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TOP TEN CINEMATIC SUICIDES
by Mark Bell (2007-08-29)

Tragedy, real or rumored, breeds conversation. In this case, Owen Wilson's rumored suicide attempt led to a discussion of what were the best cinematic suicide attempts, successful or not, in the history of film. Submitted for your approval are my personal top ten, in no particular order (well, save for the first one mentioned, which you'll see in a second). Oh, for the record, the footage that accompanies most of these choices may be inappropriate for some of the more squeamish or sensitive readers, so watch at your own risk.

10. "The Royal Tenenbaums" - Richie's Suicide
This one is not only one of the most poetic and well-shot suicide attempts in cinema, it's also creepily coincidental because Luke Wilson portrays Richie with a confused conviction that immediately makes one bring up the scene the minute the words "Wilson" and "suicide" are spoken. And yes, I will admit that the conversation that created this article started because of brother Owen's rumored real-life attempt, and the possible parallels to this scene.

9. "The Virgin Suicides" - The Final Deaths of the Lisbon Sisters
Am I cheating because this one has the word "suicides" in the title? No, due to its legitimate contender status for the final sequence where the neighborhood boys make their way over to the Lisbon household to liberate the sisters from becoming shut-ins... only to systematically find the remaining sisters dead of different suicides as they make their way through the house.

8. "The Omen" - Nanny's Sacrifice
"Look at me, Damien! It's all for you!" A child's birthday has never seemed more frightening. If only Mary Poppins had followed suit, we'd have a whole new genre of nanny suicide films.

7. "The Shawshank Redemption" - Brooks' Solution
Easily one of the more emotional moments in an already emotional film is the sequence where Brooks, after being institutionalized for the majority of his life, is finally released from prison only to ultimately fail in his attempts to re-integrate with society, culminating in his tragic suicide. A scene so powerful that when Morgan Freeman's Red gets out of prison himself, the prospect of a Brooks-like end hangs in the room like an assassin waiting to take him out.

6. "Full Metal Jacket" - Gomer Pyle's Final Breakdown
The military has been breaking down and re-building people in an effort to craft the better soldier for ages, but sometimes all doesn't go as planned, specifically when the Private is Gomer Pyle, played by Vincent D'Onofrio, who just can't take Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Ermey's abuse any longer.

5. "Thelma and Louise" - Final Scene
Few scenes in cinema made suicide seem as triumphant a solution to life's problems then this one's "hold hands and drive off a cliff" ending. By the time this film wraps, you actually feel like this is the only way it could have ended.

4. "Almost Famous" - Penny Lane OD's
Drug overdose never looked as glamorous (sarcasm alert) as when William saves Penny Lane from her attempted suicide near the end of "Almost Famous." Despite the stomach pumping and the near-death, for William, it's love all the way.

3. "Heathers" - J.D. Blows Himself Up
Teenage love is always tragic, and "Heathers" is loaded with scenes of murder staged to look like suicides, only to end in a legitimate suicide by Christian Slater's J.D., whose attempt to blow up the high school and everyone in it is thwarted by girlfriend Winona Ryder's Veronica. Doesn't stop him from finishing himself off, though, in the ultmate angsty last laugh.

2. "Better Off Dead" - The Whole Movie
In keeping with the "teenage love is tragic" dark comedy vibe, I submit "Better Off Dead," an 80's staple that is based around the idea that suicide is the best answer to your problems. From Lane's attempts to light himself on fire, suffocate himself in the car, hang himself and eventually ski the K-12, suicide has never been more hilarious.

1. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" - The T-101's Sacrifice
He learned compassion and remorse, he made friends with his former target John Connor and in an effort to save the human race from the possibility of ending up as killer robot victims, Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-101 takes his own life by lowering himself into a vat of molten metal. Thumbs up indeed.

There you go, my personal top ten attempted suicides in cinema history, successful or not. Disagree with the choices? What are your picks? Did I leave an obvious one out? Offended? Comment below and let us know.

