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Mel Brooks once said, “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.” Therein lies the truth about most great film comedies, and occasionally the intrinsic tragedy at the heart of them.
Some of the funniest movies ever made have been riddled with cynicism (Dr. Strangelove),nihilism (Office Space), and pure disaster (Heathers). Fans might consider these films dark comedies, but they’re not tragic the way some movies are. There are some must-see comedies that can make audiences both cackle and cry.
‘Harold and Maude’ (1971)
Director Hal Ashby is no stranger to the bittersweet comedy – or is it the comically bittersweet? And Harold and Maude may be his quintessential entry for the category. Asbhy’s film follows a 19-year-old boy living with depression who, over and over, attempts to die by suicide. When he falls in love with an 80-year-old woman though, his sadness subsides, if only for a moment.
Harold and Maude might not be the funniest movie on this list. Depending on one’s taste, it might not even qualify as a comedy. Still, the film planted the seeds for the Wes Anderson aesthetic. And within its quirkiness, Ashby dives into the nature of depression, loss, and the ever-difficult process of letting go.
‘Eighth Grade’ (2018)
Bo Burnham‘s first directorial effort (and his only feature film to date) follows an eighth-grade girl, played beautifully by Elsie Fisher, as she finishes up middle school. Burnham made the revolutionary choice to cast eighth graders as actual eighth graders, and the decision paid off.
The perfect casting in Eighth Grade captured the uneasiness of puberty because, well, they were going through it themselves. And while Burnham’s script is hilarious, his story, combined with Fisher’s performance, touches on the tragic questions any 13-year-old has: am I liked? Why does it come so easy for others? Who am I?
‘M*A*S*H’ (1970)
Robert Altman‘s 1970 film may not have aged particularly well, but it’s still worth a rewatch for few reasons, and not just because it inspired the hit TV show. Elliot Gould and Donald Sutherland give tremendous central comedic performances as two Korean War (re: Vietnam War) surgeons who pass the time with everything from gallows humor to out-and-out cruelty.
And yet, MASHmakes the list not for its jokes (outdated or not) but for the sweet sadness at its center. These are boys and young men at the center of a pointless war (again, re: Vietnam). They’re surrounded by death and suffering every day. Their jokes aren’t for the audience, but for the soldiers themselves: tranquilizers to pass the time, to make the horrors of war a little more bearable.
‘Lady Bird’ (2017)
Out of the 70s and into the present: Greta Gerwig‘s 2017 debut was hilarious, relatable, and extremely, extremely painful. Gerwig’s film – which she both wrote and directed – centers on a Sacramento high school student (Saoirse Ronan) and her relationship with her friend, boys in general, and, most pivotally, her mother (Laurie Metcalf).
Anyone who’s seen Lady Birdknows how funny it is. Viewers also know how terribly sad it becomes later, particularly in the now-famous airport scene. It’s a testament to Gerwig’s skill as a writer and director that she’s able to balance her script’s broad, human comedy with the self-inflicted tragedy of her characters.
‘The Trip’ (2010)
A movie about two comedians driving around Great Britain, eating fine dining, and doing impressions might not seem like an obvious inclusion in the sad-comedy category, but there’s plenty of despair in The Trip.
The Michael Caine impression battle is hilarious, as is Brydon’s incessant prying and Coogan’s ever-frail ego. But at its core, The Trip is about a man (Coogan) who’s alone, unfulfilled, and terrified, and his friend who has everything. Just think of Coogan’s last moments, staring out the window of his beautiful apartment, completely isolated.
‘The Graduate’ (1967)
At first, The Graduate is about Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate searching for purpose in a post-education life. He, of course, finds it with the beautiful, sensual and domineering Mrs. Robinson. Watching Dustin Hoffman stumble his way through an affair with an older woman is hilarious, especially the scene when he tries to talk to her about art.
But similar to Lady Bird,The Graduate takes an especially tragic turn in its final act, when Benjamin begins a romance with Mrs. Robinson’s daughter and later elopes with her. For 105 minutes, the film has been a satire of the “What now?” post-grad feeling. Then, he gets married, and as they ride in the back of the bus to the “Sound of Silence,” the newlyweds are once again left to ask: “What now?”
‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ (2014)
Just about any Wes Anderson film could’ve taken a spot in any funny-but-sad movie list. The Life Aquatic, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Rushmore all spring to mind. But it’s worth discussing Anderson’s most accomplished work: The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Budapest is laugh-out-loud funny. It’s also a true culmination of Anderson’s work: the pageantry, the symmetry, the novelistic language, the Russian doll framing device, and ultimately, the ending. Though designed down to the millimeter, Budapest’ssadness is just as precise. “There are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity. He was one of them.”
‘A Serious Man’ (2009)
Some people may not see A Serious Man as a comedy, but it most certainly is. Think of Sy Abelman (“No one is playing the blame game, Larry.”), Larry’s telephone call (“I don’t want Santana Abraxis!”), and, of course, Rabbi Scott (“Just look at that parking lot.”). A Serious Man is the Coen brothers‘ take on the biblical story of Job, spun by their own wicked sense of humor.
And, in Coens’ style, it’s also desperately sad as Larry Gopnik’s carefully constructed life crumbles around him. His wife leaves him, his brother is disturbed, someone is sending defamation letters to his supervisors, and that’s just the half of it. By the film’s haunting final frame, the audience gets a glimmer of the true tragedy beneath the superficial one: nothing matters. There’s a storm coming for everyone.
‘In Bruges’ (2008)
Playwright-turned-Director Martin McDonagh launched his feature-length career with a real doozy. After a young hitman accidentally commits an atrocity, he and his partner hide out in Bruges, Belgium where they await their next assignment.
Like McDonagh’s plays and aspects of his later films, In Bruges is pitch-black funny, and aching with loss and regret. It’s hilarious to watch Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson navigate the boredom of Bruges, while also dealing with their own pasts and realizing that they’re inescapable, even in Bruges.
‘A Sense of History’ (1992)
A Sense of History is easily among the least-known movies that deserve more attention. Maybe that’s because it’s a 26-minute short hardly seen by anybody except the most die-hard Mike Leigh-Jim Broadbent fans (and maybe a few people who accidentally stumbled upon it on YouTube).
The short is simple: an English Earl takes the audience for a tour of his grand estate in a BBC-style documentary. It’s bitterly funny, thanks to Broadbent’s writing and his razor-sharp satirization of the British aristocracy. But like all great satirists, Broadbent crawls into the marrow of the 23rd Earl of Leete and discovers who he is: a sad man looking back on a life of regret.
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