This visualization is adapted from a poster of Isaac Ezban’s “El Incidente,” which illustrates my interpretation of the film. I argue that the the narrative structure of “El Incidente” is not a temporal loop — whose end is connected to its beginning — but rather a spatial spiral which the white and grey lines (in the visualization) form. For the reasons that 1) things (e.g. snacks in the vending machine, Oliver’s backpack and the various objects inside, etc.) are reproduced every day while the previous are not cleared away, 2) the writing and drawing on the wall are persistent, and 3) hair grows and people age as in reality, we know that time does flow forward without looping in the spaces where characters get stuck (e.g. the infinite staircase, or the infinite highway). So in my visualization, the beginning of the spiral is “the incident” (the white note at the center), while the end is “the connection with the real world” (the lower right black note).
From the film, we know that the duration of each spiral is 35 years. What constructs this spatial spiral structure during the 35 years is the accumulation and overlaying of emotions and energy, which, as the old protagonists indicate, fuels, or motivates, the operation of the real world. Associating the divergent attitudes and behaviors between the two stuck in this spiral structure — “the machinery of the real world” (the upper black note) — with the montage sequence near the end of the film that presents the “reality” version of the narrative, we could find the philosophical messages that the film conveys: since old people tend to accumulate and transfer little energy (due to their unhealthy lifestyle, such as excessive drinking and lack of exercise) and negative emotions they couldn’t let go after tragic incidents (e.g. regret at their past mistakes, grief at loved ones’ death) to the real world, they in reality gradually become misfortunate and eventually die (as the grey line and grey notes indicate); on the other hand, the young are capable to constantly generate sufficient energy and positive emotions, especially inner peace, joy, love and forgiveness, to support and improve their lives in reality (as the white line and white notes indicate).
Mind Game 2020 