Grief and MelancholyAfter a tragic loss someone will go through a grieving process that will be constructive or destructive. Bereavement is a period of time in which the person experiencing this loss begins to look for reconciliation and a way to deal with the sadness. They will try to move on, forgive and forget the past. Freud wrote that mourning is a normal reaction to the loss of a love object, consciously known and identifiable. Mourners will express their sadness but will eventually be able to separate from their lost love. In contrast, Freud states that melancholy develops when sadness is inappropriate to the situation and is internalized. The person suffering from melancholy identifies the lost object or person with himself on an unconscious level, leading to the loss of the ego. Two films that deal with grief and melancholy are Journey From The Fall and New Year Baby. In New Year Baby, Socheata Poeuv loses her sense of self when her mother reveals what really happened to her family in Cambodia. Her two sisters are not actually her sisters, her brother is her half-brother, and her mother had a husband before Socheata's father. He returns to Cambodia to cry and try to reconcile his pain. He is able to move forward constructively by accepting and appreciating all the difficulties his family has gone through, but also understanding that it is in the past and it is time to move on. In Journey From The Fall, Mai is unable to deal with the same grief. process like Scheata Poeuv. She has difficulty dealing with the loss of her husband and the two tragedies that have struck her. He is an example of a melancholic character who is unable to let go of his loss and therefore lets… middle of paper… the loss manifest itself differently in different people. Some will cry and after some time they will find consolation and peace. They will forgive and forget and move on with their lives without blaming themselves. Others will have more difficulty expressing their sadness and will become melancholy. These people will not get over the loss and will constantly blame and hate themselves for it. It is possible that the events that melancholics have faced are too difficult to deal with and this will prevent them from forgiving and forgetting. Freud, S. "Mourning and melancholy." The Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases 56.5 (1922): 543-45. Print.2. I've been traveling since autumn. Dir. Ham Tran. Perf. Kieu Chinh and Long Nguyen and Diem Lien |. 2006. Film.3. New Year's Eve baby. Dir. Socheata Poeuv Poeuv. Perf. Socheata Poeuv. 2006. Film.