Spike Lee is considered to be one of the underrated directors of our time. He was born on March 20, 1957 in Atlanta. He grew up with a supportive family. He started making amateur films at the age of 20.After graduating NYU film school he was ready for the world. He already overcame the fact that African-American filmmakers were narrow. His big break started when he earned seven million in box office for a movie which priced at $175,000 to make. Also, the film was only shot in two weeks. This was only the beginning to a bright future. His vision shows no favoritism and spares no races. His use of interviews and social commentary gives different cultures an opportunity to look honestly into the hearts, minds, and conscience of their people. He also exposes hypocrisy and lies when he demonstrates the different stereotypes that remain in today’s society .Spike Lee creates amazing movies about provocative topics no else wanted to discuss. Who would know that small kid from Atlanta, Georgia could be considered an auteur? Shelton Jackson Lee is considered an auteur to extent by addressing provocative subjects, playing an acting role, unique traits, and being consistent.
Spike Lee has made movies which discuss things no one would show the public. Malcom X was a huge film; Spike brought an ionic man to the perspective of the people. In the movie Malcom X you see the use vulgar language to state his point. Spike Lee introduces these topics rapidly unlike no other would. Malcom X shows the racist abuse a black man goes through, this picture couldn’t be any more vivid to the general public. In this movie he applies the “by any means necessary” method into his production and his message. In Alex Haley’s interview with Spike, he addresses the ...
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...n who idolizes Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, and the Coen Brothers cannot be racist. Spike Lee may have provocative themes, but he is nowhere near racists.
Spike Lee is a pure example of an auteur actor. He doesn’t make films please critics, but rather to make a film the way he wants. Lee won’t give in towards tension in the movie world, which is similar to the great auteurs. The inspiration Spike Lee has left on young Hispanic and African-Americans in the film world is astonishing. While becoming a godfather for the minority, Shelton Jackson Lee is considered an auteur to extent by addressing provocative subjects, playing an acting role, unique traits, and being consistent.
Works Cited
http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/interview-spike-lee
http://www.indiewire.com/article/its-a-wrap-spike-lees-kickstarter-project-da-blood-of-jesus-finishes-shooting
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.
This week’s readings of the reviews of Spike Lee’s ‘Do the Right Thing’ and Marilyn Fabe’s “Political Cinema: Spike Lee’s ‘Do the Right Thing’, raised a number of questions regarding not only the moral issues the film addresses but also the intention of the artist. This dialectical opposition, which Pamela Reynolds suggests “challenges the audience to choose” (Reynolds, p.138) between the narrativized hostility shown between that of the hero and villain. More specifically Lee’s portrayal of violence vs passive opposition. This can be perceived through Lee’s technical employment of contradictory quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcom X at the conclusion of the film, which not only highlights this concern but also deluges further into themes of political opposition. Marylin Fabe discusses this where she states that Spike Lee’s film carries a “disturbing political message” (Fabe, p.191). Arguably, ‘Do the Right Thing’ acmes themes of racism (Black vs White); with underlining motifs of imperialism (colonisers’ vs colonised), psychoanalytic (power vs powerlessness) and even Marxist theory (ownership vs public space/consumption), with Clarence Page stating that Lee provides a “public service… (not trying) to provide all the answers, but raising the questions.” (Reid, P.144). In saying this we explore this concept of the role of the artist, with Georgopulos stating that the role of the artist is to create a consciousness within the audience by revealing a fraught set of truths about the human condition. Thusly, the reactions and responses to the films reveal Lee to be successful in conveying his intentions, which back in its zenith, explored this issue of racism in a way that had rarely been seen, and presented the ways in which t...
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.
Spike Lee is not only one of the best filmmakers in America, but one of the most crucially important, because his films address the central subject of race, as so does the book. He doesn't use a sentimental approach or political work, but shows how his characters lived, and why. Alex Haley depiction of Malcolm X life as told to him by Malcolm, shares the same perception as the movie, but what Alex provides in the book seems to be almost or all Malcolm’s different interactions with “white folks”, and each interaction Malcolm gained something from it - whether it was positive or negative - and that is one of the things that attracted me to his life story.
Auteurism is a very important aspect to analyzing film. When a director is an auteur, he not only has films that are easily recognized as his, but also he has left his mark on film history. Three important auteurs are Frederico Fellini, Satyajit Ray, and Alfred Hitchcock. All three of these directors have specific styles and recurring themes that they have made their trademark.
Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were the only way for African-Americans to express the deep pain that the white population placed in front of them. Singing, dancing and acting took many African-Americans to a place that no oppressor could reach; considering the exploitation of their character during the 1930's-1960's acting' was an essential technique to African American survival.
Spike Lee is a filmmaker who has generated numerous controversial films that unapologetically bring delicate social issuest o the media forefront. He honestly portrays life's societal obstacles. He challenges the public to cogitate on the world's glitches and disunion. Spike Lee created a name for himself with films such as Do the Right Thing (1989) and Malcolm X (1992), and with documentaries such as 4 Little Girls (1997) and When the Levees Broke (2006). Lee’s goal was to portray African Americans in a more accurate light.
Being one of the few black students to attend Tisch School of the Arts, the aspiring filmmaker’s first year at New York University was a particularly difficult one. Lee’s experiences, race, and upbringing have all led him to create controversial films to provide audiences with an insight into racial issues. Spike Lee’s first student production, The Answer, was a short ten minute film which told of a young black screenwriter who rewrote D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation. The film was not well accepted among the faculty at New York University, stating Lee had not yet mastered “film grammar.” Lee went on to believe the faculty took offense to his criticisms towards the respected director’s stereotypical portrayals of black characters (1).
The Analysis of Quentin Tarantino as a Director The director I have chosen to look at is Quentin Tarantino. His films have achieved a cult ang global status and I dont think anyone is going to argue that he is not an auteur. I am more interested in examining his style and seeing how this makes him an auteur and if it has changed when he was receiving a higher budget. Tarantino was born in Noxville Tennessee on 27th march 1963. Tony
Racism did not start with just one person nor one truth. Neither will racism end with one person or truth. I believe it takes a contribution of people, the American nation, to commit willingly. We need to listen and learn, talk and share, and understand the truths that each individual owns. Spike Lee's movie comes across as a brilliant and powerful illustration of how America's condescending behavior impairs our racial society.
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
It is no doubt that Martin Scorsese has heavily influenced the emulating of American film making from European influences. He is a prime example of a ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ director, not only from his ethnicity and background, but from his sheer interest in this form
This movie does provoke a dialogue on race that, according to author and journalist Jeff Chang, "has been anathema to Hollywood after 9/11." During the first viewing of
Paul Thomas Anderson is one of today’s most acclaimed and essential young filmmakers. He has swept the motion picture industry with a powerhouse trio of films that have breathed life and exuberance into an industry that is all too often ladened with films exhibiting massive deficiencies of originality and thought. PTA’s genuine love of filmmaking sets him apart from so many others.
“Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine, some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything’s okay. I don’t make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything’s not okay.” - David Fincher. David Fincher is the director that I am choosing to homage for a number of reasons. I personally find his movies to be some of the deepest, most well made, and beautiful films in recent memory. However it is Fincher’s take on story telling and filmmaking in general that causes me to admire his films so much. This quote exemplifies that, and is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my views on the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture that they are helping to create. In this paper I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces that he does and what I can take from that and apply to my films.