The conception of the auteur in the 1951 by Andre Bazin and Francois Truffaut who coined the phrase ‘del la politique des auteurs’, has led to diverse explorations into not only the validity of the theory of auteurism but also the theory’s value within the study of film. Many notable critics have weighed in on the concept of the auteur such as Andrew Sarris in 1962, who developed the notion of the auteur into a theory that could then be applied to the study of film. Although, it must be noted that Sarris’ theory had no scientific elements that could benefit the study of film from a scientific viewpoint and is based on personal opinions and preferences. The theory was subsequently challenged by Pauline Kael in 1963 who examined the elements …show more content…
These qualities demanded that the director had an authorial presence within his work but must also have a distinguishable personality within each film. Distinguishing the directors’ personality, to an extent, does expand our understanding and analysis of a specific film as it can help to allude to the directors’ discourse within the film and can alert the spectator as to why certain cinematic choices are made. However, fellow Cahier critic Andre Bazin stated “although I do not see the role of the auteur in the same way as Truffaut or Eric Rohmer for example, it does not stop me from believing in to a certain extent in the concept of the auteur.” Truffaut originally wrote the famous article ‘A Certain Tendency of French Cinema’ published in the Cahiers du Cinema in 1954, in protest against the ‘Tradition of Quality’, which had elevated scenarist directors such as Aurenche and Bost, who Truffaut contended that they were not worthy of the praise they had been given. “I consider an adaptation of value only when written by a man of the cinema.” Truffaut also places great emphasis on the importance of an auteurist cinema “I do not believe in the peaceful co-existence of the ‘Tradition of Quality’ and an auteurs cinema”. 4 Aurenche and Bost worked from literary adaptations and aimed to remain faithful to the spirit of the text, this however, concerned Truffaut that this faithfulness didn’t result in a standard of cinema that the Cahiers were working towards that would result in elevating the status of French cinema as Art. Truffaut also advocated for filmmakers to include their own psychological realism, which would
Film Noir, as Paul Schrader integrates in his essay ‘Notes on Film Noir,’ reflects a marked phase in the history of films denoting a peculiar style observed during that period. More specifically, Film Noir is defined by intricate qualities like tone and mood, rather than generic compositions, settings and presentation. Just as ‘genre’ categorizes films on the basis of common occurrences of iconographic elements in a certain way, ‘style’ acts as the paradox that exemplifies the generality and singularity at the same time, in Film Noir, through the notion of morality. In other words, Film Noir is a genre that exquisitely entwines theme and style, and henceforth sheds light on individual difference in perception of a common phenomenon. Pertaining
Braudy, Leo and Marshall Cohen, eds. Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, Fifth Edition. New York: Oxford UP, 1999.
In the film industry, there are directors who merely take someone else’s vision and express it in their own way on film, then there are those who take their own visions and use any means necessary to express their visions on film. The latter of these two types of directors are called auteurs. Not only do auteurs write the scripts from elements that they know and love in life, but they direct, produce, and sometimes act in their films as well. Three prime examples of these auteurs are: Kevin Smith, Spike Lee and Alfred Hitchcock.
The auteur theory is a view on filmmaking that consists of three equally important premises: technical competence, interior meaning, and personal signature of the director. Auteur is a French word for author. The auteur theory was developed by Andrew Sarris, a well-known American film critic. Technical competence of the Auteur deals with how the director films the movie in their own style. Personal signature includes recurring themes that are present within the director’s line of work with characteristics of style, which serve as a signature. The third and ultimate premise of the Auteur theory is the interior meaning which is basically the main theme behind the film.
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
To be considered an auteur the director has to show self-expressionism in their movies, along with repeating ideas and themes that refle...
... movie stars like royalty or mythical gods and goddesses, viewing the drama between great archetypal characters in a personal psychic realm. By considering the statements made and their societal impact from a Marxist perspective, Benjamin’s method is highly effective, as it does not simply consider art in terms of pure aesthetics anymore, but considers art’s place in a society capable of mechanically reproducing and endlessly duplicating film, photography, and digital art. His qualm with losing the aura and mystique of an original work is negated by the cult of movie stars, the adoration of fame, the incorporation of soundtracks which embody a particular time period, cinematographic allusions, and time-capsule-like qualities of a film such as Basquiat, a 90s tribute to the 80s, produced both as a part of and resulting from the art movements and trends it addresses.
