Revisiting a book or a film is rarely seen as a virtue; in fact, the act has a ring of nerdiness to it. You must be thoroughly bored with yourself, or without a date, if re-watching The English Patient for the tenth time is your idea of spending a Friday evening. What is usually left unmentioned is that for some, re-watching a film or re-reading a book may amount to re-imagining a long-forgotten love affair. You recall that first blush. You re-submerge in the freshness of the thrill. You know beforehand where the plot leads and yet are surprised by its original turns. There is satisfaction to be had in familiarity. What is more important than familiarity is something that is a lot more personal. The act of revisiting a film or a book may also allow you to discover surprises that you, perhaps due to immaturity or some other limitation of the mind, had overlooked the first few times. To use the “love affair” analogy, you are in fact looking at an old flame from a different perspect...