Rewind and Rewatch?

On Thursday night my fellow film blogger Andrew Jones Tweeted that he’d just enjoyed his fourth viewing of Thor (or should that be ‘Thor-th’). I was actually stunned by this. What was more surprising was that Andrew hadn’t liked the film at the first time of asking. Fair enough, as he explained to me, his second viewing was as part of a Marvel all-nighter which is what won him over and the subsequent times were on Blu-Ray. So there were reasons, but this still seemed odd to me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Thor well enough; it was enjoyably silly stuff with a likable cast and some witty ideas. But, given the option, would I see it four times in the six or seven months it’s been out? Heck no.

But then I wouldn’t even watch some of my favourite films again, given the option. I stopped rewatching films about four or five years ago. Generally speaking that is. There’s always going to be an occasion when an old favourite comes on TV and I’ll watch with friends or family, but by and large, once is enough for me. Whilst some of my favourite films include the likes of City of God,Star Wars and Twelve Monkeys, I can honestly say I have no true intention of ever watching any of them again. My reasoning being that with so many films out there that I haven’t seen (and believe me, there are dozens and dozens of glaring omissions from my ‘seen it’ list – but that’s another discussion for another time), where do I find the time to rewatch ones I have?

As any sensible twenty-first century film blogging gentleman would do, I put the question to Twitter. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as I follow a lot of lovely fellow film-friendly folks, all of those who responded were very much in favour of the rewatch. My friend and filmmaker Daniel Johnsonwas first to respond to the following questions: “Rewatching films: who does it and why? When there are so many films out there to see, who has the time to rewatch stuff? Or am I alone in this?”

Although he told me that in his opinion, ninety-nine per cent of films are irrelevant, it wasn’t about numbers for Daniel, more about finding the films that resonate with him and rewatching them to gain a greater understanding of himself. He also said that, “I don’t love movies, I just love the movies that I love.” Another Daniel and self-confessed ‘occasional blogger’ Daniel W. ventured that frame of mind is important when watching a film and can be the cause of different reactions on repeated viewings. Daniel Johnson countered that whilst that was true to a point, truly great films capture you first time around no matter what. Dan W conceded that he couldn’t think of a film that he’d radically changed his opinion about second time around.

The other contributor to the conversation was freelance journalist Michael Ewins, who did admit to a drastic change of opinion about some films he’d watched second time around. He told me he rewatched films in order to pick up on subtleties a first viewing had not revealed. He also believes that as we get older, we get pickier as we fear our own mortality, which, though ‘a bit heavy’, I agreed with.

I enjoy a good conversation, be it spoken aloud or via Twitter and this one forced me to question my viewing habits and draw some conclusions about them. It may be rather self-aggrandising, but I don’t feel like there are a great many films I don’t fully understand on a first viewing. Less pompously, I can concede that perhaps my appreciation of cinema has not yet fully developed. Finally, it’s true that I do watch a lot of trashy films and all too frequently, intentionally. There’s nothing wrong with trashy films, I love ‘em, but I believe they’re counterproductive to fostering a culture of repeat viewing for me.

Of course, one thing everyone said was that it is after all, a personal choice how often you rewatch. The great thing about film is that you watch it on your own terms. But what are your thoughts on the matter?