Kracauer, Siegfried. “Basic Concepts,” from Theory of Film. In Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, Seventh Edition, edited by Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, 147–58. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
This New Wave aesthetic solidified film as a mainstream artform, stressing that film was carefully crafted similarly to literature. Individual directors, or auteurs, were expected to “author” their films in much the same way that an author would write a novel. This auteur theory and its accompanying aesthetic became the backbone of the French New Wave and was what drove innovation. Breaking free from the screenwriter, producer, and studio driven systems of the past, and putting the creative power back in the hands of the director was seen as a crucial step in solving Cahiers’ perceived problems with French cinema before the movement.
Think about your favorite movie. When watching that movie, was there anything about the style of the movie that makes it your favorite? Have you ever thought about why that movie is just so darn good? The answer is because of the the Auteur. An Auteur is the artists behind the movie. They have and individual style and control over all elements of production, which make their movies exclusively unique. If you could put a finger on who the director of a movie is without even seeing the whole film, then the person that made the movie is most likely an auteur director. They have a unique stamp on each of their movies. This essay will be covering Martin Scorsese, you will soon find out that he is one of the best auteur directors in the film industry. This paper will include, but is not limited to two of his movies, Good Fellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. We will also cover the details on what makes Martin Scorsese's movies unique, such as the common themes, recurring motifs, and filming practices found in their work. Then on
In Hollywood today, most films can be categorized according to the genre system. There are action films, horror flicks, Westerns, comedies and the likes. On a broader scope, films are often separated into two categories: Hollywood films, and independent or foreign ‘art house’ films. Yet, this outlook, albeit superficial, was how many viewed films. Celebrity-packed blockbusters filled with action and drama, with the use of seamless top-of-the-line digital editing and special effects were considered ‘Hollywood films’. Films where unconventional themes like existentialism or paranoia, often with excessive violence or sex or a combination of both, with obvious attempts to displace its audiences from the film were often attributed with the generic label of ‘foreign’ or ‘art house’ cinema.
Two prominent modern film directors have brought Emma Bovary's story to the screen--Vincente Minnelli in 1949 and, more recently, Claude Chabrol in 1992. This paper will study these two versions of Flaubert's novel and how each director employs and manipulates the medium of film to bring a work of fiction to the screen.
Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.
The auteur theory is an idea or principle, which states that the film is a reflection of a director’s creative personal vision, as if to say the he or she is the primary author (which in French, means “auteur”). This theory first came to be in 1954, by a French film director named Francois Truffaut. The auteur theory’s birth was through the French New Wave, which was a group of new French filmmakers during the 1950’s and 1960’s. In the beginning, the theory received positive and negative responses. And to this day, it will create a heated debate. Many have questioned the theory, because there are usually multiple people involved in the development of a film. Ultimately, a film will have a writer, alongside the director, which makes it difficult to put all of the weight on the director, alone. At the same time, there are directors that exist, which can bypass all of the levels in producing a film and still add their staple to it. Regardless of the storyline, there is something distinct within their production that will stand out and be recognizable. With that being said, it is understandable how the auteur theory could exist. When it is all said and done, the end result is the director’s style of filming. And the more passion that a director pours into a film, the more they develop a voice. This is why I chose to display how the auteur theory truly is possible and the director that I chose for my thesis is Spike Lee.
The auteur theory was originally "an invention of French critics who maintained that directors are to movies what poets are to poems" ("Knockin' on Heaven's Door"). As expected, the auteur theory also made its way to America and had begun its influence on Hollywood. A key person in the influence of the auteur theory in America, Andrew Sarris, expanded upon the ideology as a "novel idea that the director is the sole author of his work, regardless of whatever contribution the writers, producers, or actors may make" ("Knockin' on Heaven's Door"). This ideology, more or less, then began to be subconsciously adopted by both the public and industry. People began ranking directors in hierarchies, differentiating them, analyzing them, and coming to realize each director's distinctive touch. Specifically, people began to do this by seeking out an auteur's "common stylistic traits, formal permutations, and thematic constructs" (Gomery and Pafort-Overduin 182). At the time, though, Hollywood directors still had to stay loyal to the Classical Hollywood Narrative Style, otherwise, they would "be forced out of the system altogether" (182). At the end of the day, however, directors were still able to "thrive within the rigid constraints of the Hollywood studio system, regularly turning out intense, moving films"