Abstract

Storytelling is regarded as a key concept of art. Aristotle’s theory is regarded by many scholars as the cornerstone of the tradition of narrative composition articulated in three acts. But Russian formalists Vladimir Propp and Viktor Shklovsky make a distinction between two correlated concepts: Fabula and Syuzhet—the story as it exists in its original form and the story as it is told. In contemporary cinema, this ultimately defines tone and style. The three-fold paradigm can also be observed in Japanese culture, with the additional element of rhythm, which is of importance for its interconnection with time. In this regard, filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky approaches the cinematic experience by manipulating the perception of duration, generating a distortion in the chronology of the movie. In addition, scholar Wolfgang Iser describes the narrative construction in relation to the elements that are left outside of the story as it is told. These narrative gaps are the focus of the study, but in an opposite perspective: as components of the film. Hiatus create an implied language, with the instruments of cinematography, rhythm, and sound as alternate characters of the story. Additionally, in philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s view, an image is infused with time and contains present and past. Therefore, a narrative configuration composed of intervals encompasses a different dimension of time and space, allowing contemplation to become the interface between the audience and the film. The story can operate on a level where the emotional attributes of the images, music, and sound become quintessential.