Sad movies…

I guess those who are around my age would know this song. The lyrics go as follows: “Sad movies always make me cry…” I wouldn’t know about you but I love sad movies – real tear jerkers that will make people cry buckets. So what is the saddest movie that you’ve seen – one that made you cry?

I remember this movie about a divorced couple and their son…

The father, an ex-boxing champion, had custody over the son but he could not really provide for his little boy owing to his compulsive gambling. His wife who had left them seven years ago came back and wanted to take over the bringing up of their son to give him a better life. In a bid to get some money to stop her from doing that, he went back to the boxing ring for a fight that took his life.

Remember those late midnight shows in the old days…when seats were only 50 sen in front and upstairs in the balcony, they were only RM1.50. Well, I went to watch this movie, the midnight premiere, with some friends of mine…and at the final scene, everyone was so very quiet – nobody made a sound…until one of us sniffed and the bubble burst! Everyone was crying over the movie and laughing at one another simultaneously. It was so hilarious.

Well, how sad was it? You can watch the very touching scene here…

…and tell me if that made you cry or not.

According to Wikipedia, “The Champ” has also been called “the saddest movie in the world”, and the final scene has been used in numerous psychology experiments to elicit a strong emotional response. According to Smithsonian magazine, two psychologists, Robert Levenson and James Gross, conducted a study of more than 250 movie clips, and subjected them to 500 subjects in 1988, and concluded the last three minutes of the movie, where “T.J.” sees his father win in his comeback fight only to witness his death in the dressing room afterwards, elicited the saddest response from a majority of the subjects. Unfortunately, it was released the same year as “Kramer VS Kramer” which swept the awards at the Oscars. Personally, I feel this one is a lot nicer – as a matter of fact, I did not even think the latter was anything great.

So, have you watched any really really sad movies before? Did any of them make you shed a tear or two?

Well, in case you do not know,  it’s Teachers’ Day today – May the 16th…

…so if you’re a teacher, this song is specially for you. Actually, it is from another movie that made me cry – it is neither about teaching nor a teacher but the theme is really appropriate to be sung and dedicated to one’s teacher(s) on days such as this…

It’s coming to the 6th year since I retired so I guess like in the years that have gone past, this day, for me, will just pass like any other day. Nonetheless, I do hope you all will have a whole lot of fun and here’s wishing all of you a very HAPPY TEACHERS’ DAY!