LA MULTI-TEMPORALITÉ CINÉMATOGRAPHIQUE
CINEMATOGRAPHIC MULTI-TEMPORALITY

Summary/Abstract: The constitutive multicodicity of cinema naturally influences its inscription in temporality, which is heterogenous, fragmentary and problematic even in the most mundane cases. The lack of unmediated materiality which defines temporal categories stands in sharp contrast with the materiality and immanence of images, those two characteristics leading to the impossibility of ascribing a temporal value other than that of the present. But being confined to the present has potentially encouraged filmmakers to seek out artistic and technical means to “manipulate” (in the good sense of the word) the temporal representations of the viewers in order to create the sentiment of escaping the present and of moving across chronological boundaries. More than in other artistic medium, the perception of past and future is a carefully crafted artifact, the intention of the author working on different levels. Our paper sets out to highlight the different temporal categories with which film operates and some of the main devices for creating temporal depth, with a particular emphasis on the narrative technique of the flash-back.

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