- Mark Bell, Editor-in-a-Pretty Noose

Graham Rae READER	On your slew of suicides. What about the bloody end scene of Nekromantik, fer fuggsake? A man stabbing himself in the gut while he comes semen and blood all over the place? THAT should be numero uno! What a (literal) bloody oversight! The zombie-bit soldier Steel shooting himself in Day of The Dead is pretty good too, as is Miguel in that selfsame film when he lets the zombies into the compound and they feast on him as he does so.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 1:13 am
Graham Rae READER	I can think of a few more, but just wanted to say congrats on one of the tackiest, sickest articles FT has run in many a moon. I am proud of you Mark. Take a bow. Keep it up.llinghimself in American Nightmares is good.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 1:24 am
Mark Bell EDITOR-IN-CHIEF	What's sicker, that I came up with a top ten, or that cinema gave me so many choices?
Posted on August 28, 2007, 1:38 am
Graham Rae READER	No Mark, YOU'RE sicker, let's face it... (Chuckle) G.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 1:41 am
Graham Rae READER	What about Walken in The Deer Hunter? The Nam vet in Combat Shock? Owen Wilson's career in his latest suicidal role?
Posted on August 28, 2007, 1:43 am
Mark Bell EDITOR-IN-CHIEF	Walken is a contender, for sure.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 1:47 am
MikeWatt STAFF WRITER	We need one on career suicide too. Of course, with the latest Cuba Gooding Jr./Michael Jordan commercial currently on TV, I think that article might just write itself.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 3:14 am
Rory L. Aronsky STAFF WRITER	He does ok in this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl973tUNX88 'Course, he doesn't speak, which is why.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 4:15 am
FelixVasquez STAFF WRITER	What about the scissor suicide in "The Dead Zone"? Lon Chaney Jr. in "Spider Baby"? Cool and demented list.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 4:52 am
Phil Hall STAFF WRITER	Two train-inspired suicides belong here: Vivien Leigh in "Anna Karenina" and Peter Lorre in "Der Verlorene."
Posted on August 28, 2007, 5:44 am
Ricky Roma READER	What about May Day's noble self-termination in A View to a Kill? Jilted by a blonde-haired mentalist she finds redemption in scattering her bloody remains all over San Francisco.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 6:25 am
Michael Ferraro STAFF WRITER	YES! The fact that Terminator 2 took the top spot makes this article one of the best I've ever read. When I first saw this movie, tears poured out of my eyes when thhe T-101 lowered himself into the steel. Fuck.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 6:37 am
drturk READER	I liked Krap Nek's suicide in the skate park in Ken Park. Wasn't expecting it.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 8:53 am
dickhollywood READER	Neil's suicide in "The Dead Poets Society" even with the cheesey Christ-Like thorny crown symbolism, it is still a very powerful and emotional suicide...
Posted on August 28, 2007, 9:27 am
Michael Ferraro STAFF WRITER	And the T-101 didn't kill himself. Remember Mark, he cannot "self terminate."
Posted on August 28, 2007, 9:54 am
DonLewis STAFF WRITER	Umm..."Harold and Maude"...anyone? Anyone?
Posted on August 28, 2007, 10:33 am
Zack Haddad STAFF WRITER	Yeah, the person who came up with that Terminator one is pretty awesome. Isn't that right,Mark? Haha. I really like the story. It is like 10:40 and I am already getting instant messages from kids from my film school who have read it. Pretty funny reactions.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 10:47 am
Phil Hall STAFF WRITER	It's a suicidal world: Jozef Króner's journey into the noose in "The Shop on Main Street." Carl Anderson's good noose fall in "Jesus Christ Superstar" (a rare musical suicide). Hisashi Igawa tossing away his eyeglasses and walking into the void in "Akira Kurosawa's Dreams." Daffy Duck's gasoline and match swallowing performance in "Show Biz Bugs." Orson Welles' fatal farewell as "Othello."
Posted on August 28, 2007, 12:40 pm
Graham Rae READER	Jim VanBebber as Ricky Kasslin hanging himself in My Sweet Satan (he nearly did it for real) is a good 'un.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 1:18 pm
Adam Harmless READER	How about Seymour Krelboyne in the final moments of Corman's "The Little Shop Of Horrors"? Or Dr. Serizawa at the end of "Godzilla"?
Posted on August 28, 2007, 1:41 pm
grendel001 READER	harold and maude gets a single mention. for shame.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 2:14 pm
BStiglets READER	Point of contention...T2's T-800 didn't commit suicide because it "can not self terminate." So then does it count...maybe it does because it is an assisted suicide? Or did John Conner begin that night his murderious rampage against machines...Even if they were trying to kill humanity. As far as a missed suicide? I have to go with Hartigan (Bruce Willis) in SIN CITY. Watching Bruce blow his brains out in comic fashion was both sad and beautiful.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 5:34 pm
crazyralph82 READER	I got five more... 1. I think Maureen Coyle in 'Psycho III' was a memorable one for me, probably the saddest and most realistic one I've seen depicted in a film, but probably not to the hundreds who would likely dismiss it as a worthless slasher sequel without even seeing it. Also, it was only an ATTEMPTED suicide that ultimately failed, so it's actually more in connection with the subject of ATTEMPTED suicide. 2. 'Fight Club' had another memorable ATTEMPTED suicide. Actually, it had two, now that I think about it. 3. One of the most beloved movies of all-time, "It's A Wonderful Life", is based around an attempted suicide. 4. 'A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors' uses Freddy Krueger as symbolism for our demons that haunt our subconscious, kind of a metaphor for what might compel one to committ suicide. 5. 'Riding the Bullet' - Another interesting attempted suicide, the reasoning behind it being the one most commonly espoused; a cry for attention.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 6:01 pm
Michael Ferraro STAFF WRITER	Dude! You forgot about Rules of Attraction! That scene is classic, where the girl slits her wrists in the tub. Awesome.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 6:16 pm
Phil Hall STAFF WRITER	There is also Michael V. Gazzo's bloody bath in "The Godfather Part II," Fredric March's fatal final drive in "Death of a Salesman," Jean Simmons' Ophelia going to a watery end in "Hamlet" and Elizabeth Taylor's asp in "Cleopatra."
Posted on August 28, 2007, 6:40 pm
The Baron READER	The opening scene of "Suicide Club" is, IMO, the top spot. 40-odd Japanese schoolgirls, holding hands, leap en masse in front of an oncoming subway train. Nothing can top that.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 7:24 pm
Graham Rae READER	Well Baron, depends if you like your suicides subtle (ie Nekromantik) or not. I quite like the one in Der Todesking where the guy batters his head against a wall until he dies. Subtle.
Posted on August 28, 2007, 10:57 pm
rrg251 READER	I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove yet.
Posted on August 29, 2007, 5:44 pm
The Misanthrope READER	Uhhh..."The Hudsucker Proxy" anyone?!?
Posted on September 3, 2007, 6:12 pm

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