MovieChat Forums > Legends of the Fall (1995) Discussion > The most heart breaking scene

The most heart breaking scene


Right after Samuel is shot by the german troops and Tristan is pulling him off the fence.

"You're doing good, you're doing good."

I've cried I don't know how many times. There's something so real about what he says and how he says it to his little brother that catches me off guard every time I see it.


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Definitely! It's almost like you feel what he's feeling during that whole scene.

Another heartbreaking scene is the one where Susannah and Alfred run into Tristan and Isabel in town and Susannah sees Tristan with his children.

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The scene that always has me crippled is the very last shootout, when Alfred reveals himself to be the shooter who's saved them, and he finally gets a hug off his father. It kills me.

...In America

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This is in my opinion another of the contrived points of the story. Maybe Alfred knew of the "raid" on his family in advance, but even so, how did he get into position before the fight without being seen? How long did he lurk outside the home undetected with a rifle? It just seemed a little hard to swallow that he magically appears and blows away one of own men.

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that's not contrived at all. he was already there for the funeral. he most likely saw them approaching and knew it could lead to trouble but hoped it wouldn't but was prepared with the rifle. once he heard the first two shots he took position to fire the third. if susuanah hadn't died, triston and the dad would have as well as pete most likely. Timing and circumstance put everyone into position. it wasn't contrived as you so put it.

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[deleted]


Another heartbreaking scene is the one where Susannah and Alfred run into Tristan and Isabel in town and Susannah sees Tristan with his children.


yes, for me too.

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I always think to myself No wonder why she killed herself. i would have too whenever i see that scene.

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That scene tells the whole film, She did not get to honor Samuel with giving birth to a brave and honorable man whom died for her. She so desperately wanted to do this.

The film is not really a love story as when one watches it, Tristan never loved her. She was the one who loved him. Watch the scene when she first says when they have a child she will name him Samuel, it is at that moment when he bails on her for any kind of happiness he know he would never have. He knows she should not get to honor Samuel because she is responsible for his death. She was liking Tristan as poor Samuel went off to war, lost his life for her honor when she did not deserve it.

In the end she kills herself to be with Samuel....She knew there would be no Tristan and the naming her first born Samuel, or for the honor of even raising little Samuel after the wife dies. Tristan would not even give her that. Nothing left to live for so she cuts her hair military style and goes to meet Samuel.

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In the end she kills herself to be with Samuel...
Perhaps, but being married to Alfred certainly didn't help.



------

Wait a minute... who am I here?

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If she and Alfred would have had a son for her to name Samuel, all with Alfred would have been fine. She may have just kept in contact with Tristan hoping for sex which she no longer would desire as much because her need to have her own Samuel would have sustained her in other area's.

She only freaks out when she learns of there first born child, Samuel, She was contempt to let the meeting of her and Tristan take it's course after he returned, whether it happened or not. Notice it had been a year or so since Tristan visited her and she made no attempt to contact him. My point is until there was a little Samuel, her world with Alfred was moving forward. By the way she seemed happy with Alfred until Tristan returned.

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Sorry, but how exactly is she responsible for his death? He chose (quite adamantly) to go to war to fight for his beliefs. She had no part in his death.

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How is Susannah responsible for Samuel's death? She begged him NOT to go to war and he replied that its the only honourable thing to do, for HIM, not for her.

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The tears start for me when Susannah sees Tristan with his family in town. Her face is so sad. I also think the scene when Susannah visits Tristan in jail is also tough to watch. Such a great doomed love story.

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Maybe you mean doomed from her POV Tristan was done with her after the scene where he kills a calf and they bathe in a pond. She says we will name are son Samuel and he felt she did not deserve to have that right. Just watch his face after she says that.

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The look on Tristan's face when he and Sussanah are bathing in the hot spring, is not because he thinks she doesn't deserve the right to name her son Samuel. In that moment he's not even really hearing what she's saying....hence the fact that right after that she realizes that he's not listening and says "Tristan?", he mumbles "Huh?" and she responds by kissing him on the shoulder and says "Nothing."
Trying to free the calf from the barbed wire and subsequently having to put it down, reminded him of how Samuel died...shot to death and trapped in barbed wire...and he was unable to save either of them. This stirs up old feelings that he doesn't know how to deal with, which is why soon after this scene he leaves again.

