Abstract The following discussion describes the Auteur theory in greater detail, analyzing the importance of this theory and its contribution to cinema. The role of the director as an author and narrator is discussed at length as a means of understanding the various issues that directors face in their efforts to bring their creative vision to the big screen.
From the Paper "The film industry is comprised of a wide variety of cinematic theories and concepts, which promote the creation of films that convey some of the most interesting ideas for entertainment and learning purposes. These theories continue to encourage filmmakers to develop works that facilitate the understanding of their creative visions in a variety of contexts. One such concept that is worthy of further examination is Auteur theory, which exemplifies much of the work of some of the world's most famous filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock. There is considerable evidence to support this theory and its use in cinema; however, there are also issues related to this theory that create challenges for the film industry. The following discussion will evaluate the Auteur theory in filmmaking, and examples will be provided that support this theory in film practice."
Abstract In the late 1950s and early 1960s auteurism came to dominate film criticism. This theory can be defined as, ?a critical approach to film that emphasizes the essential role of the director as the author of the work,? with every aesthetic choice reflecting his or her personality. Many different approaches to more closely defining how to study, classify, and measure the value of auteurs were created. One of the most influential of these articles was Andrew Sarris? ?Notes On Auteur Theory in 1962?, which defined directors in terms of their ability to create films with technical competence, a style that reflected his or her distinct personality, and interior meaning. This study focuses on Bruce McDonald, a Canadian director. An analysis of his films in this paper shows his validity as an auteur according to Sarris? theory and at the same time shows the problems of studying directors as individual artists working within the constraints of cinema.
From the Paper "After ?Notes On Auteur Theory in 1962? was published several arguments against Sarris? theory arose, and these can be applied to Bruce McDonald's auteurism as well. Beginning in the late 1940s Hollywood journalists debated the importance of diverse collaborators on a filmmaking team. According to some critics auteurism underestimated the importance of the collaborative nature of filmmaking. Sarris? theory certainly finds that the director is the centre of film production, and as such is the auteur, but this does not take into consideration the role of other important "auteurs". These could include the screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. In McDonald's case his career is founded upon some key collaborations. On four of his seven feature films, the script was written at least in part by Don McKellar, another prominent Canadian actor, director, and writer."
Abstract Two of the post-war directors whose works most prominently exhibit characteristics of "auteur cinema" are Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. As will be seen, in "Otto e Mezzo", Fellini's creation of tension between the director's personality and the narrative with which he is working emphasizes the self-reflexivity of this work. Like Fellini, Antonioni, in his classic "L'avventura", emphasizes the nature of the film as an artifact. However, Antonioni's "auteurship" is characterized more by an emphasis on formal devices like camera shots, etc., to visually define his work as opposed to Fellini's concentration upon textual narrative. This paper will argue that the common element in both directors' approaches is an interest in the employment of self-reflexivity to undermine fixed meaning and the certainties of artistic representation of reality.
Abstract The word "auteur" has slipped from common usage when describing an artist of film. Perhaps, and there are critics that would rebut it, only Woody Allen is left as someone who is involved in every creative process of film making. The paper argues that while surely there were auteurs in the early days (D.W. Griffith , Charlie Chaplin, Mack Sennett and Cecil B. deMille), there are three pinnacles in recent times (i.e., since the 1950s) that truly deserve the name that was coined for them: Alfred Hitchcock, Jean-Luc Godard, and Federico Fellini. The paper shows how each provided audiences world-wide with a style that was uniquely theirs; some masterpieces and others just good entertainment. Each worked in a different country (countries, in Hitchcock's case, but mostly, his successes were in America), each brought a particular genre to the film, and it is as different auteurs that their work is examined and evaluated.
From the Paper "La Strada, which was undoubtedly his first international success, Fellini considers "his most juvenile, lyrical, most confessional film." It was also one film which made Anthony Quinn a star- getting rid of his villain roles in American films, and providing him with a powerful image that changed his entire career. While it is often difficult for a writer-director, an auteur, to explain precisely what motivates the film, in the case of La Strada, Fellini said that "Jesus must be sought outside the church....Christ appears to men under different manifestations, even in the guise of a circus performer. Today we are finished with the Christ myth and await a new one." "
Abstract This paper will examine the critical responses to three films, which derive from both immediate and reflective criticism. The films to be discussed are Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V", Federico Fellini's "La Strada" and Fritz Lang's "Metropolis". It will be argued that central to the criticism of the three directors and their films are the sense in which each is regarded as an "auteur". All three cinematic texts produce meaning through the tension between the director's personality and the material with which he is working. It is this pervasive domination by the director of the cinematic text through manipulation of the 'mise en scene' that defines these works as that of "auteurs".
