One sign of a great movie is how it holds up on repeated viewings. Many films I can watch once at most. After that, it just feels like I am wasting my time.
But then there are movies that have layers of meaning. Therefore, every detail changes when the movie is screened again.
I first encountered this when I was in my early teens. I was home sick from school one week, and my local TV station was showing their “movie of the week” every afteroon at 3pm.
So I saw the 1960 Stanley Kramer courtroom drama “Inherit the Wind” five times. Five times I watched Spencer Tracy square off against Fredric March, and with every viewing the film got better.
I have had similar experiences with Annie Hall, and a few other films as well.
I just watched The Odyssey for the third time (the last two times on 70mm film in IMax), and likewise, with every viewing I saw shades of meaning and depth that I had missed on earlier viewings.
In our rating of mivies, maybe there should be a scale for how a film improves (or not) with repeated viewings.