We've all seen sad movies and retained traumatic memories from them. If you didn't bawl at the end of Philadelphia or weep throughout Up or shoot tears perpendicularly during the Jean-Claude Van Damme/Dennis Rodman film Double Team, you're less human than Movieline's staff. Now lachrymose responses are part of a fascinating, cinema-related study: In 1995, scientists gathered film clips that made patients sad, amused, or evoked other emotions (for the purposes of understanding whether sadness leads to overeating, whether fear leads to over-spending, etc.). What's the movie those scientists believe is most effective in producing melancholy? The answer will upset you -- though maybe you'll come up with a sadder movie yet.
It's Franco Zeffirelli's 1979 movie The Champ, where [SPOILER] a young Ricky Schroder watches his father, played by Jon Voight, die in front of him after a prize fight. Yowch. Here's the unbearable clip!
Oh, and the added Dunaway drama is an eyeful too.
Here are some other movies those scientists used to achieve certain responses:
Amusement: 'When Harry Met Sally' and 'Robin Williams Live'
Anger: 'My Bodyguard' and 'Cry Freedom'
Contentment: Footage of waves and a beach scene
Disgust: 'Pink Flamingos' and an amputation scene
Fear: 'The Shining' and 'Silence of the Lambs'
Neutral: Abstract shapes and color bars
Sadness: 'The Champ' and 'Bambi'
Surprise: 'Capricorn One' and 'Sea of Love'
The "climactic" scene of Sophie's Choice is pretty damn sad too, if you remember. So is Debra Winger's final scene in Terms of Endearment. So is that part of Homeward Bound where tattered old Shadow can't climb out of the ditch, but magically accomplishes it anyway. And then Don Ameche, as the aged Golden Retriever, moans, "Peter," when he sees his old master. It's also a little funny, but shhhh. But what do you think: Is anything sadder than The Champ?