the Heavy Emotional Journey

This is a genre we made up to describe totally fucking intense, brutal, suspenseful, provocative, heart-wrenching, and marvelously captivating films. You know, all the movies that you should avoid after any traumatic life event---breakup, loss of job, general depression. Though, somehow that’s when it feels best to watch these movies. They are, as the genre title suggests, heavy emotionally, but they are explored with experimental formats, amazing cinematography, top-notch acting, and layers of meaning. This list is just a cursory one, from the top of my dome, but if you can suggest others that fit the bill, please post titles & descriptions in the comments section.

Requiem for a Dream—This film could easily double as a public service announcement against both heroin use and reality TV. It’s a split scene dual generational approach at how addiction will destroy every aspect of your life.

Dancer in the Dark—The mother of all heavy emotional journeys, that somehow has magically uplifting moments in the form of sing-songy dance numbers. Bjork plays Selma, who daydreams during her mind-numbing job of one day performing in musicals. Don’t we all? Selma is going blind and struggling to raise money for an operation that could save her son's vision. She is so real, so tragic. Never before in a movie (and never since) have I felt that incredibly sympathetic for a protagonist. Come to think of it, I can't name another movie that made me cry this hard and want to sing and dance at the same time.

Amores Perros (Love’s a Bitch)--All I can say is HOLY SHIT. Dog fighting in Mexico City. Three separate stories unfold into one. The violence on dogs in this movie is so realistically brutal that I wonder if it was really fake. Not for those with weak stomachs, beware.

21 Grams—Directed by the same guy who did Amores Perros. Another complex story of interconnected lives. Naomi Watts is a terminally ill professor, Benicio Del Toro is a spiritual ex-convict and Sean Penn is... This falls under my rule of: everything Sean Penn is incredible.

Stevie--Oh boy. Kind of like a combination between "Dead Man Walking," and the Martin Basheer special on Michael Jackson, this film gives you some insight into the complex mind of someone who would hurt a child. It's a documentary told from the point of view of a guy who joined the Big Brother/Big Sister program during college, who after 10 years out of contact returns to find out what happened to his troubled younger "brother." You can't help feeling sympathy for Stevie, who had an incredibly painful upbringing, including sexual, physical and mental abuse in the foster homes he was forced to live in because he mother didn't want him. It was hinted at that Stevie was a product of incest.

Tarnation--Another documentary, this time autobiographical. Jonathan Caouette explores his childhood dealing with his mother's mental illness spanning 19 years of his life, all captured on video and set to a really cool soundtrack. His dysfunctional family is creative, loving, disturbing, and tragic. Jonathan himself is extremely handsome, talented and fucked up. The movie captures what living with mental illness is about and the effects of coming to terms with your own demons.