The Iron Giant always makes me upset
I'd challenge anyone not to - the single most depressing film I've ever seen in my entire life. Studio Ghibli make some good stuff, but this is just a ballad of human misery.
then you totally misunderstood the film
What part of that made you think I'd missed something?
you describe it as a ballad of human misery
[FONT=georgia, bookman old style, palatino linotype, book antiqua, palatino, trebuchet ms, helvetica, garamond, sans-serif, arial, verdana, avante garde, century gothic, comic sans ms, times, times new roman, serif]Tears are the safety valve of the heart when too much pressure is laid on it. ~Albert Smith [/FONT]
It is. Spoiler: The protagonist fails to save his sister despite his best efforts, then lets himself die due to a mixture of misery and starvation. It's one of the most miserable films I've seen. The phrase "ballad of human misery" fits.
why are they in that position?
Because their dad is serving in the navy and their mum gets killed in an incendiary attack. Good premise for an opening, really gets you in the mood.
Saying that, wasn't the opening scene a train station guard rifling through Seita's stuff while he was dying off to one side?
Yeah, cried at this. In fear. Watched it when I was 5 years old and it scared me witless - I had nightmares for months. I'm 24 now and I've not yet managed to sit through the entire movie again. Last time I tried I got to the big general rabbit and started shaking so much that my buddy thought I was having a fit.
Confession: I cry whenever I think about the fact that Scrubs got canned