Light and Time in the Narrative Fiction Film

This article turns to the ideas of Paul Ricœur to develop an account of film lighting grounded in the theory of narrative as temporal experience. Narrative films structure lighting as an unfolding configuration, pointing forward and back in time. When we interpret a film's lighting as part of such a configuration, experiences of memory and expectation enrich our attention to the image before us. The narrative power of lighting rests in its ability to create this experience of a threefold present. Examples draw from a range of films, including Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica, 1952), Apocalypse Now Redux (Francis Ford Coppola, 2001), and Mudbound (Dee Rees, 2017).