Hyperlink cinema
Encyclopedia
Hyperlink cinema is a term coined by author Alissa Quart, who used the term in her review of the film Happy Endings (2005) for the film journal Film Comment
in 2005. Film critic Roger Ebert
popularized the term when reviewing the film Syriana
in 2005. These films are not hypermedia
and do not have actual hyperlink
s, but are multilinear in a more metaphorical sense.
In describing Happy Endings, Quart considers captions acting as footnote
s and split screen
as elements of hyperlink cinema and notes the influence of the World Wide Web
and multitasking
. Playing with time and characters' personal history, plot twist
s, interwoven storylines between multiple characters, jumping between the beginning and end (flashback
and flashforward
) are also elements. Ebert further describes hyperlink cinema as films where the characters or action reside in separate stories, but a connection or influence between those disparate stories is slowly revealed to the audience; illustrated in Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu's
films Amores Perros
(2000), 21 Grams
(2003), and Babel
(2006).
Quart suggests that director Robert Altman
created the structure for the genre and demonstrated its usefulness for combining interlocking stories in his films Nashville (1975) and Short Cuts
(1993). She also mentions the television series 24
and discusses Alan Rudolph’s film Welcome to L.A.
(1976) as an early prototype. Crash
(2004) is an example of the genre, as are Altman's The Player
(1992), Steven Soderbergh
's Traffic
(2000), City of God (2002), Syriana
(2005), and Nine Lives
(2005). Elements of hyperlink cinema can also be seen in the earlier film Kanchenjungha
(1962), by Satyajit Ray
.
Film Comment
Film Comment is an arts and culture magazine published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, of which it is the official publication. Film Comment features critical reviews and in-depth analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world...
in 2005. Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
popularized the term when reviewing the film Syriana
Syriana
Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil...
in 2005. These films are not hypermedia
Hypermedia
Hypermedia is a computer-based information retrieval system that enables a user to gain or provide access to texts, audio and video recordings, photographs and computer graphics related to a particular subject.Hypermedia is a term created by Ted Nelson....
and do not have actual hyperlink
Hyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...
s, but are multilinear in a more metaphorical sense.
In describing Happy Endings, Quart considers captions acting as footnote
Footnote
A note is a string of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document or at the end of a text. The note can provide an author's comments on the main text or citations of a reference work in support of the text, or both...
s and split screen
Split screen (film)
In film and video production, split screen is the visible division of the screen, traditionally in half, but also in several simultaneous images, rupturing the illusion that the screen's frame is a seamless view of reality, similar to that of the human eye...
as elements of hyperlink cinema and notes the influence of the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
and multitasking
Human multitasking
Human multitasking is the best performance by an individual of appearing to handle more than one task at the same time. The term is derived from computer multitasking. An example of multitasking is taking phone calls while typing an email...
. Playing with time and characters' personal history, plot twist
Plot twist
A plot twist is a change in the expected direction or outcome of the plot of a film, television series, video game, novel, comic or other fictional work. It is a common practice in narration used to keep the interest of an audience, usually surprising them with a revelation...
s, interwoven storylines between multiple characters, jumping between the beginning and end (flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
and flashforward
Flashforward
A flashforward is an interjected scene that takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards are often used to represent events expected, projected, or imagined to occur in the future...
) are also elements. Ebert further describes hyperlink cinema as films where the characters or action reside in separate stories, but a connection or influence between those disparate stories is slowly revealed to the audience; illustrated in Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu's
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene...
films Amores Perros
Amores perros
Amores perros is a 2000 neorealist Mexican film, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Amores Perros is the first movie in Iñárritu's trilogy of death, and was followed by 21 Grams and Babel. It is a triptych; an anthology film, sometimes referred to as the "Mexican Pulp Fiction," containing...
(2000), 21 Grams
21 Grams
21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, and Benicio del Toro....
(2003), and Babel
Babel (2006 film)
Babel is a 2006 international drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga, starring an ensemble cast. The multi-narrative drama completes Iñárritu's Death Trilogy, following Amores perros and 21 Grams....
(2006).
Quart suggests that director Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
created the structure for the genre and demonstrated its usefulness for combining interlocking stories in his films Nashville (1975) and Short Cuts
Short Cuts
Short Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver...
(1993). She also mentions the television series 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
and discusses Alan Rudolph’s film Welcome to L.A.
Welcome to L.A.
Welcome to L.A. is a 1976 film directed by Alan Rudolph and starring Keith Carradine.-Plot:The theme of romantic despair and shallowness is displayed utilizing a La Ronde-like circle of sexual adventures and failed affairs centered around songwriter Carroll Barber, played by Keith Carradine, which...
