"Nonlinear narrative, disjointed narrative, or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique, sometimes used in literature, film, video games, and other narratives, where events are portrayed, for example, out of chronological order or in other ways where the narrative does not follow the direct causality pattern of the events featured, such as parallel distinctive plot lines, dream immersions or narrating another story inside the main plot-line. Most of the time it is used to mimic the structure and recall of a character, but has been used for other reasons as well. Defining nonlinear structure in film is, at times, difficult. Films may use extensive flashbacks or flashforwards within a linear storyline, while nonlinear films often contain linear sequences. Orson Welles' 'Citizen Kane'—influenced structurally by 'The Power and the Glory' —and Akira Kurosawa's 'Rashomon' use a non-chronological flashback narrative that is often labeled nonlinear." - en.wikipedia.org
