10 Heart-Breaking Moments Of Self-Realisation That Defined Great Movies

8. Forrest Gump - Forrest Knows What He Is

The reason Forrest Gump is so much more than a sacharine and chemically clensed pocket history of America lies entirely with Tom Hanks, who was rightly heralded for his performance.

It helps that the film is full of emotionally affecting scenes, from Bubba's death through to the subtle revelation of Lieuetenant Dan's depression, and with both Mrs Gump and Jenny's deaths. Each is perfectly framed for the character, with the Jenny's death adding something to each of the other events in retrospect, as it becomes obvious that each affected Forrest more than it may initially appear at the time.

But the most poignant moment in the entire film comes when Forrest is introduced to his son Forrest Jnr by Jenny, with Robert Zemeckis pulling a clever bait and switch by setting up the revelation with obvious signposts and having Forrest not able to understand the obvious hints, and adding a touching note of self-awareness to the character that is damn near heart-breaking.

We learn that despite the protection of his mother's wisdom, and the lack of self-awareness he has shown, Forrest is aware of his condition, and worse that he wouldn't wish it on his son. That is the establishing hero shot, and it's an incredibly effective one.

The success of this moment lies entirely in the fact that we have no idea during the rest of the film that Forrest has any idea that his IQ is low, or more importantly, that he recognises the resonance of that discovery. And this brief moment changes how the whole film plays.