Abstract This paper explains that, as the ?auteur? of "Double Indemnity", Wilder produced and directed one of the great Hollywood examples of film noir; it stands today as the quintessential example of the genre. The author points out that, as a cinematic genre dating back to the mid 1930s, film noir is generally defined as a dark, suspenseful thriller with a plot line revolving around crime or mystery. The paper states that the term ?auteur? is most often used as a reference to the director of a particular film whose impact on the end product cannot be denied, imbuing the film with his or her distinctive, recognizable style.
From the Paper "Another example of how film noir draws the audience into the story is through emotion and tension, especially those connected with Neff's fear of discovery and his personal feelings for Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), Neff's employer, who soon starts his own investigation into the death of Phyllis's husband. One scene has Keyes calling Neff into his office to confront a witness who saw Neff on the train; a second scene has Keyes arriving at Neff's apartment when Phyllis is expected at any moment. These examples are pure film noir, for they illustrate how tension and conflict play major roles in advancing the storyline towards its final and at times expected conclusion."
Abstract Championed by directors Jean Luc Godard and Franחois Truffaut, the French directors were seeking to justify their own individualism as an answer to the lifting of the quota on American Films after World War II, which led to a flood of big budget Hollywood films into French movie houses. The paper shows that the French directors, unable to compete with the flash and panache of Hollywood, pointed out that individualism made their films stronger. They therefore annointed John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock and Hawks as the patron saints of the auteurs. This paper examines how Hawks' films, use of actors and apolitical emotions made him worthy of the French title.
From the Paper "Hawks refused to be limited by labels, he refused to succumb to functional fixity. His most serious films have bits of humor and he was not adverse to turning a drama into a comedy or for that matter into a musical. During his career, though he got a "feel-good" award for lifetime achievement, he received few nominations and no Oscars during his career. Yet, he was one of the few directors who, productive and successful before the Second World War, remained commercially and artistically successful after the war. And when it comes to crossing genres his success to date is unparalleled. He was equally at home in comedy, westerns, aviation films and war dramas."
Tags: Andr?, Bazin, Alexandre, Astruc, Mary, Pickford, Carey, Grant
Abstract Discussion of the filmmaker as "auteur." His involvement as a writer as well as director in his movies. His consideration of screenwriting as the formation for the structure and visuals of a film. Elements of the " Hitchcock Touch." The melodramatic, suspense movies. His use of the " MacGuffin." His British films. His Hollywood films.
From the Paper "ALFRED HITCHCOCK- WRITER
Movie buffs know Alfred Hitchcock, of course, mostly for his American films- "Rebecca", "North by Northwest", "The Birds", "Marnie", "Vertigo", and "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (among others). But, what really sets Hitchcock apart - beginning with his earliest films done in England prior to World War II, is the fact that he was as much a writer as a director, even if the screenplay was actually "written" by someone else.
"Although one aspect of Alfred Hitchcock's rhetoric drastically privileged the image over the word, he also insisted that it was during the screenwriting that his most serious work was done. He defined the screenwriting process as the space where all fundamental directorial decisions have already been made; he did not think of "writing" apart from the work he planned for the ..."
Abstract This paper examines the main themes of director David Cronenberg's work through the example of three films "Videodrome", "The Dead Zone", and "Dead Ringers". The paper describes Cronenberg's unique cinematic style in terms of its technical accomplishments and horror stories. The paper defines the term ?auteur director? and applies it to Cronenberg's films.
From the Paper "There are a few different areas of filmmaking that generally get a director labeled as an "auteur." One might be the technical aspects of the film - the camera work, the set design, the lighting. Another might be the style or conditions under which the director works. Lastly, an auteur director is sometimes labeled as such because of the themes he or she chooses to explore over the course of several (or all, in some cases) of their films or a specific genre that they choose to work within over a period of time. David Croneneberg has worked primarily in the horror or suspense genre for most of his career and delves into issues that face humanity, technology, society, and responsibility in unique ways."
