In Favor of: The Two-Movie Cycle

Sure, sequels can be a drag, watching studios and production companies feebly try to wring the last few dollars out of a successful movie by stretching the original concept thin and adding marginal, predictable new ingredients. The Temple of Doom, Weekend at Bernie's 2, Die Hard 2, and so on. Lame. But, you know what? When a pair of films represents two movements in an artistic ouevre, the opportunity to explore new thematic questions and to create extended plot arcs can elevate the total viewing pleasure of already enjoyable films, much like the synergistic transformation of musical harmony.

Here are a few 'two-movie cycles' that I think exemplify the effects of this technique and are worth checking out:

Perhaps the most auspicious example is The Godfather Saga. Here, clearly, many years after the release of the first, Francis Ford Coppola was able to continue to give life to Mario Puzo's characters in a way that was completely undiminished by the inclusions of The Godfather.

Similarly, many consider A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back to be the core of the Star Wars franchise, before George Lucas' child-like, sentimental creativity was allowed to run wild.

An obvious example of fully coordinated two-movie cyclism is Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, in which an already prolific filmmaker was able to create two memorable and exciting films that both stood alone and acted as clear compliments.

Of course, this is echoed in the Grindhouse Double Feature of Planet Terror and Death Proof, which was intended by Tarantino and Rodriquez to be an updating of the 1960s-1970s matinee, double-feature productions and which further underscores the effectiveness of thematically paired installments.

As long as we thought they were isolated, The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy were a highly complimentary pair, in the way that the visual style, and even the attitude of the title character changed. As for the appearance of The Bourne Ultimatum, I feel it owes enough to Casino Royale in terms of action, cinematography and attitude that these two should be considered their own pair. Anyway, I think they would make for a highly entertaining night's viewing.

A pair of movies you might not have caught are The Spanish Apartment (L'auberge espagnole) and Russian Dolls (Les poupees rousses) by Cedric Klapisch. In these two films, Klapisch follows young Frenchman Xavier as he embarks on a course of graduate business study in Spain and finds his life transformed. Then, five years later he must deal with the lingering problems of adulthood. The timing of these films coinciding with my arrival at undergraduate university and then in the post-collegiate world, have particularly given me comfort and reminded me of the importance of my responsibility for my decisions to become the person I hope to be. Not necessarily for all tastes, these two films are still highly diverting and represent a well coordinated transition between two points of view with common circumstances.

Perhaps my favorite of these pairs is Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love and 2046. These movies, which share a character (played by Tony Leung, who has changed, presumably made cynical by the events of and those similar to the first picture), are both exceptionally beautiful films and each address the question of whether love is of any ultimate value or even possibility from its own angle, one of hopeful, almost idealistic, skepticism, and the other of isolated doubt and resigned self-destruction. (I could, and may, write at some length about each of these films.)

These, of course are just a few to consider. I hope this very brief list will encourage you to consider movie pairing, sequels and otherwise, that will help you to enrich your experience of cinema.

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