Auter Theory: The Meaning of the Word Auteur in Movies

The concept of "Auteur" is deriding and damaging to the screenwriter and to the director, according to William Goldman because Goldman understands that there are many independent parts working together to create a movie. Screenwriter, such as Goldman, have a very difficult task to adapt the script and the storyline in such a way that the whole story can be told with themes and symbolism without losing the viewer and without giving the viewer too much to take in and grapple with.

Screenwriters such as Goldman often have to make complex and voluminous works succinct while ensuring there is flow and that it is possible to encapsulate visually. Goldman, himself, was an accomplished novelist before he became a screenwriter. He penned Marathon Man, Misery, The Princess Bride, and All the President’s Men (Queenan 1). He found that it was two very different disciplines, two very different animals for him. The screenplay serves as a textual mediating point between the “single track medium of published writing” and the “multi-track medium, of film (Boozer 1). Goldman found himself taking into account more than the director's task but also the tasks of the set designer, the location scout, the costume designer, the producers, the director of photography, and the editors.

With all of this in mind Goldman felt it preposterous the concept of "Auteurism" and the idea of a movie being entirely the director's vision and the director's stamp. Goldman concedes it is the director that creates the film but is not the creator of the film (Goldman 101). Goldman could not take the Auteur Theory seriously in the least bit in that the director was the star who was to get most of the credit for a movie that was in fact created by many independent parts work...

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...tted from the ideas that the Auteur Theory brought to light, this reinvigorate d the industry causing films to be revisited and reviewed for not only a director's particular style but also the styles of the screenwriters, set designers, editors, and photography directors. Goldman himself benefitted and found himself pushing his art to keep up with the forward thinking and envelope pushing everyone in all aspects of filmmaking was engaged in as an attempt to heighten their profiles and gain prominence and be seen as artists who contributed a particular and unmistakable style to the piece.

Works Cited

Boozer, Jack. "The Screenplay and Authorship in Adaptation." Authorship in Film Adaptation (2008): 1-30.

Goldman, William. Adventures in the screen trade. Hachette Digital, Inc., 2012.

Queenan, Joe. "Newman, Hoffman, Redford, & Me." The Guardian 24 Apr. 2001:Print.