(1976) as an early prototype. Crash
Crash (2004 film)
Crash is a 2004 American drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California. A self-described "passion piece" for Haggis, Crash was inspired by a real life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked outside a video...
(2004) is an example of the genre, as are Altman's The Player
The Player
The Player is a 1992 American satirical film directed by Robert Altman from a screenplay by Michael Tolkin based on his own 1988 novel of the same name....
(1992), Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
's Traffic
Traffic (2000 film)
Traffic is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the...
(2000), City of God (2002), Syriana
Syriana
Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil...
(2005), and Nine Lives
Nine Lives (2005 film)
Nine Lives is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Rodrigo García. The screenplay, an example of hyperlink cinema, relates nine short, loosely intertwined tales with nine different women at their cores. Their themes include parent-child relationships, fractured love, adultery,...
(2005). Elements of hyperlink cinema can also be seen in the earlier film Kanchenjungha
Kanchenjungha
Kanchenjungha is a 1962 Bengali film by Bengali film director Satyajit Ray. It was Ray's first original screenplay and his first colour film....
(1962), by Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
.
Hyperlink films
- KanchenjunghaKanchenjunghaKanchenjungha is a 1962 Bengali film by Bengali film director Satyajit Ray. It was Ray's first original screenplay and his first colour film....
(1962) - Titash Ekti Nadir NaamTitash Ekti Nadir NaamTitash Ekti Nadir Naam is a 1973 Bengali film directed by Ritwik Ghatak. The movie was based on a novel by the same name, written by Advaita Malla Burman. The movie explores the life of the fishermen on the bank of the Titash River in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh.Rosy Samad, Golam Mostafa, Kabori,...
(1973) - ZavallilarZavallilarZavallılar is a film directed by Yılmaz Güney and written by Yılmaz Güney and Atıf Yılmaz. Cast includes Yılmaz Güney, Yıldırım Önel, Göktürk Güney, Hülya Şengül, Hakkı Güvenç and Güven Şengil. It was produced by Güney Film....
(1974) - Nashville (1975)
- YolYolYol is a 1982 Yılmaz Güney film. The screenplay was written by Yılmaz Güney, and it was directed by his assistant Şerif Gören, who strictly followed Güney's instructions, as Güney was in prison at the time. Later, when Güney escaped from prison, he took the negatives of the film and edited it in...
(1981) - After HoursAfter Hours (film)After Hours is a 1985 American black comedy film, written by Joseph Minion and directed by Martin Scorsese. Paul Hackett , a New Yorker, experiences a series of adventures and perils in trying to make his way home from SoHo.-Plot:...
(1985) - The PlayerThe PlayerThe Player is a 1992 American satirical film directed by Robert Altman from a screenplay by Michael Tolkin based on his own 1988 novel of the same name....
(1992) - Short CutsShort CutsShort Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver...
(1993) - The Three Colors Trilogy (1993-1994)
- Before the RainBefore the Rain (film)Before the Rain is a 1994 Macedonian film starring Katrin Cartlidge, Rade Šerbedžija, Grégoire Colin, and Labina Mitevska. It was directed and written by Milčo Mančevski. The music was created by the band Anastasia.-Plot:...
(1994) - ExoticaExotica (film)Exotica is a 1994 Canadian film set primarily in and around the Exotica strip club in Toronto, Canada. It was written and directed by Atom Egoyan. Music used includes "Montagues and Capulets".-Synopsis:...
(1994) - Pulp FictionPulp Fiction (film)Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
(1994) - The Opposite of SexThe Opposite of SexThe Opposite of Sex is a 1998 film written and directed by Don Roos. It stars Christina Ricci, Martin Donovan and Lisa Kudrow. The film marked departures for both Ricci and Kudrow, cast against type for the roles they were known for at the time .-Plot:The film is a...
(1998) - Playing by HeartPlaying by HeartPlaying by Heart is a 1998 comedy-drama film, which tells the story of several seemingly unconnected characters.-Plot:Among the characters are a mature couple about to renew their vows ; a woman who accepts a date offer from a stranger ; a gay man dying of AIDS and his mother who has...
(1998) - GoGo (1999 film)Go is a 1999 comedy thriller film written by John August and directed by Doug Liman, with three intertwining plots that happen to involve one drug deal. The film stars William Fichtner, Katie Holmes, Jay Mohr, Sarah Polley and Scott Wolf and features Taye Diggs, Breckin Meyer, Timothy Olyphant,...
(1999) - MagnoliaMagnolia (film)Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, narrated by Ricky Jay, and starring Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards in his last feature film appearance...
(1999) - TimecodeTimecode (film)Timecode is a 2000 American experimental film directed by Mike Figgis.The film is constructed from four continuous 90-minute takes that were filmed simultaneously by four cameramen; the screen is divided into quarters and the four shots are shown simultaneously...
