# Movies where you get the same story over and over from different POVs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382 "2008-09-06T20:31:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/1 "2008-09-06T20:31:09Z")
So I recently saw two movies I thought were really good. **Vantage Point** was very well done, I thought. It’s about a terrorist plot to assassinate the president, told from the point of view of all the main characters (including the terrorists). So it’s like the same 23 minutes over and over and with the parts and different questions answered and mysteries solved as it goes along and new POVs are seen. I saw that about two days ago. Today I saw the CGI film **Hoodwinked** which is about the story of Lil’ Red Riding Hood told from the four POV of the granny, the wolf, the woodsman, and Red herself. Again, it was basically the same half an hour or so over and over but from the different characters’ perspectives. As I watched (and enjoyed) it, I thought back to how it was like **Vantage Point** in a lot of ways…and then started thinking and wondering what other movies are sort of like this or like the plot where a story is retold over and over only with variables changed. I could think of two others: **Go** is a good movie that has three stories that are connected and intertwined in sort of a “different POV” fashion and of course **Run Lola Run** , while not being from different points of view, still holds that “same story retold with different variables”. I love these types of movies. Other than these four, how many others are there? Anyone have any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/2 "2008-09-06T20:32:52Z")
[Rashomon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashomon_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/3 "2008-09-06T20:36:27Z")
Lucas Belvaux’s Trilogy consists of three movies that tell interconnected stories that happen concurrently. I haven’t seen them, but they’re supposed to be very good. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/4 "2008-09-06T20:36:38Z")
Jet Li’s **Hero** is another good one. You get the hero’s lie, what the Emperor thinks happened, and then the truth. ---
**Author:** ![RogueRacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RogueRacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RogueRacer)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/5 "2008-09-06T20:37:15Z")
I think Pulp Fiction would qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/6 "2008-09-06T20:40:56Z")
Weeeeeee! I’m already filling up my Netflix queue. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/7 "2008-09-06T20:42:01Z")
[The Outrage](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058437/) was based upon _Rashomon_ (mentioned above). Great cast, plus William Shatner in a small role. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/8 "2008-09-06T21:00:27Z")
The war movie **Courage Under Fire** with Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/9 "2008-09-06T21:16:36Z")
**À la folie… pas du tout** and **Sliding Doors** are two of my favorite movies of this type, with the first being one of my most favorite movies, period. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/10 "2008-09-06T21:22:31Z")
The rather obscure [11:14](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0331811/) is exactly the sort of thing you’re talking about. A single event and all the stories surrounding it are told from the POV of various characters, revealing more as it goes along. It’s quite well put together independent movie; more of a dark comedy than any other genre. edit: already mentioned [_Courage Under Fire_ has the same story repeated with variations depending on who tells it. Various sitcoms have down this as well.] I haven’t seen it, but _Timecode_ has four perspectives on screen simultaneously. Kind of like [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=659LXeV9ZPQ) (Cibo Matto’s “Sugar Water” directed by Michael Gondry, although that has the ‘reverse’ twist). ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/11 "2008-09-06T21:45:50Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > **À la folie… pas du tout** and **Sliding Doors** are two of my favorite movies of this type, with the first being one of my most favorite movies, period. Isn’t\*\* Slidinig Doors\*\* more about drastically different alternate outcomes, dependent only on a random missed subway car? Good movie, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/12 "2008-09-06T22:05:11Z")
True. I recently rewatched it and rememberd how much I loved it (and John Hannah) so I just wanted to throw it out there, I guess. I second **panamajack** ’s recommendation of **11:14** , too. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/13 "2008-09-24T14:34:29Z")
Not a movie exactly, but the trilogy of plays called _The Norman Conquests_ depicts events of a single weekend in three different areas of a country house; you might get quite a different picture of the weekend from just watching one than from all three. It was done by the BBC back around 1980 with Tom Conti; doesn’t seem to be available on DVD, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/14 "2008-09-24T19:00:33Z")
The Italian movie **Quante volte… quella notte** , aka **Four Times That Night** , from 1972. Pretty enjoyable flick, directed by Mario Bava. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/15 "2008-09-24T19:02:14Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > I haven’t seen it, but _Timecode_ has four perspectives on screen simultaneously. Kind of like [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=659LXeV9ZPQ) (Cibo Matto’s “Sugar Water” directed by Michael Gondry, although that has the ‘reverse’ twist). Don’t bother. It sucks. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/16 "2008-09-24T19:18:19Z")
I came in to suggest **11:14** , but I’m fine just thirding it. 🙂 Great movie, actually, despite Patrick Swayze. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/17 "2008-09-24T19:21:50Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > The rather obscure [11:14](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0331811/) is exactly the sort of thing you’re talking about. A single event and all the stories surrounding it are told from the POV of various characters, revealing more as it goes along. It’s quite well put together independent movie; more of a dark comedy than any other genre. I loved **11:14** , but man were parts of that movie just screwed up. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/18 "2008-09-24T19:46:49Z")
_Elephant_ by Gus Van Sant. It’s about a Columbine-type situation, and it shows the events of that day, leading up to the disaster, from the POV of different people in the school. I know a lot of people don’t care for it, but I thought it was really good. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/19 "2008-09-24T21:03:16Z")
**Elephant** was outstanding! I recommend [**Timecode**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timecode_(film)) — it doesn’t have the most compelling story, but they way it’s told is a very interesting cinematic experiment: Four continuous-take cameras follow several characters around L.A. as their lives intersect with one another. The events run concurrently with one-another in real-time in the four quadrants of your screen. The script was loosely plotted, and the cast — including Salma Hayek, Holly Hunter, Julian Sands, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Kyle MacLachlan — improvised their performances. _upon reviewing thread… somebody already mentioned it…_ ---
**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:** [September 24, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-you-get-the-same-story-over-and-over-from-different-povs/462382/20 "2008-09-24T21:19:42Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Not a movie exactly, but the trilogy of plays called _The Norman Conquests_ depicts events of a single weekend in three different areas of a country house; you might get quite a different picture of the weekend from just watching one than from all three. It was done by the BBC back around 1980 with Tom Conti; doesn’t seem to be available on DVD, though. It’s published on DVD in the UK and available through [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Norman-Conquests-Tom-Conti/dp/B0001K2L9W/). Of course you have to deal with it being Region 2 and PAL, and all that …