# Films with repeating scenes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 20, 2007, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520 "2007-07-20T10:31:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/1 "2007-07-20T10:31:48Z")
In **12 Monkeys** , Cole keeps having the same dream of a man getting shot as he runs through an airport. Each time the scene replays, little details change as Cole gets closer to the answer behind the plague. In **The Conversation** , the conversation is played several times, each time with different inflections revealing new information (or assumptions) about them and the client who hired Caul. Know any other movies that use this technique? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/2 "2007-07-20T10:33:37Z")
And I suppose **Rashomon** should also be included in this list. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/3 "2007-07-20T10:42:23Z")
[Memento](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_%28film%29) does this doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/4 "2007-07-20T10:58:44Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] [Memento](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_%28film%29) does this doesn’t it? [/QUOTE] I’d say the Sammy Jenkis parts do. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/5 "2007-07-20T11:46:19Z")
How about Run Lola Run? If you want a musical, there’s [Les Girls](http://imdb.com/title/tt0050631/) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/6 "2007-07-20T12:27:47Z")
**Noises Off** shows three performances of the first act of the play **Nothing On** from different perspectives. I’m uncertain, the play **Copenhagen** (by Michael Frayn, who also wrote **Noises Off** ) shows a meeting between Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg by showing it slightly different, a way to indicate different memories and different interpretations of the same even. **The Usual Suspects** uses this technique for the scenes on the boat. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/7 "2007-07-20T12:28:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Know any other movies that use this technique? I really HATE this technique, myself. **Klute** doesn’t repeat the scene, but, like “The Conversation”, repeats the same dialogue over and over, until I wanted to rip up the film. **Insomnia** has the repated images of something that you can’t figure out. They play it over and over ad nauseum until they finally explain what the hell it is. I don’t intend to ever watch this movie again. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/8 "2007-07-20T12:30:26Z")
No one’s mentioned **Ground Hog Day** yet? It’s all repeating scenes! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/9 "2007-07-20T12:30:26Z")
Oh, yeah, another big one for repeating scenes (although it’s done a little differently, in that each time you see it you start a little later in the scene and go a little farther, so it’s never exactly the same scene repeated): **Catch 22**. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/10 "2007-07-20T12:31:10Z")
Also the remake of “Rashomon,” [The Outrage](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058437/). Both “ER” and “CSI” have done episodes using this technique. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/11 "2007-07-20T12:31:20Z")
**Jackie Brown** replayed the same scene from the POV of three different characters. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/12 "2007-07-20T12:34:15Z")
Then there’s **Hero**. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/13 "2007-07-20T12:45:25Z")
_The Fountain_ also had some recurring scenes. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/14 "2007-07-20T13:14:55Z")
> [@](#): > > n The Conversation, the conversation is played several times, each time with different inflections revealing new information (or assumptions) about them and the client who hired Caul. It’s been years since I saw the film, but I don’t think this is accurate. This really grates on me, because I hate the technique in general, and the way this one was used in particular. My recollection is that they replay it many times, but NOT with different inflections, except for the last time. And yiou DON’T learn anything new from all those repetitions – they’re just repetitions. When they repeat it the last time, they DO change the emphasis, from “He’d KILL us if he got the chance!” to “He’d kill US if he got the chance!” this strikes me as “cheating”. There ought to be ways to make the difference in meaning clearer (and the revelation that comes with it) without having to heavy-handedly re-record it. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/15 "2007-07-20T14:40:44Z")
In [“Red Rock West”](http://imdb.com/title/tt0105226/maindetails), Nicholas Cage keeps driving back into town past the sign that says “Welcome to Red Rock West,” when the smartest thing he could do is put as much distance as possible between himself and that sign! ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/16 "2007-07-20T15:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] When they repeat it the last time, they DO change the emphasis, from “He’d KILL us if he got the chance!” to “He’d kill US if he got the chance!” this strikes me as “cheating”. There ought to be ways to make the difference in meaning clearer (and the revelation that comes with it) without having to heavy-handedly re-record it. [/QUOTE] Harry was re-imagining the emphasis that way to aid his dawning understanding. It seemed pretty clear to me. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/17 "2007-07-20T15:18:35Z")
In _Shaun of the Dead,_ Shaun imagines the rescue of his mother several different ways before carrying it out. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/18 "2007-07-20T15:47:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Harry was re-imagining the emphasis that way to aid his dawning understanding. It seemed pretty clear to me. It seemed pretty clear to me, too. But I still think it’s cheating. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/19 "2007-07-20T16:06:24Z")
_Pulp Fiction_, of course. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520/20 "2007-07-20T16:11:37Z")
_The Red Violin_ had a slightly different take on the same auction scene between each section. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-repeating-scenes/412520.md?page=2)