Nonlinear narrative a linear storyline, while nonlinear films often contain linear sequences. Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" (1941)—influenced structurally by "The Power and the Glory" (1933)—and Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon" (1950) use a non-chronological flashback narrative that is often labeled nonlinear. Experimentation with nonlinear structure in film dates back to the silent film era, including D. W. Griffith's "Intolerance" (1916) and Abel Gance's "Napoléon" (1927). Nonlinear film emerged from the French avant-garde[5] in 1924 with René Clair’s "Entr'acte", Dadaïst film and then in 1929 with Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's "Un Chien Andalou" (English: "An Andalusian Dog"). The surrealist film jumps into fantasy and
Maya Deren influence because of the surreal nature of "Meshes of the Afternoon". Bunuel's "Un Chien Andalou" (1928) is on the premier examples of film representing the structure of the subconscious. Deren detested this comparison because of the surrealist movement's interest in the entertainment value of its subject more than its meaning. The form of "Meshes of the Afternoon" does not compare to Un Chien Andalou either. Psychoanalysis of "Meshes of the Afternoon" from a Freudian viewer or Jungian viewer attempted to decode the symbolism in the film to uncover what Deren was saying about identity and sexuality. Deren adamantly objected her