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Ur led är tiden. En studie av hur tid skildras i filmer med fokus på hur filmerna Arrival och Interstellar utmanar vår tidsuppfattning

Jansson, Leif C T LU (2026) FIVK10 20252
Film Studies
Abstract (Swedish)
This thesis explores how time is represented in movies. It focuses on the challenges and possibilities that faces both the filmmakers and the audience in creating and interpreting a timeline. The investigation begins with a study of narrative tools used in movies that are characterised by a traditional, linear timeline where events are linked by cause and effect and continues with an investigation of how non-linear, non-causal time is treated. The main part consists of a close reading of two movies where a non-linear, non-causal timeline is a defining part of the narrative. The movies are Arrival (Arrival, Denis Villeneuve, USA, 2016) and Interstellar (Interstellar, Christopher Nolan, USA and UK, 2014). Finally, a synthesis is made to... (More)
This thesis explores how time is represented in movies. It focuses on the challenges and possibilities that faces both the filmmakers and the audience in creating and interpreting a timeline. The investigation begins with a study of narrative tools used in movies that are characterised by a traditional, linear timeline where events are linked by cause and effect and continues with an investigation of how non-linear, non-causal time is treated. The main part consists of a close reading of two movies where a non-linear, non-causal timeline is a defining part of the narrative. The movies are Arrival (Arrival, Denis Villeneuve, USA, 2016) and Interstellar (Interstellar, Christopher Nolan, USA and UK, 2014). Finally, a synthesis is made to identify the common narrative strategies used in Arrival and Interstellar.
The study is based on David Bordwell’s ”inferential model of narration” and investigates how “the film prompts the viewer to construct the ongoing fabula (story) on the basis of syuzhet (plot) organization and stylistic patterning”. Both movies rely on the viewers to construct a comprehensible story from an intentionally fragmented, non-linear plot. They both have a narrative strategy where the story begins in our well-known reality and gradually give us hints and background information that we need to be able to switch perspectives to an alternative timeline. They both rely on a “set up / pay of” structure and, a creative destruction of our initial assumptions and a point of no return where we are transferred into the new universe.
Another conclusion is that the directors help us to build the story by using a genre where alternative timelines are permitted (science fiction) and by setting themselves clear rules and limitations that make it easier for us to create the logic of the alternative timeline. In addition, both films are based on scientific theories and follows them closely, making it easier for the viewer to understand them. They are science fiction movies, but with a special emphasis on science, demonstrating that feature films can be used as a tool for popularising complex scientific theories. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Jansson, Leif C T LU
supervisor
organization
course
FIVK10 20252
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Tid, narration, fabula, syuzhet, Bordwell, Arrival, Interstellar, Villeneuve, Nolan, Sapir–Whorf-hypotesen, relativitetsteorin
language
Swedish
id
9219183
date added to LUP
2026-01-19 08:36:30
date last changed
2026-01-19 08:36:30
@misc{9219183,
  abstract     = {{This thesis explores how time is represented in movies. It focuses on the challenges and possibilities that faces both the filmmakers and the audience in creating and interpreting a timeline. The investigation begins with a study of narrative tools used in movies that are characterised by a traditional, linear timeline where events are linked by cause and effect and continues with an investigation of how non-linear, non-causal time is treated. The main part consists of a close reading of two movies where a non-linear, non-causal timeline is a defining part of the narrative. The movies are Arrival (Arrival, Denis Villeneuve, USA, 2016) and Interstellar (Interstellar, Christopher Nolan, USA and UK, 2014). Finally, a synthesis is made to identify the common narrative strategies used in Arrival and Interstellar. 
	The study is based on David Bordwell’s ”inferential model of narration” and investigates how “the film prompts the viewer to construct the ongoing fabula (story) on the basis of syuzhet (plot) organization and stylistic patterning”. Both movies rely on the viewers to construct a comprehensible story from an intentionally fragmented, non-linear plot. They both have a narrative strategy where the story begins in our well-known reality and gradually give us hints and background information that we need to be able to switch perspectives to an alternative timeline. They both rely on a “set up / pay of” structure and, a creative destruction of our initial assumptions and a point of no return where we are transferred into the new universe.
	Another conclusion is that the directors help us to build the story by using a genre where alternative timelines are permitted (science fiction) and by setting themselves clear rules and limitations that make it easier for us to create the logic of the alternative timeline. In addition, both films are based on scientific theories and follows them closely, making it easier for the viewer to understand them. They are science fiction movies, but with a special emphasis on science, demonstrating that feature films can be used as a tool for popularising complex scientific theories.}},
  author       = {{Jansson, Leif C T}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Ur led är tiden. En studie av hur tid skildras i filmer med fokus på hur filmerna Arrival och Interstellar utmanar vår tidsuppfattning}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}