La JetéeandSolvorn, and arguably, it is also important for the understanding
of the aesthetics ofKarins ansikte.
So, I will suggest broadening the term and adjusting (or adapting) the con-
ception of the slide-motion film so that it can be used as a label foranyfilm–
fiction or factual, narrative, descriptive, poetic or argumentative–which vi-
sually appears as a composition of stills, the stills being ofanykind including
the freeze-frame. Furthermore, instead of discussing these films by juxtaposing
stasis and kinesis as if these qualities or modes of expression were exclusively
connected to two different media (photography and film), I will propose that
the slide motion film should be conceptualized as afilmicform of expression, as
a particular form of stasis within the field of moving images. As Noël Carroll
once argued,“... if you know that you are watching a slide, then it is categori-
cally impossible that the image should move. ... Movement in a slide would
require a miracle; movement in a film is an artistic choice and an always avail-
able technical option”.To associate the slide-motion film with the family of
moving images provides it with a range of perspectives and conceptions that I
believe will benefit the understanding of these films and their expressive poten-
tial. In the rest of this essay, I will deal with one of these problematics, the con-
ception of temporality of the slide-motion film in keeping with the way it is
redefined above. I will confine the discussion to thenarrativeslide-motion films
because the complex relation between time and narrative must be understood
as different from but interacting with the complex relation between time and
photographically appearing filmic expressions. The fiction filmAño Uñare-
mains my main example, as compared to the titles mentioned above as well as
the series of thirteen short, fiction films,Photo-Romans(-), and a
short, documentary calledOne Day().
Story and Narration inAño Uña
Año Uñatells the story of Molly who meets Diego when she rents a room in his
parents’house in Mexico. The two immediately strike up a relationship despite
the age gap. Both are at turning points in their lives: Diego in the turmoil of
puberty and Molly on the brink of post-education adulthood. Diego, who early
in the story is consumed by desire for his cousin, Emilia, redirects his obsession
after Molly arrives. Molly enjoys Diego’s flirtation, finding the attention and
respect missing from her relationships with boyfriends. The relationship con-
tinues to grow until Molly returns to New York. Diego decides to run away
and win Molly’s heart. Molly realizes that although it is an impossible relation-
The Temporalities of the Narrative Slide Motion Film 91