Performing evolution: immersion, unfolding, and Lucille Hadzihalilovic’s Innocence

This chapter draws on the philosophical writing of Henri Bergson and Elizabeth Grosz, amongst others, in order to suggest ways in which the idea of duration can help to navigate slowness in cinema. In relation to Innocence specifically, the chapter identifies a dynamic oscillation between different visions of temporality: one that is imposed by the educational system, which sees change as the movement from one state of development to another, and the operation of duration as a ceaseless unfolding of multiple temporal rhythms, which belies attempts to measure and control it. The chapter extends the notion of duration as infinitely graduated changes to the viewing process itself, arguing that the slow unfolding of scenes, moments and images in Innocence allows for a continual modulation between interpretative and sensory impulses.