When Arthur Schnitzler wrote his play La Ronde (in German: Reigen) in 1897, I'd wager he had no idea that his storyline would be adapted for use on stage and in film over and over again into the 21st century. (see Wikipedia's page HERE)
I rented a DVD of a 2011 movie "360" at the weekend, the latest adaptation of Schnitzler's theme, without realising the plot's pedigree. From the advertising blurb I'd gathered that "360" presents a network of stories, set in different parts of the world, which eventually weave together. I enjoy this type of plot, if done well.
Husband picked up the connection to earlier movies around halfway through "360" and remarked that he'd seen "something along these lines before". There's a list of adaptations at the Wiki link above, by the way.
"360" turned out to be 110 minutes of story lines not boring enough to switch off, but not intriguing or deeply investigated sufficiently to inspire. Individuals finding themselves at "a fork in the road" and how they dealt with it, is put forward as the constant element in the movie's story lines. There are six inter-linked brief encounters, characters of different nationalities, a prostitute, business man, wives, lovers, photographer, driver, travellers, a convicted sex offender, and maybe a few others I've already forgotten. Lust and love compete. There are few admirable or even likeable characters in the film. Anthony Hopkins' character comes out with the cleanest slate; also remaining relatively innocent, the young sister of a prostitute.
Thinks.....a David Petraeus-patterned character would make a good inclusion for the next adaptation of La Ronde! New title? How about Ring-o'-Roses?
Ring-a-ring o' roses,UPDATE
A pocket full of posies,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down
This morning the Petraeus story, too, becomes more circular: see the BBC report with relevant ring-o'-roses chart!