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yeah. That scene is very moving.

I think Brad Pitt's acting in this film varies...some scenes he's amazing..you're really feeling what his character is feeling and it's natural.

Other scenes the lines seem scripted and really like "read".


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Samuel's death scene wasn't moving at all.

Samuel deserved to die. He was a glory-hog pussy who was too naive to know what real war and heroism is all about.

I cheered for that enemy machine gun as it shot him numerous times while he's on the fence.

The MOST heart breaking scene is none other than Isabel Two-Decker's death in that canyon from that loser corrupt Prohibition cop. Isabel Two was such an angel.






"In a thousand years, there will be no men and women, just wankers, and that's fine by me."

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For me, the scene where Tristan returns home after being at sea and Ludlow comes out, and unable to speak, writes "Im happy". Man, that seen is brutal on the soul.

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For me, the scene where Tristan returns home after being at sea and Ludlow comes out, and unable to speak, writes "Im happy". Man, that seen is brutal on the soul.


Agreed!

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damn.. just thinking about it now... almost breaks me down.. definately gets me Every time!!


(the "am Happy" Scene) ...

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Defo!!

That scene broke my heart. The wayward son makes his way home and comes face to face with a stroke afflicted father. Something so simple as writing 'AM HAPPY' on a chalkboard, has me shedding tears. Sir Anthony Hopkins was brilliant in this movie!
...oh yeah, and so was Brad. ;)







'Daddy would you like some Sausages?'

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When Suzy Q didn't get knifed by Tristanbul...


Killing people is easy...if you can forget the taste of sugar.

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Seconded! Gets me each time- Hopkins is spectacular in all his films. Think about it, with no dialogue and just movement and he can stir that emotion.

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Agree, definitely, that´s the most heart breaking scene in the whole movie, you can feel the pain and anguish of Tristan, and the happiness of the Coronel, simply spactacular performance by two amazing actors.

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Right on. That scene between Tristan and his crippled father had me weeping like a Magdalene. Plus, it brought me memories of my recently deceased father.

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I did kinda feel sorry for Samuel but I do agree with you regarding Isabel Two's death. That was a tragedy - she was as you say a real angelic presence in this film.

She knew about Susannah and Tristan and was really civil about the whole situation which is more than I can say for Susannah. Blowing her own head off was the single most satisfying moment of the whole movie.

I know that's harsh but there was something about her character that really irked me. She was still fawning all over Tristan even when he had a wife and kids. She was selfish in many ways - maybe not always in her actions but certainly in her thoughts.

'Maybe I wanted Isabel Two to die'. Self-pitying and STILL wallowing in her own guilt and in front of the guy who just lost her, the mother of his children.

There's 3 ways a man can wear his hair; front-parted, side-parted or departed

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For me it's the look on Tristan's face when he comes home after his long absence and his father stumbles out onto the porch and Tristen gets a good look at his face. That look of abject horror and guilt kills me.
A close second is the noises Pet's making while Tristen is carrying off Isabel Two's body after she's shot. Not the screaming, but that horrible keening noise like someone's just ripped out her heart.

No Day But Today...

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definatly the scene where Tristan returns home, and his father writes 'Am Happy' I have never ever felt a slight bit of emotion watching a film, but this really affected me.

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I shouldn't but I feel sorry for you not having a clue what unfulfilled love can do to people. Ormond was nothing but a woman in love with the wrong guy; who is not capable to handle his own self until he was beaten up real good by life in all kind of places. Unfortunately for her, when he's ready to settle down he had his own plans, or he just discovers what Isabel 2 knew all along: they were meant for each other. She just needed to grow up and be patient.
All things considered, nothing wrong with Ormond. Except fate.

If every animal had wings the sh*t of this world would be evenly shared

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I know that's harsh but there was something about her character that really irked me. She was still fawning all over Tristan even when he had a wife and kids. She was selfish in many ways - maybe not always in her actions but certainly in her thoughts.

