MovieChat Forums > The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968) Discussion > its a shame

its a shame

posted 20 years ago by tintinkg
19 replies | jump to latest

when movies like HANGMAN's curse gets more than 100 people discussing it and this gem of a movie remains forgotten.
what can i say just brilliant,simple, clear,concise,poignant words jsut keep on coming.
ending was too shocking
children of a lesser god should have taken a cue from this movie.

[–] unicornXprincess 19 years ago

well the hangmans curse was a super great movie. i read the book and such but idk i just didnt like it. it was all very wierd to me. it maybe a gem, but if no one has heard about it what good does that do?

you got two empty halves of coconuts and your banging them together!!

[–] Gus-69 15 years ago

It doesn't do good for the people who haven't heard about it because they're missing a great film.

______________
Mulholland CineLog: http://mulhollandcinelog.wordpress.com/

[–] shepardjessica-1 19 years ago

My favorite film of '68

[–] linkjendal 19 years ago

I came upon this thread by accident but I remember seeing The Heart is a Lonely Hunter back in 1968 when I was young. It always remained the saddest movie I had ever seen until I saw Brokeback Mountain. Brokeback was a product of today; very sad but only a brief overview of life. Sketchy but heartbreaking. Hunter was so full, so detailed, so painful. Thinking about how things have changed in the "Information Age" really gave me pause......

[–] bigdreamer247 19 years ago

I'm glad someone else feels that way.

This film to me, qualifies as art.

[–] CateSmyth 18 years ago

I do think Brokeback Mountain could have been a great film. It was a tragedy waiting to happen. But it just really didn't do that much for me. Not very subtle or sophisticated in the meat-fisted treatment of the topic the producers/director did.

However The Heart is a Lonely Hunter truly is a lovely film.

[–] Buff70 15 years ago

The ending was shocking, yes. I don't understand why he would commit suicide. He was a very sensitive man, perhaps he had a guilty conscience when he got into a little fight with his mentally disabled friend, and he never had the chance to make it up to him after that. He couldn't live with the guilt.

[–] catjoescreed 15 years ago

But my God, he was so alone. People took and took from him, and no one gave back.

The Haunted Man, by Dori Davis: Sometimes it's the living who torment the dead
Amazon.com

[–] tlburns1 14 years ago

Yes, exactly. Guilt and loneliness -- in this case literal isolation -- are a deadly combination.

[–] hka-3 14 years ago

But my God, he was so alone. People took and took from him, and no one gave back.

That about sums it up.

It wasn't necessarily that other people were abusing Singer's kindness intentionally, though, it's just that they all had other things going on in their own lives -- specifically with Mick living the life of a teenager and Stacy Keach's character being a habitual drifter. Those were two people who could potentially help fill a void in Singer's life, but the timing wasn't right and they had their own issues to deal with. With Singer losing his best friend to illness and with the doctor on his way to the same fate, things were just getting bleaker and bleaker. Even if Singer could solve all of Mick's family's problems and the doctor's family's problems, the fear was that he would still feel empty inside with no end in sight.

Someone else mentioned this being the Information Age, which fortunately allows us better options now for finding companionship and support. Not that it will help solve everyone's problems, but at least it can help. I can't help thinking about that where Singer is concerned. There may have been a whole world out there full of people with similar traits and interests, but all he could see was what was right in front of him.

People eat cotton candy. This is
better...it's made out of real cotton.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] hka-3 14 years ago

Great post. I was wishing (still wish) that other people would ask him to teach them to sign with him, like the doctor or Mick.

These aliens are starting to PISS me off!

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] I_Aint_No_Prophet 14 years ago

I've never even heard of The Hangman's Curse, but I just finished watching this and thought it was great.

"Why do you find it so hard to believe?"
"Why do you find it so easy?"
"It's never BEEN easy!"

[–] tv_misfit 14 years ago

I just finished watching it and I also think it is an excellent movie. I really like it.

Alfriend - Great post. - kh

"Youth is wasted on the young" - W.C. Fields

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] murph24 14 years ago

Alan Arkin lost out to Ron Moody in "Oliver!" that year.

Actually, Alan Arkin lost the Academy Award to Cliff Robertson for Charly (whose victory was indeed considered a surprise). As I recall, most Oscar forecasters felt it was a race between Arkin and Peter O'Toole, with O'Toole seen as having a slight edge.

However, Arkin was named "Best Actor" of 1968 by the New York Film Critics Circle.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Clemencedane 14 years ago

Given you wrote this 6 years ago maybe you are not going to see this, but if it helps this is one of my favorite films ever and I've (still!) never heard of Hangman's Curse 6 years after you first mentioned it.