Gilles Deleuze's Movement-Image and Time-Image, Explained

Film & Media Studies

18 Jul 202241:14

EducationalLearning

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TLDRThe video explains French philosopher Gilles Deleuze's concepts of the 'movement-image' and 'time-image' in cinema. The movement-image dominates pre-WWII films in which characters perceive situations, react, and take action, chaining images together. The time-image emerges in postwar European art films that subordinate action to time's flow, depicting characters unable to act who instead think, remember, and wander aimlessly. Deleuze relates these concepts to Henri Bergson's ideas reversing the philosophical subordination of time to movement, encountering in cinema a similar reversal after WWII.

Takeaways

😀 D. L. defines 'movement image' and 'time image' as central concepts related to cinema
😮 The 'movement image' subordinates time to action and movement
😲 The 'time image' subordinates movement/action to time
🤔 WW2 marked shift from 'movement image' to 'time image' in cinema
😯 'Time image' films depict characters unable to act/react directly
🥺 'Movement image' links perception, affection, action like everyday life
😟 'Time image' interrupts linkage between perception & action
🧐 'Movement image' closes down the past, 'time image' opens it up
🤨 Bergson's philosophy vital to D. L.'s analysis of cinema
😀 D. L. treats filmmakers as thinkers working with medium's potential

Q & A

What are the two main books by Deleuze that are discussed in the video?
-The two main books discussed are 'Cinema 1: The Movement Image' and 'Cinema 2: The Time Image'.
What is the sensory-motor schema according to Deleuze?
-The sensory-motor schema is a common sense way of perceiving and acting in the world that privileges a link between perception and action.
How does Deleuze characterize the difference between movement image films and time image films?
-In movement image films, time is subordinated to action and movement. In time image films, movement and action are subordinated to the flow of time.
What interrupts the flow between perception and action in time image films?
-In time image films, thought interrupts the flow between perception and action.
What are some common themes in time image films?
-Some common themes in time image films are memory, the past, emotional/psychic breakdown, and characters unable to act or react in typical ways.
What philosopher does Deleuze connect to his concepts of the movement image and time image?
-Deleuze connects his concepts to the ideas of philosopher Henri Bergson and his writings on movement and time.
What are some examples of time image films discussed?
-Examples of time image films discussed include Umberto D, Bicycle Thieves, L'Avventura, Citizen Kane, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Last Year at Marienbad, and more.
What is the importance of 'any-spaces-whatever' in time image films?
-Any-spaces-whatever are spaces that do not motivate particular actions, and thus allow contemplation. They are important in many time image films.
Are movement image films only pre-WWII and time image films only post-WWII?
-No, Deleuze notes there are exceptions and the classifications describe general tendencies more prevalent in their eras, rather than hard constraints.
How does Deleuze relate film and film history to philosophy and concepts of time/movement?
-Deleuze sees shifts in film history as connected to and repeating shifts in how time and movement were conceived in philosophy over history.

Outlines

00:00

🎥 Introducing Deleuze and his cinema books

This paragraph introduces French philosopher Joel Deleuze and his two famous books on cinema - 'Cinema 1: The Movement Image' and 'Cinema 2: The Time Image'. It describes Deleuze as associated with post-structuralism and process philosophy, interested in new thoughts and change. His cinema books examine film's relation to thought rather than reality. He treats filmmakers as philosophers and his concepts related to cinema have a taxonomy.

05:00

📚 Explaining Deleuze's taxonomy of cinematic concepts

This paragraph further explains Deleuze's taxonomy of cinematic concepts - they are not technical, critical or linguistic concepts but a composition of images and signs. Deleuze wants to maintain cinema's meaning through images rather than see it as a language. His concepts include movement image, time image, sensory-motor schema etc which he uses to classify films.

10:04

↔️ Distinguishing between movement image and time image

This paragraph makes a key distinction between the movement image and time image. The movement image subordinates time to action and is associated with pre-WWII classical cinema. The time image subordinates action to the flow of time and is associated with postwar European art films. Definitions and examples of both are provided.

15:06

🎞️ Explaining the sensory-motor schema

This paragraph explains Deleuze's concept of the sensory-motor schema which underlies the movement image. It refers to the linking of perception and action in a common sense way. Deleuze relates it to perception, affection and action images which fulfill certain functions in movement image films.

20:07

⏱️ From movement image to time image films

This paragraph examines the shift from movement image films to time image films. A key element is interrupting the perception-action linkage with thought and memory. Time image films feature characters unable to act and react, portrayed through inner mental imagery and focus on memory and the past.

25:08

🤔 Themes and techniques in time image films

This paragraph highlights some themes and techniques seen in time image films - characters suspended in memories, trauma, the questioning rather than closing down of the past. There is an emphasis on duration, waiting, aimless wandering rather than purposeful action.

30:11

🔙 Memory and the past in both film types

This paragraph examines the distinction between how the two film types treat memory and the past. While both may include flashbacks, time image films open up the past as a zone of questioning rather than seek definitive answers.

35:15

🎬 Relating movement and time in film to philosophy

This concluding paragraph relates the movement-time reversal in postwar cinema identified by Deleuze to a similar reversal in philosophy from the Greeks to Kant described by Bergson. It suggests a deep resonance between philosophical conceptualizations of movement and time and their cinematic counterparts.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡movement image

A classification used by Deleuze to describe films made before WWII, where time is subordinate to action. These films have clear cause-and-effect narratives focused on characters overcoming obstacles through action. Examples from the script include The Lonedale Operator and Battleship Potemkin.

💡time image

A classification used by Deleuze for films made after WWII, where movement and action are subordinate to time. These films depart from conventional narratives, instead focusing on characters suspended in time, memory, and contemplation. Examples include Umberto D, Hiroshima Mon Amour, and Last Year at Marienbad.

💡sensory-motor schema

A pattern linking perception to habitual modes of action, which Deleuze argues classical narrative cinema is modeled on. The script gives the example of a baby seeing a toy and instinctively reaching for it, showing this automatic link between sensing something and reacting.

💡pure optical situations

Moments in time image films where sense perceptions like seeing and hearing occur outside their link to action, interrupting the sensory-motor schema. An example is the pregnant maid gazing at her belly in Umberto D, unable to act.

💡perception image

One of the three main image classifications for Deleuze, capturing the perception of situations within films. He links these to long shots framing circumstances characters find themselves in.

💡affection image

The second of Deleuze's three central image classifications, representing the affection or feelings that mediate between perception and action. He argues these correspond to close-up shots.

💡action image

The third key image classification in Deleuze's taxonomy, capturing moments of decisively reacting to situations on screen. He proposes medium shots express these action images.

💡any-spaces-whatever

Spaces like postwar rubble and ruins that have lost their purpose and now invite open-ended contemplation rather than action. Deleuze sees these as quintessential sites of the time image.

💡Henri Bergson

A philosopher who reversed the traditional relationship between time and movement, arguing the former structures the latter. Deleuze builds his argument about cinema on Bergson's concepts.

💡new thought

Deleuze's central interest in cinema - how art cinema uses unprecedented audiovisual situations to push beyond habitual sensory-motor links into new realms of thought and experience.

Highlights

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Transcripts

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