Does Rewatching Movies Kill the Experience?
http://feelthefilms.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/rewatches-killing-movies/
I've had many experiences watching movies where I am overcome with happiness, filled with warm, and charmed to a state of enlightenment. I've also been scared until every hair on my body was unhinged, butterflies accumulate in my stomach from suspense and shook me to the core of my being from dramatic occurrences while living movies. Each of those feelings I describe belong to the different reactions I've had to movies of different genres, but all of those reactions make me have affection towards a movie and keep it holstered in my heart.
I'm the type of movie-goer who, when I get a rush from a great movie, I want to relive that over and over time and time again. When a movie really catches my attention, I think about incessantly the following days, craving to see it again. But the thing that complicates matters is each time you see a film, you're most likely going to have a different reaction to it, even if it's just slightly altered. You can never have the same emotional experience from the same film twice. You are most likely going to have a familiar experience, but every so often I do not. Sometimes when I boast about a film or dissect the magnificent experience in my head, the next time I watch it the film falls on my radar significantly.
Rewatching movies can be a great thing, but it's like throwing a dice, you don't know what you'll get the next time you see it. My reaction to rewatching movies for me have all fallen under one of these five experiences:
1) Admiring the film even more, you can find things in the plot, acting, direction, or a technical aspect that you overlooked before. It's also likely you'll find more analytical thought on repeated viewings.
2) The love for the film you thought you had vanishes. We sometimes mistake the experience of the film for the film itself. Once our personal experiences are taken aside, and we see the film for what it is, we realize maybe we overreacted to something good and overrated it as great.
3) The magic could be gone, but the film is well made. You could still find yourself liking the movie, but you can't connect to it anymore and the experience is hollow. It could be a well-made film that just doesn't get to you like it used to.
4) You could be BORED. Watching the same thing as you once did: you know all the plot twists, you know all the characters and you can't squeeze anything new out of the movie. You could find yourself picking your nails, thinking about things you have to accomplish in your day, or playing on your phone.
5) Some films have a rough first viewing, maybe because of thick plot, complicated characters, or unclear direction that require a second viewing to see the brilliance.
It's a sad truth about things we're supposed to draw positive vibes from.
I remember being told, a few years ago, that children can watch a movie over and over again, and always get something new out of it. They use their imagination to enhance it each time they watch a movie, but adults only like to watch a movie once, twice at the most. I never understood it back then, now I've grown into an adult, I completely understand that quote. My favorite movie growing up was The Scream Trilogy, while I still think as a trilogy it's the biggest achievement ever to happen to that genre, it doesn't hold the stock it used to for me. I've seen them at least 300 times in the past ten years; those are three movies I hold near and dear to my heart, but I don't like to watch them anymore. I appreciate the brilliance for their time, but it's not a fun anymore because either I'm bored or find myself nitpicking at small details therefore making flaws out of minute errors. Scream-trilogy.net shared an article titled "How To Tell If You're An Aging Scream Fan"; that it was a heartbreaking day because I realized I was.
I haven't seen any film nearly as many times as I've seen The Scream Trilogy, but I've seen a good number of films enough to be able to recite a lot of the dialogue. Some movies you rewatch over and over again, like The Wizard of Oz, it has an everlasting glow. The trick is to not rewatch the same film in a short matter of time. You tend to forget scenes or techniques used by the filmmaker to create the magic and you can relive it again and again. That doesn't always work, however....I watch Inception once every Summer, it's one of my favorite movies and the best experience I've ever had in a movie theater. But watching it a few days ago, most of the captivating spell was lost in the first two Acts.
I've seen my newly favorite movie of all-time, The Hours quite a bit, enough to know the script front and back, but thankfully I can still grow with it and have an intense emotional reaction. The Godfather Part II, on my first viewing I thought was an epic disappointment after the original monument, but a rewatch opened my eyes to the brilliance within every minute of the sequel. When I first saw Shakespeare in Love years ago, I didn't like it a whole lot, I thought it was decent. After rewatching it this year, it jumped into my top 10 films of all-time.
I wish more than anything I could relive the enchantment the first viewings of my favorite brought me movies again, but now that experience is lost forever and all that's left is my memory of it and the experience I had the most recent time I watched it. My advice to everyone about rewatching movies is to think about it before you do it. If you can resist not watching something you loved for as long as possible, the better experience you'll have whenever you finally cave. Be completely at ease when watching a movie you loved, be well fed (don't stuff yourself to the point where you're uncomfortable), don't be tired, and be comfortable where you're sitting to watch it. Don't take any chances. Movies can be some of the best experiences of your life; you get to live things from someone else's life without ever having to leave your own. Just don't be excessive, too much of anything isn' good, as the saying goes. Watch new movies and get new experiences, as Gwyneth Paltrow once said "We need change and to try new things so we can grow as people."
Feel the Films: A Blog by R.C.S. -> http://feelthefilms.wordpress.com/