Films With Interesting Chronology

Submitted by lukeprog on Mon, 07/04/2005 - 02:33
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  • Multiple Overlapping Stories:

  • The Killing (1956)
  • The Godfather: Part II (1974)
  • Mystery Train (1989)
  • Short Cuts (1993)
  • Pulp Fiction (1994)
  • Go (1999)
  • Magnolia (1999)
  • Amores Perros (2000)
  • Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001)
  • The Rules of Attraction (2002)
  • Elephant (2003)
  • Love Actually (2003)
  • The Hours (2003)
  • Sin City (2005)

  • Reverse:

  • Memento (2000)
  • Irreversible (2002)
  • 5x2 (2004)

  • Large Pieces Out of Chronology (Not Flashback):

  • The Green Wall (1970)
  • Reservoir Dogs (1992)
  • Mulholland Drive (2001)
  • Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
  • Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

  • All Messed Up:

  • Un Chien Andalou (1929)
  • L'Âge d'or (1930)
  • Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
  • At Land (1944)
  • Ritual in Transfigured Time (1946)
  • Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
  • The Mirror (1975)
  • Following (1998)
  • Chaos (1999)
  • 21 Grams (2003)
Author Comments: 

Films told in flashback are too common to list. Any help greatly appreciated.

lukeprog07/04/2005

Have I categorized The Killing correctly? Haven't seen it for so long. Where does Amores Perros fit? And, I can't quite remember the chronology of Last Year at Marienbad. And where do you think Rashomon should fit? A new category? What would you call Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? What about Persona or Mulholland Drive?

AJDaGreat07/04/2005

Last Year at Marienbad - All messed up, but some shots were also repeated - do you want to count that as something different?

I think for Eternal Sunshine and Mulholland Drive you should make a category for movies composed of a few big chunks that are out of place chronologically.

Rashomon - Four stories told in flashback? I don't think that chronology is really interesting enough, even if the four stories actually reflect the same event.

Persona I have no idea.

Another All Messed Up film was Following.

lukeprog07/04/2005

I like your suggestion for Eternal Sunshine and Mulholland Drive.

Would you please remind me how the chronology of Following is All Messed Up? A problem with me consuming media so quickly is that I often forget much of it. I remember the premise, look, and a few scenes from Following, but I don't remember its chronology being All Messed Up.

AJDaGreat07/06/2005

I'm not sure I can really explain how it is messed up. The scenes are just out of order, if I recall correctly. There's no real pattern to it like in Memento.

Imposter07/05/2005

I'm wondering if The Godfather: Part II would work somewhere here. The two storylines overlap, but each one is pretty much in chronological order.

Given that this is one of Tarantino's favorite devices, you can probably put Reservoir Dogs and both Kill Bills in LPOoC.

And as I recall, the Japanese film Chaos jumps all over the place in time.

lukeprog07/06/2005

Thanks!

Do you mean this Chaos, by Hideo Nakata?

Imposter07/06/2005

Yep, that would be the one.

russa0307/06/2005

I think The Rules of Attraction (2002) would fit into Multiple Overlapping Stories.

lukeprog07/06/2005

Thanks!

pianoshootis07/15/2005

The Green Wall (1970, Armando Robles Godoy) might qualify as All Messed Up.

pianoshootis07/15/2005

or actually as Large Pieces Out of Chronology, since I don't remember them overlapping

lukeprog07/16/2005

Thanks. You've seen so many movies... if you think of others, or if you think I've miscategorized others here, let me know!

Azazello07/18/2005

Amores Perros would definitly be in the multiple overlapping stories category.

Imposter07/19/2005

I believe Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train would fit in the MOS category. It consists of three storylines all taking place on the same night, and all three are tied together by a character looking out a hotel window and seeing the same train go by in the distance. It's a pretty cool way of establishing a timeline.

lukeprog07/19/2005

Thanks. I can't wait to see more of Jarmusch, and I need to watch Dead Man again this year.

AJDaGreat07/19/2005

For MOS, how about Elephant (2003) and The Hours (2003)?

Also, I think you should create a category "God Only Knows" for films like Un Chien Andalou. :-)

lukeprog07/19/2005

Thanks again, AJ! How could I forget those? I'll put Un Chien Andalou under "All Messed Up". I can't remember the chronology of the other surrealist flicks I've seen by Cocteau and Bunuel. Want to remind me, AJ or anyone else?