With the decline of traditional values in modernity, cinema became a medium for experiencing the sacred and transcendent meaning. Paul Schrader conceptualized transcendental cinema by identifying shared characteristics: stillness, austerity, and redemption. However, despite the central role of time in transcendent aesthetics, time has never been systematically examined within Schrader’s framework. This study in¬vestigates how temporal structure is constituted in transcendental cinema, how it can be analyzed through Gilles Deleuze’s theory of nonlinear time, and how this relates to the historical evolution of the concept of time. Employing a qualitative approach grounded in intellectual-historical reconstruction, this research draws on Deleuze’s key concepts, including duration, repetition with difference, and the three syntheses of time, to analyze Taxi Driver as a key case. Findings reveal that time operates not as a linear succession but as a dynamic network of duration, suspension, repetition with difference, and the time-image. Through rhythm, stillness, and semantic gaps, cinema evokes philosophical awareness and an inner encounter with the transcendent. By situating the film within the history of ideas, this article demonstrates that cinema embodies a stage in time’s conceptual evolution, opening new horizons for reinter¬preting ethics, redemption, and spirituality in contemporary cinema.

Received 30 May 2026. Revised 06 August 2026. Accepted 06 October 2026. Published online 15 November 2026

Transcendental Cinema; Time; Paul Schrader; Gilles Deleuze; History of Ideas; Taxi Driver,