Abstract This paper examines the film "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town"(1936) directed by Frank Capra and uses it as an example of the type of film that become Capra's trademark, the funny story of an unintentional hero who tries to address the nation's social problems. It provides a filmography of Capra's career and looks at how Capra, more than most directors of his period, was in charge of the content and the look of his movies and was, in short, their auteur. Through a review of the film, it examines how Capra was a master at persuading the audience to identify with his heroes and their emotions.
From the Paper "This does not mean Capra simply made the same film several times. The focus of each movie is different: helping people most affected by the Depression, cleaning up corrupt politics, and fighting Fascism. But the messages are also delivered in a form unlike any other director's; a combination of comedy, sentiment, and idealism that was nearly unique. This approach was so much Capra's own that it was known by the name of "Capracorn" among those who were unsympathetic with sentiment--some said sentimentality--applied to political ideas and romance (Willis 45). His thematic unity is evident in comparisons of Deeds miserably refusing to defend himself at his hearing, in Jeff Smith breaking down in the Senate, and in John Doe being pelted with tomatoes by followers who have turned against him. "
Abstract This paper explains that Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a self taught filmmaker that treats the medium as an art form in which the details of the craft are just as important, or even more important, than the subject matter itself. The author points out that Jean-Pierre is one of few true film auteurs, who enjoys taking part in almost every aspect of filmmaking from writing the script, storyboarding, set design all the way through the editing process. The paper analyzes his films "Delicatessen" (1992), "City of Lost Children" (1995) and "A Very Long Engagement" (2005); however, the primary focus is on "Amelie" (2001), his most famous film and the first film he wrote and directed alone.
From the Paper "While the look and style of his films come from several sources and could be highly debatable, the main themes and tone come from entirely different influences. In other words, while German expressionism can be spotted right away on the set of "Delicatessen" with its angular, shadowy and dark exteriors--neither the characters nor the overall tone of the movie goes along with the ideas of German expressionism. Satirical comedies and light heartedness do not coincide with the style of German expressionism or French new wave."
Tags:auteur, cinema fantastique, cinema du look, wide angle lenses, forerunner
Abstract This paper will discuss the work of a director who is generally acknowledged to be one of the great auteurs of modern cinema, Federico Fellini. It will be argued that his film "8 +" (1963) produces meaning through the tension between the director's personality and the material with which he is working; one of the defining elements of "auteurist" cinema. This paper will demonstrate that what renders "8 +" a work of an auteur is the extent to which Fellini mines the familiar pattern of self-reference - a signature of Fellini as auteur - to such a degree as to make the exploration of radical subjectivity into an objective statement about the role of the director as auteur and his function within the filmic text.
Abstract Discusses the example of the auteurism theory of the French New Wave and the concerns and themes of the film. Examines the formal aspects of mise-en-scene, lighting, editing, and other elements and how they expressed the auteur theory.
From the Paper "Jean Luc-Godard's 1965 film Pierrot le Fou is one of the finest examples of the auteurism theory of the French New Wave, and as such it stretched the medium of film. American film critic Andrew Sarris, defining the auteur theory, wrote that "film should ..."
From the Paper "While it may be debated for years to come if the term auteur belongs to Hitchcock, it will never be debated that he was a genius in his own right. And if being an auteur means that one exerts much control over his films, it is impossible to contradict the fact that Hitchcock, did indeed, show an unprecedented amount of control in each of his films. If the argument is to be sound, a closer examination of the meaning of auteur might be recognized.Hitchcock was a genius of film and art. His work was revolutionary and gave inspiration to many other filmmakers. His unwavering discipline of creating the best works proves him to be one of the best filmmakers in history. No doubt, his work will be debated and discussed for centuries to come. "
From the Paper "The auteur theory developed by French film critics beginning in the 1950s is partly a convenient way of categorizing and analyzing films, collecting titles as the body of work of the director. More than this, though, the theory holds that it is the director more than anyone else who is responsible for the finished film, since he or she is the one who determines visual style and other matters in the course of production. The theory finds that the director expresses meaning through visual style and that analyzing the visual style of a given director reveals consistent thematic concerns, similarities in character development, and other repeated and recognizable signs of a single intelligence at work. At the same time, though, film remains a collaborative medium, and it would seem that directors would be influenced by their..."
