Seeing as how we are nearing the end of the 2008 movie season, I noticed a number of Top 10 lists are starting to make the rounds.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to create a list of my favorite movies of the year.  It’s too early for that.  What I will do, though, is count down my own personal 5 Most Emotional Moments In Film. 

After watching films for as long as I have (the same goes for many of you), certain scenes become etched into your memory.  They become part of you, proving that even if the movie itself ages horribly, the moments will tug at the heartstrings until the day you die.  Every time.  That is the beauty of film.

5: Mikey is consoled by Brand – The Goonies

As is the case with anyone who has siblings, my relationship with my brother has never been perfect.  But there are those special little moments that you remember, the ones that happen when you and your sibling are on the same page.  It’s rare, but when it happens, it’s beautiful.

The Goonies is a classic about having to grow up even when you’re not ready.  While the film is known for a few memorably humorous moments (“Rocky road…”, “Hey you guys!”, “Hey, Mikey, you hafta go to the bathroom?!”), it’s the scene in which Mikey looks out onto the neighborhood he grew up in and realizes that he and his friends are really going to move. 

While the scene leads straight into the main action of the story, it is also the only moment in which Mikey and his older brother Brand share a quiet moment together.  Not as enemies, but as brothers.  Just seeing Brand turn the corner and embrace a teary eyed Mikey makes you realize that Spielberg was great (and still is in some respect) at conveying human emotions through the simple use of body language.  

It is a beautiful scene, which carries a strong emotional current that doesn’t become apparent until you are capable of understanding the complex relationship between siblings.

4: Nancy gets angry in a telephone booth – Sid and Nancy

Sid and Nancy is an incredibly heart breaking film.  Not surprising, considering it focuses on two deeply disturbed, broken and scarred individuals.  There are plenty of horrifically emotional scenes, but the one that moved me was the brief moment in which Nancy calls her mum from a phone booth to tell her the great news that she and Sid are getting married. 

Director Alex Cox shot this scene in an interesting fashion because we only hear Nancy’s side of the conversation.  So as her emotions rise, so does the audience’s.  Even though we can’t hear what her mum is saying to her, it’s quite clear that it isn’t good as shown by Nancy’s emotional reaction.  One moment she’s happy, the next she begs for forgiveness, only to become spiteful, until she punches the glass in the phone booth in a fit of uncontrollable rage. 

This is a horrific scene that shows the power of love and hate.

3: Bruce Wayne’s parents are murdered – Batman

Being the film that started my love of cinema, there’s no question that Tim Burton’s Batman would make it on the list. 

I saw Batman when I was six, a very impressionable age.  And even though the film is sprinkled with perverse behavior and grotesque violence, the scene that I still remember vividly is the moment in which Jack Napier guns down young Bruce Wayne’s parents.  

Now, for the historians out there crying fowl, yes, I know Burton played around with the Batman legacy.  Napier, who would eventually become the Joker, wasn’t the man who murdered Wayne’s parents (a fact staged beautifully in Nolan’s version), but I can understand Burton’s motivation.  Batman and the Joker created each other by different means.  I always found that to be incredibly personal and highly emotional, which makes the final showdown between the two much more fulfilling.

From time to time, though, I find myself remembering the first time I saw Batman and the murder of Wayne’s parents in particular.  It is a horrific moment, the kind in which one would never heal from.  Even at a young age, it made me ponder a life without my parents or any loved ones for that matter and it shook me to the core.  Not bad for just a “comic book movie”.

2: The Terminator says goodbye – Terminator 2: Judgment Day

This scene still forms a lump in my throat whenever I watch it.  And while it may seem to be an odd choice at #2, some fail to understand the emotional complexity that lies behind James Cameron’s storytelling. 

Terminator 2, at its heart, is about a boy looking for someone to look up to.  It just so happens that the lucky bastard meets that person in the form of an indestructible killing machine (literally).  For two hours, Cameron has us watch as these two strangers develop a relationship the likes of which can only end in tragedy.  And it does, just not in the way you’d expect.

After the defeat of the T-1000, the Terminator reveals to John that in order for him to complete his mission and ensure John’s safety, he must terminate himself.  The look on John’s face as the Terminator’s words sink in is something that I can’t even begin to describe.  It’s earth-shattering news, made worse by the fact that John has no say in the matter.  This is the moment in which the boy becomes the man who will go on to lead the human resistance against the machines.

As the Terminator is lowered into the molten metal, he gives John a final thumb up before he is terminated.  While to the outsider, the scene might appear to be hokey, it is actually one that comes full circle, as it is an expression that John taught the Terminator in order for it to come off as being a little more human.  How fitting is it that the Terminator’s final moments consisted of showing John that it has the ability to learn and act human? 

As emotional as it is, it is also incredibly frightening.  Still, this scene proves that Cameron, while a master and pioneer of special effects, is also a storyteller in tune with his emotions; a great weapon (if used correctly) for any filmmaker.

1: John recites the Bible – The Elephant Man

One of the best films ever made, The Elephant Man sheds some light on the cruelty that some endure simply because they are different.  What’s more, it is easily David Lynch’s most accessible work.

After living a life as a freak show attraction, John Merrick is given the opportunity to experience peace and tranquility in a London hospital under the watchful eye of Dr. Frederick Treves. 

In this particular segment, Treves is shown teaching John how to speak in order to impress the hospital’s Governor who has his own reservations about taking in a man who is “incurable”.  At this point in the picture, John has yet to speak, so his chances of staying in the hospital grow dimmer by the minute. 

When the Governor finally arrives, John’s appointment with him ends horribly, leading Treves to believe that he made the wrong decision in trying to care for him.  As the Governor and Treves discuss John’s future outside his door, John begins to recite the 23rd Psalm.  Almost immediately, Treves, the Governor and we, the audience, look at John in a different light. 

This is a beautiful moment that encompasses the true power of human understanding and forgiveness and is one that undoubtedly deserves to be on the top of my list of 5 of the most emotional scenes of all time.