Last night I finally understood the plot of a film I first watched 15 years ago...

[Sentos]

The film is Big Night, which I recommend, it’s on Netflix.

I first watched it when we recorded off the telly, and something had gone wrong with the broadcast and the occasional subtitles were missing.

All the way through the film there were little snippets of conversation in Italian, and I thought it was an odd choice not to give us the subtitles, but thought maybe it was just for flavour and nothing important was being said, beyond what you could grasp from the context.

Then, at the end, an entire conversation, including a major plot resolution, was conducted entirely in Italian, and we realised something had gone wrong. It was very frustrating.

When we watched it last night I realised there was a whole subplot that I had missed! The sense of closure after 15 years is very satisfying.

Anyone else had a similar delayed gratification with movies or tv series or books?

I think I’m still waiting to see the final episode of Ulysses where all the crew finally wake up (did that happen? I don’t know!)

I still dont get the ending of Lost.

Roger Rabbit I didnt get til I was an adult. I think I was too excited by being in the cinema as a child to really notice what was going on.

I never knew what was going on in dirty dancing when I watched it when I was probably around ten years old! The whole abortion storyline went right over my head!

Ha, I think we gave up on Lost when the polar bear came charging through the jungle. Apparently it never made any more sense than that.

A lot of the films I watched as a kid I experienced as a series of brightly coloured episodes. Seeing them again as an adult and realising there was an actual plot is quite strange.

I read all the Harry Potter books years ago as they came out. When the final one was published DH read it first and I have never got round to it. I've managed to avoid knowing what happens in it for all these years too!

I don’t think there is a definitive meaning to “get” with the end of Lost. I think the writers had no idea how to resolve it so went for this vague, postmodern “open to interpretation” ending.

I agree about films from early childhood. So many I’ve rewatched as an adult and realised I had no idea there was an actual plot as a child. The original Star Wars trilogy for example, I must have watched dozens of times as a child but never really understood the overall story arc. It was just cool robots and spaceships and lazer swords.

I never realised when I was a kid that the waitresses in Allo Allo were prostitutes. Also I did The Handmaids Tale in A Level English and hated it cos thought it was ridiculous and would never happen. I watched this recent adaptation and loved it cos I finally got it.