'Maybe I wanted Isabel Two to die'. Self-pitying and STILL wallowing in her own guilt and in front of the guy who just lost her, the mother of his children.

Susannah was annoying in her neediness and her mannerisms - but recall that her own parents had died when she first came into the story. I think she needed and got something from each of the brothers.


Illegitimus!

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Susannah: she never. stopped. crying!!!!!!

all she did was f_cking cry the whole movie. I don't think it was self-pity so much as self-hate and that is really sad.

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I’m in complete agreement. She was a horrible person and I had no sympathy for her whatsoever.

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i always skip the samuel death scene.

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You are right.

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I cry everytime I watch Tristan comes back home to his father writing on the chalkboard. Absolutly heartbreaking!

Odd girl with odd taste: House Bunny - Eagle Eye - Impaler - Wristcutters: A love story - The Changeling

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an later he is banging and leaving his brothers wife:) what a great guy :D lol

this movie is so funny:)

i just waited this litle bitxx goes to bed with his daddy also!

nooooo it wasnt her fault:) she was such a nice, romantic , proper lil girl in a bad world.
damn! she *beep* with the half of the men in this movie!!!
what is romantic in that???

what a *beep* movie

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There are definitely quite a few scenes worth mentioning, as there are so many parts that make me tear up in this movie:

Samuel's death
Tristan crying by Samuel's grave
Susannah reading the letter from Tristan/Alfred defending himself to his father about loving her
Tristan returning home and seeing his father's condition/how happy the colonel is to have Tristan home
Susannah's face when she finds out Tristan is marrying Isabelle 2
Susannah's reaction to seeing Tristan out with Isabelle 2 and their children
Isabelle 2's death

I guess I'm an overly emotional girl, lol, but I have always loved this movie. But really, think about it. I guess the one that gets me the most is when Susannah and Alfred see Tristan and the kids in town. She's seeing the man she's truly in love with out with his kids with another woman. She had always dreamed of having his children, and naming the first boy Samuel. Then she comes face to face with Samuel- but she's not his mother. I just feel like if I were in a similar situation my heart would be more than crushed.

"Anything worth doing's worth doing right." - A League of Their Own

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The scene where Tristan is sitting by Samuel's grave crying saying,"I couldn't save him." He wanted to save his little brother so bad and just didn't get there in time. He lived with the guilt for the rest of his life, I believe.

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next time you watch this part look at brad pitts face. there kinda did a bad edit there. in one shot tristan looks like he is crying with his hand over his mouth and the next shot he is just staring at him with him hand removed. i think it might have been better if they had tristan cry in that shot. show his manliness breakdown. It would have showed the second he cracked. in the book he is really messed up over it. he is even in a mental hospital cause he keeps trying to hurt himself.

either way the movie was great.

just a though






"Right after Samuel is shot by the german troops and Tristan is pulling him off the fence.

"You're doing good, you're doing good."

I've cried I don't know how many times. There's something so real about what he says and how he says it to his little brother that catches me off guard every time I see it."

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Stef, that scene gets me every time. I don't even have to watch the whole movie. I can go to youtube and go to that scene and I'm bawling.

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I agree. That scene is heartbreaking. As is the scene just a moment later, when Samuel dies, and Tristan tries to pick him up and drag him away, and there is a great shot of them with the sun setting behind them, and Tristan falls under the weight . . . it always gets a little dusty in the room when I watch that scene.

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There are so many--this is one of those movies that just drains you.

For me, the most moving parts were the ones with Susannah, especially when she encounters Triston and his family on the street, and when she visits him in the jail.
In that jail scene, I'm totally conflicted, because I can understand how she feels, but if I were Triston, I'd want to punch her in the face for saying she wanted Isabelle to die.

But yeah...I cry everytime. Depressing movie. But oh so good.



And the Zydrate gun goes somewhere against your anatomy.

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Triston? HAHAHA!

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so sad :(

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I always cry when Susannah sees Tristan crying at Samuel's grave and he's saying "I couldn't save him" and she comforts him as he cries...so sad :(

Ross & Rachel - Joey & Pacey - Eric & Donna - Seth & Summer...best TV couples ever!!!

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