(2000) - Amores PerrosAmores perrosAmores perros is a 2000 neorealist Mexican film, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Amores Perros is the first movie in Iñárritu's trilogy of death, and was followed by 21 Grams and Babel. It is a triptych; an anthology film, sometimes referred to as the "Mexican Pulp Fiction," containing...
(2000) - TrafficTraffic (2000 film)Traffic is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the...
(2000) - LantanaLantana (film)Lantana is a 2001 Australian film, directed by Ray Lawrence and featuring Anthony LaPaglia, Kerry Armstrong, Geoffrey Rush and Barbara Hershey. It is based on the play Speaking In Tongues by Andrew Bovell, which premiered at Sydney's Griffin Theatre Company...
(2001) - City of God (2002)
- 11:1411:1411:14 is a 2003 film about a series of interconnected events which lead up to the same time, 11:14 p.m.-Plot:The film involves several interconnected stories that converge at 11:14 p.m...
(2003) - 21 Grams21 Grams21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, and Benicio del Toro....
(2003) - Cape of Good HopeCape of Good Hope (film)The Cape of Good Hope is a 2004 South African comedy drama film written and produced by Suzanne Kay Bamford and her husband Mark Bamford under the direction of Mark Bamford...
(2004) - CrashCrash (2004 film)Crash is a 2004 American drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California. A self-described "passion piece" for Haggis, Crash was inspired by a real life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked outside a video...
(2004) - Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004)
- YuvaYuvaYuva , originally titled Howrah Bridge is a feature film directed by Indian director Mani Ratnam and released in 2004. Simultaneously made in Hindi and Tamil , the prime objective of the movie was to motivate educated Indian youths to enter politics.The film tells the stories of three young men...
(2004) - Happy Endings (2005)
- SyrianaSyrianaSyriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil...
(2005) - Nine LivesNine Lives (2005 film)Nine Lives is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Rodrigo García. The screenplay, an example of hyperlink cinema, relates nine short, loosely intertwined tales with nine different women at their cores. Their themes include parent-child relationships, fractured love, adultery,...
(2005) - Look Both WaysLook Both WaysLook Both Ways is a 2005 Australian independent film, written and directed by Sarah Watt, starring an ensemble cast, which was released on 18 August 2005. The film was supported by the Adelaide Film Festival fund and opened the 2005 festival. It won four AFI Awards, including Best Film and Best...
(2006) - Babel (2006)
- The Edge of HeavenThe Edge of Heaven (film)The Edge of Heaven is a 2007 Turkish-German-Italian drama film written and directed by Fatih Akın. The film won the Prix du scénario at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival...
(2007) - RenditionRendition (film)Rendition is a 2007 drama film directed by Gavin Hood and starring Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin, Jake Gyllenhaal and Omar Metwally. It centers on the controversial CIA practice of extraordinary rendition, and is based on the true story of Khalid El-Masri who was...
(2007) - The Air I BreatheThe Air I BreatheThe Air I Breathe is the 2008 directorial film debut of Korean-American filmmaker Jieho Lee, who co-wrote the script with Bob DeRosa. It stars Kevin Bacon, Julie Delpy, Brendan Fraser, Andy Garcia, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Emile Hirsch, and Forest Whitaker...
(2008) - GomorrahGomorra (film)Gomorrah is a 2008 Italian film directed by Matteo Garrone, based on the book by Roberto Saviano. It deals with the Casalesi clan, a crime syndicate within the Camorra — a traditional criminal organization based in Naples and Caserta, in the southern Italian region of Campania.-Plot summary:The...
(2008) - Mammoth (2009)
- Mumbai Meri Jaan (2008)
- AjamiAjami (film)Ajami is a 2009 Arab/Jewish collaboration drama film. Its plot is set in the Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa.-Overview:Written and directed by Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani , Ajami explores five different stories set in an actual impoverished Christian-and-Muslim Arab neighborhood of the Tel...
(2009) - Powder BluePowder Blue (film)Powder Blue is a 2009 drama film with an ensemble cast featuring several interconnected story arcs. It was written and directed by Timothy Linh Bui based on the 1997 novel Ponto de Partida by brazilian medium Chico Xavier, and features Patrick Swayze's last film appearance before his September 2009...
(2009) - HereafterHereafter (film)Hereafter is a 2010 American drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, from a screenplay by Peter Morgan and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film tells three parallel stories about three people affected by death in similar ways - all three have issues of communicating with the dead; Matt Damon plays...
(2010) - Kaker blanca (2010)
- Traffic (2011)
- Bombay March 12 (2011)
- ContagionContagion (film)Contagion is a 2011 American medical thriller disaster film directed by Steven Soderbergh. The film has an ensemble cast that includes Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, and Bryan Cranston. Contagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal...
(2011)