Unified Uncertainty and the Auteur Theory
There are no rules and regulations when it comes to creativity. The imagination of the artist and the creator determine what guidelines to follow, but that freedom consequently creates controversy when the piece needs to be evaluated for its true value. When French film director Francois Truffaut advocated the Auteur theory in 1954, it greatly influenced film criticism. The Auteur theory states that the director of a motion picture is the primary author of the film and that all elements reflect their personal creative vision. Theorists John Caughie and Andrew Sarris both express their concerns about the specifications of what makes a director an “auteur”, believing it to be an undefined and obscure theory.
For many artists and creators, they are only as successful as their latest piece of work. John Caughie states that "It is tempting to present the principles of the politique as a set of rules: the late work of an auteur is necessarily more interesting than the earlier work, the worst work of an auteur is necessarily worth more than the best work of a metteur en scene, etc.; but such a schematization, though it has a substantial foundation, avoids the seductiveness of Cahiers' auteurist practice..." (Caughie 38). Caughie believes that the principles of the policy of auteurism are criticized differently than any other art form, including romantic criticism, which creates confusion as to whether the criticism deserves legitimacy or not. Caughie comments on the idea that the quality and the type of feedback on films is relative to the popular and socially acceptable styles of interpretation, "It is this diversity of stimuli, rather than a singular philosophical source, which seems to a...
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...fully understandable, according to film theorists John Caughie and Andrew Sarris. Caughie explains that the foundations that critics base their reviews off of are from too many diverse sources, which makes their findings not precise. Sarris is a firm believer that a true auteur has great technical competence, distinguishable personality, and interior meaning. The auteur theory itself is commonly regarded as correct but is still subject to conjecture, giving the viewers and critics the power to establish their own verification of the admirable auteur.
Works Cited
"Auteur Theory." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 July 2014.Web. 08 May 2014.
Caughie, John. "The Theory in Practice." - California State University, Long Beach. Web. 08
May 2014.
Sarris, Andrew. "Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962." – California State University, Long
Beach. Web. 08 May 2014.
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.
In 1954 François Truffaut, in ‘Cahiers du Cinéma’, elaborated on this idea further with his essay ‘Les Politique des Auteurs’. He argued that ownership in a film, or the creative voice that drives a movie, is always inextricably linked to the director. As such, when looking at any director’s body of work there will be recurring themes, stylistic trends, and preoccupations that define these movies as belonging solely to the director. Accordingly, there are never “good or bad movies, only good and bad directors”. Greatness in a movie is a measure of originality and vision. Village Voice’s Andrew Sarris, in his Notes on Auteur Theory (1962), refined this concept by applying a visual aid of three concentric circles to help identify an auteur - the outer circle being technique, the middle circle, personal style, and the inner circle, interior
...ormation of novel to film, sees Hitchcock’s responsibility as auteur. Suggesting Hitchcock as ‘creator’, attributes to Vertigo’s “perfection” (Wood, p.129) as Wood argues. Stylistic features known classically to Alfred Hitchcock movies is also what defines Hitchcock as a classic auteur, his style generates a cinematic effect which mixes effectively with his use of suspense. In returning to Cook’s discussion, she references Andrew Sarris, who argues that the “history of American cinema could be written in terms of its great directors,” (Cook, p. 411) showing the legitimacy of authorship in popular American cinema. Ultimately Cook goes on to address the changes in authorship from the 1950’s until today, featuring developments in authorship within Cinema. Overall, both Cook and Wood presented a balanced discussion on the legitimacy of Alfred Hitchcock’s auteur status.
...eflects the director’s personal creative vision, as if they were the primary ‘auteur’ – which is the French word for author. As far as the law goes, any film that is produced is treated as a work of art, and the auteur, as the creator of the film, is the original copyright holder. This theory has influenced film criticism since the early 1950’s, when it was originally advocated for by the film director and critic, Francois Truffaut, through a certain type of film analysis. Auteur theory itself was developed a few years later in the US through the writings of The Village Voice critic, Andrew Sarris.
