The Stanley Kubrick movie Ethan Coen has seen over 150 times: “Maybe 183”
We all have that one film we inexplicably love but struggle to describe why, with the story providing a strange sense of comfort that any other film cannot replicate. It could be a yearly rewatch of Coraline as the leaves start to turn yellow, even if you’ve seen it every year since it came out, or a bizarre childhood watch that makes no sense as an adult, but somehow lures you into a state of calm and peace as you remember the simplicity of a past life.
However, there are often times when this borders on obsession, with a yearly rewatch becoming a weekly one, verging on the insane as you switch on a film you’ve seen hundreds of times before and let its power wash over you. You start to quote every line before it comes on screen and anticipate each scene before it starts, noticing details that most audience members might not notice and looking for all the behind-the-scenes stories to help inform your dense understanding of it.
For Ethan Coen, one of the most famous brothers in Hollywood and one-half of the Coen Brothers slate of work, there is one film that he seemingly cannot stop watching, with a number of watchers that would prompt concern if it were anyone else.
Stanley Kubrick is regarded as a master of filmmaking for many reasons, with a meticulous and molecular understanding of the medium that allows him to create stories that resonate on an almost subconscious level. From the terrifying sense of dread instilled in us while watching The Shining, to the almost trance-like state induced by 2001: A Space Odyssey, the director has created works that exceeded anything else being made during his time and still puzzle audiences today, with endless layers that seem to only increase in meaning as time goes on.
With a filmography that evolves as he does, morphing into something entirely different with each story he shares, it should be no surprise that is work is an endless source of inspiration to many, with Ethan Coen describing the unexpected film of his that he has seen an almost criminal number of times.
Dr Strangelove: or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb, is an interesting tonal shift in Kubrick’s work as one of his only explicit comedies, following General Jack D. Ripper after initiating a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union and the chaos that ensues afterwards as people try to stop the strike.
While it’s a great film, and something that deserves a rewatch or two to understand its full genius, when Ethan Coen was asked about it, he said, “Dr. Strangelove I’ve seen maybe 184 times. Maybe it’s 183”. Who knows how he managed to jam that many watches into his already pretty busy life, with the director being booked and busy throughout his career. But sometimes we force ourselves to make space for the things we truly love, even if 183 watches is a lot of time to find for something you’ve already seen.
