NEWS: Chris Gore's Footage Fetishes: Movies You Need to See Twice

CULTURE: Chris Gore's Footage Fetishes: Movies You Need to See Twice

There's often a rush to judgment when audiences see some films that require them to think or even pay attention. Some films in particular require that you pay close attention to get the most out of the experience. In fact, there's a short list of films out there that are best viewed at least twice to notice the subtle details woven into the often layered, but not particularly complex, story. That is, if you bother to pay attention.



Joel and Clementine's troubled relationship gets better and worse, then better from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.



The Sixth Sense is probably one of the first films to come to mind when mentioning movies that must be seen twice to be appreciated. Everyone knows that Bruce Willis' character is a ghost. He's dead. And he's the one that Haley Joel Osment's character is referencing when he utters the all-too-often quoted, "I see dead people." A second viewing will reveal that during every scene with Bruce Willis, no one is actually talking to him or even acknowledging his presence. A montage of scenes at the end reveals this, but a second viewing will point out that fact more bluntly and you'll notice the great amount of care that went into making sure the logic of The Sixth Sense holds up to the repeated viewings.



One of my personal favorites in this category is Richard Linklater's Slacker. The indie classic already has a radical, yet beautifully dream-like story structure focusing on random characters drifting in and out of the camera's view. Upon further viewings, you'll notice just how much detail was put into the crafting of each scene. The appearance of minor characters is not as random as it seems as some can be found in the backgrounds of scenes or are referenced in dialog.



Tyler Durden is a subversive terrorist in Fight Club.



Note: Spoilers for several films are contained below. If you have not seen these films at least once, you may want to read this story another time. You have been warned.

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The first time: Joel goes to a doctor to erase the memory of his beloved Clementine, who also had him erased from her memory, in an effort to purge the painful relationship behind forever.

Upon second viewing: Eternal Sunshine is really three stories happening simultaneously: the present day conscious tale of the doctors taking part in Joel's memory-erasing process, Joel's actual memories of the relationship as they play themselves out backwards from their present awful state to their first cute meeting on the beach, and the final story of Joel's attempt to block the doctors memory purge by hiding Clementine in the nether regions of his brain. Most of this becomes clear about 2/3 of the way into the film, but it's not so obvious the first time, and repeated viewings show just how perfectly each story is woven.



Edward Norton's character from Fight Club is credited as "the narrator." Huh.



Fight Club

The first time: This dude played by Edward Norton becomes pals with a bad influence in the form of Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) who makes him do very, very bad things.

Upon second viewing: The narrator (Edward Norton) is Tyler Durden, a figment of his imagination and the brains behind all the darkly hilarious and heinous acts performed in the film. Go fight yourself.



It can be easy to forget where Memento is going. And that's the point.



Memento

The first time: Leonard (Guy Pearce) suffers from short-term memory loss causing him to go to great lengths to retain information while simultaneously attempting to solve his wife's murder.

Upon second viewing: When the film reaches its finale, it begins to feel like a puzzle and it's up to the viewer to assemble the pieces and draw their own conclusions. It seems clear that Leonard killed his wife… or did he? The film has caused much debate and there is enough evidence to draw multiple conclusions, each with enough supporting evidence to be the absolute one and only correct answer.



The Illusionist tries to trick the audience into believing one thing is true, but closer inspection proves the opposite.



The Illusionist

The first time: Eisenstein is a talented illusionist with a seemingly magical gift who reconnects with his childhood sweetheart Sophie as an adult. Upon realizing he cannot be with her due to things like those pesky European class values and the fact that she is engaged, he has an affair anyway, and her fiancé murders her. Or she simply disappears.

Upon second viewing: Eisenstein and Sophie planned the whole thing and this is revealed upon second viewing with loads of visual cues. Recommended viewing: The Prestige which deals with a similar subject in a story that includes a sick, Twilight Zone-like twist at the end.



This painting from the comic book of the script for Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain illustrates how difficult it was to translate grand concepts of life and death to the screen...



The Fountain

The first time: Bouncing between a trio of characters all played by Hugh Jackman spread across three time periods, each deals with attempting to cheat death in the search for eternal life.

