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Death on Screen

Film has the power to move us.

Everyone has a favourite movie for a reason, whether it makes you laugh, smile, think or cry, the underlying similarity is that they make you feel. The stories told to us on screen have the potential to open up new avenues of thought and prompt novel questions for us to ponder. 

Grief, death and dying are not foreign concepts in film. Whether represented raw and realistic or abstract and metaphorical, death is a part of life that many filmmakers wish to explore. Sometimes, exploring our own feelings and fears about grief and dying can be too overwhelming to tackle, which is completely understandable. It can be beneficial to engage with media that approaches these themes in ways that allow you to think about death in a more detached manner. By doing so, you allow yourself to slowly explore these topics at a pace that feels right to you.

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Dr. Dan Vena and Jade Courchesne have put together a list of 25+ films that have historically provided the grounds for conversations (both casual and academic) about grief, death and dying. Here we will list a few of these examples with their accompanying captions. See if any of these are of interest of you and consider how these films make you feel and what thoughts come to your mind as you watch.

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To see the full Letterboxd list, click here.

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Emotional representations of ageing, dementia, sexual desire, love and heartbreak score this iconic film about a starlet lost to time but forever preserved on the Hollywood screen.

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Stand by Me (1986)

It’s an easy favourite for many: a group of boys set out to scout for a dead body while confronting the difficult realities of their home lives.

Princess Mononoke (1997)

What does it look like when the Earth deteriorates past redemption? This Studio Ghibli favourite looks at how nature survives when confronted with scenes of industrial decay, warring samurai, violence and fire.

Coco (2017)

Showcasing Mexican rituals and traditions celebrating Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), directors Molina and Unkrich’s film remind audiences that the ties that bind continue even in the afterlife.

The Farewell (2019)

Would you tell a loved one they only had months left to live? Steeped in a common cultural practice, a Chinese family lies to its matriarch about her declining health. The Farewell is a forgiving, non-judgemental look at the ethical dilemma of hiding one’s fate from a beloved.

The Father (2020)

Can we grieve for the living? Zeller takes on a surrealistic approach towards the relationship between a defeated daughter and her older father stricken with dementia.

Beans (2020)

Mohawk-Canadian director Tracey Deer explores the 1990 Oka Crisis at Kanesatake — a 78-day armed stand-off with government forces to protect a burial ground from developers. Through the eyes of a young girl, Beans comes face to face with the desecration of burial lands, landgrabbing, and the ongoing effects of neocolonialism.

References

Vena, Dan, and Jade Courchesne. “Death and Grief On Screen.” Letterboxd, 10 Nov. 2022,

     https://letterboxd.com/deathonscreen/list/death-and-grief-on-screen/detail/. Accessed 17 November 2022.

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