Allegoric forms of history in three films by Lav Diaz

Norte, The End of History (2013), From what is before (2014), and A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (2016) shed light on the way in which Lav Diaz questions not only historical events themselves, but above all the way in which the choice of an “expressive form” can confer meaning on them. The alternation of long “blocks of duration” and narrative syncopations grants the viewer a physical experience of time and imposes a point of view that can be interpreted in terms of the notions of “field of experience” and “horizon of expectation” (R. Koselleck). In effect, the emergence of an event, impossible to anticipate, does not allow us to foresee its consequences either. This gives rise to a different perception of history, seen no longer as an implacable chain of events, but as offering multiple opportunities to be seized.