Similar Products- Tragic Films

Passchendaele

Watch from 3.52 onwards.

Here is the death scene of Michael Dunne at the Battle of Passchendaele- a famous WW1 battle. The obvious links are the time period and the death of a soldier, although he has been shot by Germans rather than executed. His lover Sarah Mann, who is a nurse, finds him dying from multiple wounds. He dies in her arms. He is a tragic hero like Ernest, and dies for love. He, like Ernest, also promises not to die at war, but does- however; he is breaking his promise, whereas Ernest is actually keeping all of his.

Romeo and Juliet

Watch from 4:18 onwards

This is the classic scene, where Romeo, believing Juliet to be dead, drinks poison, as he can’t live without her. Juliet, waking up to find Romeo dead, kills herself. In the original text, Romeo is dead when she wakes up and she stabs herself, whereas in this version, Romeo is dying and she shoots herself through the temple. This is an example of a tragic scene in that the young, in love couple meet a tragic end in death, with family differences and conflict ultimately being the reason for their deaths. The scene is warmly lit by candlelight, as in both Romeo’s suicide and Juliet’s afterwards, despite their sadness at their love’s death; they find themselves dying with a certain amount of happiness at the prospect of dying with their soul-mate. This idea is emulated in Another Life, with both Ernest and Rose dying, and Ernest purposefully dying in order not to break his promise to Rose.

Braveheart

Watch from start

In Braveheart, the tragic hero’s wife also dies, but earlier on in the film, her death acting as the catalyst for all the other events. The real tragic end is William Wallace’s death, out of stubbornness and refusing to surrender his freedom to the English. In Wallace’s final scene, he is publicly tortured and then executed by the army- the similarities between this and Another Life are apparent. It is also a historical drama, following a real person, which departs from facts slightly in order to create an entertaining and moving picture- also similarly to Another Life.