Bresson’s other films are made much in the same vein. Though, for example, L’Argent was made in 1983—far from the reaches of the New Wave era—it still has the Bresson-typical ambient sound, tortured main character, and dreariness about it. Jack C. Ellis says that Bresson’s “search for ever greater clarity and simplicity of visual-aural statement, his concentration on only those themes that most deeply concern him, place him among the very select company with which he is being considered.” So, while some directors may be debated upon continually as an auteur, it is clear from the consensus of historians and critics, as well as his consistent work in his thirteen films, that Robert Bresson has secured his role as an auteur.
It is time consuming for a director to get to that stage where they are acknowledged as an auteur, by spectators and by critics. One director whom I have also seen rise up to becoming an auteur, although not yet acknowledged as one is David O Russell, known for ‘Silver linings Playbook 2012’, “American Hustle 2013’ and the upcoming film ‘Joy 2015’ all of which feature, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley copper featuring in these films. In order for a spectator to understand the directors specific style and techniques, they must of watched at least more than one of the specific directors films in order to understand the concept of the ‘Auteur theory’. What is good about Auteur theory is the knowledge of a spectator, knowing that the director of the film there going to watch is something that they will enjoy and understand. Just like the director David O Russell, you may have seen his film ‘American Hustle’ and enjoyed it so think that his next film ‘Joy’ may be as good as his previous
To be considered an auteur the director has to show self-expressionism in their movies, along with repeating ideas and themes that refle...
With his down-the-rabbit-hole approach to design and obsessive attention to detail, Wes Anderson, writer, director and auteur, is best known for his highly stylized movies. His extremely visual, nostalgic worlds give meaning to the stories in his films, contrary to popular critical beliefs that he values style over substance. Through an analysis of his work, I plan to show that design can instead, give substance to style.
” … an auteur is able to maintain a consistency of style and theme by working against the constraints of the Hollywood mode of production.” – Warren Buckland (2008)
The aesthetic approach, also known as the masterpiece approach, involves solely looking at movies as a whole. This approach coincides the movie to its own director. For example, the Auteur theory explains how the director is also the author of the film. Film as a social history approach includes issues such as, gender, racial, political, and environmental. For example, the feminist film theory conveys a negative approach toward women. As shown in movies, women are considered eye-candy, sexual, dumb, and have no authority. Laura Mulvey even coined the term that women are the “male gaze” of cinema. In result, the Bechdel Test was created; if a movie did not have at least two major female characters that interacted besides talking about men,
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.
Auteur is a concept that originates in French in 1950. As its name translate to English “Author”, it is about the author. It segregates directors with unique styles and gives them more prestige. An auteur differs from other directors because they stick to their style. They are easy to distinguish. To be an auteur a director has to have three characteristics that would identify them: Technic, style, and interior meaning. This last one is more abstract, though. There are many directors that are considered auteur. Let us compare two great directors that fit into this definition. What are style, and technically used by Alfred Hitchcock and Akira Kurosawa?
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.
One strand of auteur theory, as Graeme Turner explains, concerns the identification of a director's visual style (Turner 44). When it comes to talking about visual styles of Asian directors, particularly in the context of Hong Kong cinema, one name that immediately comes to mind would be none other than Wong Kar-wai. Any Asian film student would probably be familiar with his signature works. Wong Kar-wai has been considered as "the very latest auteur produced by the second wave" in Hong Kong cinema (Teo 193). His passion for stylistic filmmaking and pursuit of film artistry gave him the recognition as a Hong Kong auteur. His auteur status arose from the distinctive visual style and individualistic visions evident in his films. Apart from directing, Wong Kar-wai also writes the screenplays for his own films. That gives him almost complete control over the entire film production and reinforces his authorship. He is famous for shooting without scripts, improvising the narrative as he shoots the films. With all his films being labelled as independent art-house and in contrast to the many commercial Hong Kong products, Wong Kar-wai stands apart from other directors (Stokes 186). In this essay, I will examine and discuss how academic film critics and scholars such as Stephen Teo, David Bordwell and others have talked about his visual style, in relation to one of his many award-winning films, Chungking Express (1994).
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