My question: does the cinematic image have a grammar? My hypothesis: that which is rejected leaves an indelible mark on what is selected. In exploring what makes the cinematic image irreal (critical to both, the question and the hypothesis) an analysis of the film Yuva shows how the image is constructed on the basis of an infinite oscillation between presence and absence because each is marked by a trace of the other. In the cinematic image the trace reconstructs the notion of spectral time as the link between real time and filmic time crucial to creating the illusion of visual narrative...