Cinematic temporality: an application of deleuze's crystal-image and the splitting of time film

Abstract

The research investigates Gilles Deleuze’s theory of the time-image as theorised in Cinema 1: the movement-image (1986) and in Cinema 2: the time-image (1989), focusing, in particular, on the crystal-image. Deleuze views the crystal-image as a multifaceted understanding of time where the present is infused with the past and future. It is this image of the crystal – a reflection of the fragmented and simultaneous intersection of time – that forms the basis of this research. The primary outcome of this study is to create a short film whereby Deleuze’s philosophy of cinema could be realised in a practical sense. The film, Revolver, portrays the memory of a woman as she revisits her childhood home. Memory, as a recollection of experiences of the past in the present moment, demands a non-linear film structure. Deleuze’s theories and ideas are infused in the film’s narrative structure and content, direction and audio and visual considerations. The film aims to depict a split sense of temporality by offering images that are informed by the past, present and the future. This simultaneous view of different registers of time as it flows through the protagonist’s consciousness when she recalls the events of the day her father committed suicide, presents the viewer with time in its pure form akin to our human experience of time. The latter forms the crux of Deleuze’s theorisation of the crystal-image which is the primary concern of the theoretical and practical components of this research.