Animation historian Michael Barrier describes this section of the film as being "much grimmer than Crumb's stories past that point, and far more violent."

Last November it shot a grim 19-minute film about the dangers of elevator play that is being shown in schools and community centers.

The site's general consensus is that "Precious is a grim yet ultimately triumphant film about abuse and inner-city life, largely bolstered by exceptional performances from its cast."

The movie is the second feature by the young director Matty Rich, who made such a promising debut with his grim semi-autobiographical film "Straight Out of Brooklyn."

McKenna is also known for playing the lead role in the grim 2003 film King of the Ants.

Mr. Dumont, whose first and comparably grim film was "The Life of Jesus," also won this year's Grand Prize (or second prize) for his relentless "L'Humanite."

If "Tokyo Decadence" weren't such a grim film, it might be confused with soft-core pornography.

Mr. Jacobs rightly realizes that any further editorializing on this grim film would be superfluous.

Anterograde amnesia afflicts characters in "50 First Dates" and in "Memento," a grim and mysterious film released a few years ago.

He made his directorial debut with a grim film about inner-city gun violence, Strapped, for HBO in 1993.