"MEN BEHIND THE SUN" is - for some reason - perhaps the most depraved and somewhat depressive film I have ever seen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqnftyYWW4E

Everything by M. Haneke is goddamn depressive, however I like the bleakness of "THE PIANO TEACHER",
the ending is grusome:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqnftyYWW4E

Lars von Trier's debut film "ELEMENT OF CRIME" is not as depressing as it is utterly bleak and nihilistic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWb81mBw6XE

Bela Tarr's films is pretty depressive too, "DAMNATION" (as mentioned here before), and also "WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES"
which is my favorite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d5X2t_s9g8

"ALONE" by Audrius Stonys is also a rather depressing short film, about a girl visiting her mother in prison:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SacNNRxfq1M

Here is a tiny list of the films I've found most affecting:

Oasis (2002) - probably the most difficult film I've watched, but brilliant on every level.

Mery & Max - one of the best animations ever.

The Sunset Limited - TV movie based on play, Samuel Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones are simply marvelous, if only one film has to remain - this is it.

The Turin Horse - all Béla Tarr's films are bleak indeed, but i don't thing anything can ever top this.

Don't Move (2004) - brilliant Penelope Cruz.

Winter Light - favourite film from Bergman.

Samaritan Girl - favourite film from Kim Ki-duk, brutal as usual.

Raise the Red Lantern - probably favourite film from Zhang Yimou.

The Lower Depths - probably favourite film from Kurosawa, it literally shows you the depths people can reach.

Dolls (2002) - stunningly beautiful film from Takeshi Kitano.

The Assassination of Richard Nixon - you can never go wrong with a Sean Penn film but this has probably touched me the most since 21 Grams.

Already mentioned but seconded: Dancer in the Dark, Gegen die Wand, Graves of the Fireflies.

Sorry for the long list, but all of these are mandatory=)))

Pascal Laugier's Martyrs (2008)
Alexandre Bustillo's Inside (2007)
Dario Argento's The Stendhal Syndrome (1996)

They're all horror movies with horribly downbeat endings. Out of the three of those, Martyrs is, by far, the most depressing. Not a single glimmer of hope in that one. The movie is already bleak enough, but the ending fucked me up big time.

Yes, this was a very nice film, albeit - as is the case with most films dealing with the subject - somewhat stereotypical and exaggerated in some points. Unfortunately, I generally have a hard time relating to animations, so my appreciation of the film is based more on objective observation than actually being touched. Back when I saw it, I bought the DVD as a present for a close friend, though, and it was a total success.


Absolutely, this is a masterpiece. For me it's closely associated with the memory of a loved person, too. Don't know if I could even stand watching it presently.

I don't know any of the other films you've mentioned; guess I'll have to check out some of them!

Maybe what I'll wrote here is flat & stupid. But none of the movies give a depressive mood as Milos Forman's musical "Hair" (dated 1979) and it's last scene...
I'm embarrassed to confess but ALWAYS I see it I cry...

Moon

Eternity and a day

Melancholia

BLIND... a Belgian movie, impressive beautiful bleak atmosphere

I tried watching this movie but fell asleep. Granted I was very sick when I watched it but it just didn't keep my attention at all.

Snow Angels.

Dog Days (Hundstage, 2001) by Austrian filmmaker Ulrich Seidl might count, though it's perhaps more depressing than depressive. And has anybody mentioned Werckmeister Harmonies by Béla Tarr? That's a very bleak, but spellbinding film which made me think of Kafka a lot. Highly recomended!

SwissArmyMan. It was a comedy but it was fairly depressing at the end.

Under the Skin surely is recommandable too. it's a hypnotic masterpiece that left me amazed.

These russian movies:

Ayka

It's a movie about an illegal immigrant woman trying to stay alive in a winter in Moscow. She has a baby at the beginning of the movie but has to leave it in the hospital because she doesn't have means take care of it anyway. It just gets worse after that. Has some graphic scenes in a veterinary clinic which are hard to stomach...

Leviathan

It's about getting grinded down by the system. Another downward spiral. I won't spoil the story.