Upon second viewing: The film has a very simple journey played out across each of the three stories resulting in the trio of characters striving for the same goal, but reaching very different conclusions - the acceptance of their own death. It is only the future version of Hugh Jackman who finally gives into the universe and becomes one with the stars reaching a kind of Zen peace. It's a simple story told in a complex way to force one to think about the larger issues and avoid discussing the issue of experimentation on monkeys.

...but it's much easier to comprehend The Fountain's layered story with a second viewing.



Gore gone... again.



Chris_Gore has had multiple experiences with each of the films mentioned in this story.

The Fountain was amazing.

what about every Lynch film (w/the exceptions of The Elephant Man and The Straight Story)?

i prefer the prestige over the illusionist, probably only because the prestige handled the final exposition with much more finesse. but yeah, pretty much a list i agree with wholeheartedly.

The Prestige was a more amazing film overall.

Mulholland Drive in particular.

have you seen Inland Empire? MD is a cakewalk compared to that film.

Yes, I think ALL David Lynch films qualify as movies deserving of multiple viewings for the various layers that can be found. But Lynch is in a category all his own anyway.

Not yet, but it is on my list.

true dat.

re: Sixth Sense, it DOESN'T hold up to repeated viewings. there's no way he could have gone that long without realizing he was dead. when you talk to people and they don't talk back, you would figure out that something's not quite right. but you rarely really see him talking to people. for example, there's a scene where he's sitting on the couch, presumably finishing up a conversation with the kid's mom. then the kid comes in and he and the kid go to his room or something. but if he had actually talked to the kid's mom, he would have of course gotten no answers and soon realized that people are not aware of his presence.

m. night shamalamadingdong. what a twist!!

good fucking point.

Another one is Christopher Nolan's (dir. of Memento) earlier film entitled Following. Like Memento, the film uses time differentials to tell a story that isn't always as it appears to be. I highly recommend it...twice.

Good list, but what about Donnie Darko?

he said twice. not 4 times.

Where's The Usual Suspects, father of this genre?

I'm going to put The Big Lebowski on it, simply because everyone I know thought that it was only 'good' the first time they watched it, and then grew into loving it.

ell-oh-ell

I'm adding Boogie Nights, simply because there's not a lot greater than that film.

Also, The Spanish Prisoner.
Because I fucking said so, jerks.

I am surprised so many people referred the Prestige over The Illusionist because it didn't work for me at all (but I am not a Chris Nolan fan and think he is overrated.) I think it is unfortunate those films were released so close to each other because they are vastly different and worthy in their own right.

Fight Club might be the only true classic film in the last several years that will become more respected with time.

I agree with the David Lynch comments. He is timeless.

Here is my list of the top ten films to watch repeatedly and I'd like to see other people's as well.

1. Betty Blue
2. Out of the Past
3. The Bermuda Depths
4. Vidocq
5. Le Samurai
6. Danger Diabolik
7. Cemetary Man
8. Henry & June
9. Angel Heart
10. Fight Club

Top ten?
Okay.

1. Secretary
2. The Untouchables
3. The Spanish Prisoner
4. Boogie Nights
5. Sideways
6. The Breakfast Club
7. Hard Candy
8. Shaun of the Dead
9. State & Main
10. Almost Famous

I could hardly sit through Eternal Sunshine once and now you want me to give it repeat viewings....that's a version of hell, I think.

I defintely agree with Slacker though.....it's fun to try to spot people in the movie who will or have made an appearance as a "main" character.

I have no idea where you're getting that particular interpretation of Memento. I've seen it multiple times and I don't think the facts as presented by the film support that conclusion. Certainly it's not one I would have ever come up with myself.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - The thing I noticed about the movie after watching it again is that the side story is completely pointless and annoying.

These are all great movies: with the exception of The Illusionist, which I haven't seen and have no opinion; and The Fountain, which was absolutely a piece of crap. New Age bullshit. You had me til that one.

I just watched The Fountain for the second time tonight.
Incredible. I don't know if I like the music or the film better. Both are equally beautiful.