hardly gained happiness is taken away. The cruelty is sickening; we watch the Elephant Man as not only his humanity is taken away, but as it can be discovered later in the film, his life as well.

>>The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Frank Darabont)

"Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free." An absolutely beautiful film, whose scenes are not as disturbing as the ones I mentioned above, but the effect of the message is equally strong. The moment that made me cry was of course, Brooks' death, caused by his ineffective accommodation to life outside Shawshank. The loss of hope was what drove him to suicide, as a harsh later dialogue between Red and Andy can confirm ("Hope is a dangerous thing my friend. Hope can drive a man insane. You'd better get used to that idea." "Like Brooks did?").

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