Reimagining Cinema: Durée, Perception, and Participation

This article reimagines cinematic experience through Henri Bergson’s concept of durée—lived time as qualitative flow—and Gilles Deleuze’s cinematic philosophy, challenging traditional narrative and representational paradigms in film studies. By integrating phenomenological analysis with close readings of The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991), The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe, 2013), Parasite (Gisaengchung, Bong Joon-ho, 2019), and Memories of Murder (Salinui Chueok, Bong Joon-ho, 2003), we propose "cinematic durée" as a dynamic fusion of filmic constructs and viewer perception, positioning spectators as active co-creators. Qualitative cinematic elements like lighting, interactivity, and pacing, understood as Bergson's (1889) qualitative multiplicities that evoke distinct experiential textures (Deleuze 1966) shape subjective durée, evoking diverse emotional responses, from dread to empowerment, as evidenced by audience reactions spanning decades and media. Extending Vivian Sobchack’s embodied phenomenology and Laura U. Marks’s intercultural senses, this study transcends linear models (e.g., David Bordwell’s narratology), embracing analog, digital, and non-Western contexts. Virtual reality, Carne y Arena (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2017), further tests participatory durée, blending bodily engagement with temporal synthesis. Methodologically, we employ philosophical inquiry, supplemented by audience insights, and propose future empirical tools—such as eye-tracking and interviews—to explore affective resonance, offering a novel framework for cinema’s temporal and emotional architecture. This interdisciplinary approach—bridging film theory, cognitive psychology, and cultural studies—reveals cinema as a continuous process of becoming, reshaping perceptions of time, space, and identity across global landscapes.