
Mankind has always had not just the curiosity but also the penchant to understand the entity called time. The effect of time on mankind at a physical and mental level has continued to intrigue him. The memories of the past, the expectations and fear of the future have always made him anxious about the present. What if one could travel back in time to undo the mistakes, to cherish the time with loved ones? What if one could travel into the future to gauge the effects of the decisions made in the present? The curiosity about these thoughts has only made him anxious. However, these impossible prospects have been discussed in Cinema, umpteen number of times. From the presentation point of view, Flash Back (e.g. Forest Gump – 1994) or Flash Forward (e.g. Sherlock Holmes – 2009) are the tools used to travel back and forth in time respectively, in storytelling. Similarly, magnifying time (e.g. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge – 1962) is a tool that aids in slowing down time to fill-in lots of information in a short span of time. We have examples of movies like Run Lola Run -1998 where the characters get to relive the same time multiple times. Then there are movies where time is presented in a loop. The viewer is made aware of the loop by recurring incidents or familiar camera movements (e.g. Dunkirk – 2017). There are many examples of movies that show the continuity of time to emphasise the impact of the present on the future (e.g. 1917 – 2019). Many such experiments with time have been made. The formless entity of time has always intrigued mankind. Thus, in a movie, as much as the story controls the emotions, the use of time as a tool plays an equally important part in keeping the viewer firmly engrossed and attracted to the story, unbeknownst to him or her.
ಅಭಯ ಸಿಂಹ
Translated by Amogh Patwardhan


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