[0:00]Auteur theory is the most important theory in all of cinema. Even if you haven't heard of it, it's probably affected how you view the movies, filmmaking, and film criticism, and how much emphasis you put on the director as the author of a movie.
[0:17]I'm the king of the world! And today, I'm going to explain what is auteur theory. Auteur is actually the French word for author. An auteur theory is where the idea of the director as the primary author or artist of a film, and that that film reflects the director's creative vision. A distinct creative voice that you can spot, either through style, story, subject matter. Some directors are noticeable right away, like say the films of Tim Burton or Wes Anderson, Spielberg, Hitchcock, or John Ford. It's very obvious that they are the main cinematic voice through these films. The director is wielding their camera almost like how a writer uses a pen. This came from filmmaker and critic Alexander Astruc, and the notion of the camera stilo, or camera pen. But auteur theory itself mainly comes from two essays by two different critics. First from François Truffaut in 1954 in his essay, A Certain Tendency in French Cinema in the French film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma. And then in America by critic and friend of Truffaut's, Andrew Sarris, with his essay Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962, and then his book, The American Cinema, Directors and Directions 1929-1968. Both gave a theory to a director as an artist, but also gave recognition that the best of Hollywood directors are the equals of great painters, writers, and composers. It was an easier way to simply show and establish that the movies were an art form. It's also to show the director's creative vision that went into making a film and identifying it. This can get tricky. It's easy to say Kurosawa, Leone, Kubrick, and Tarantino are auteurs. Their films are very recognizable on their own and have their own stamp very obviously on them. But what about lesser, not immediately noticeable directors? Well, you need to establish patterns in their work. This was often used for classic Hollywood directors such as Michael Curtiz, Raoul Walsh, Anthony Mann, and William Wellman. Director of Public Enemy, A Star is Born, and many others. Wellman might not be the most well-known classic Hollywood director today, but you can understand his artistic voice through the patterns in his work. How he often made films about aviation with Wings, The Gallant Journey, Men with Wings, Central Airport, The High and the Mighty, and Island in the Sky. This makes sense, Wellman being a flyer himself. He would also frequently have the stories about two men who are close and childhood friends as protagonists and one woman, and often but not always, being a love triangle between the three of them in Wings, Other Men's Women, Wild Boys of the Road, and Central Airport. But you can also use this for less noticeable new studio directors as well. Let's say Justin Lin. Considered by some a vulgar auteur. The director of the Fast and the Furious movies and the recent Star Trek Beyond, it's easier for you to not know who Justin Lin is, but you can establish patterns within his work to understand his aural voice, like working with an ensemble and how each of his films show an ensemble working together to solve a problem or mystery from his first film Better Luck Tomorrow to Fast Five to Star Trek Beyond, and how he especially loves two people catching themselves in a midair jump, as evidence through his last two films. But a director isn't the only person whose creative voice comes through a movie and could be considered an auteur. This goes away from Sarris and Truffaut, but I've always looked at these theories as more liberal. Auteur to me means author. Film is a collaborative medium and really always has been. And that is the common complaint against auteur theory that it doesn't recognize the work of the screenwriter or cinematographer or producer and all the craftsmen working on the film. In a way, it does. It just acts like the main vision of the director is what guides everyone who works on a film. But more often than not, it's not just the director whose creative vision or voice comes through a film. Take The Social Network, for example. It's very much a David Fincher film from the way it's shot and made. It feels very David Fincher. But you can't help but notice Aaron Sorkin's unique and distinct voice through its screenplay. You don't think I deserve your attention? I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have a right to give it a try, but there's no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. Or look at a film like Skyfall. You can say it's directed by Sam Mendes. It feels like a Sam Mendes directed film, but it's also very easy to notice the distinct cinematography of Roger Deakins. And also the various Bond tropes and voices behind the scenes of the Broccoli family as well. You can easily say that it's just a Sam Mendes film, but you wouldn't truly be understanding it. This would also be true with a classic like Taxi Driver, very much a Martin Scorsese film, but would it really be what it was without the Paul Schrader written screenplay? And what about the music of Bernard Herrmann? Taxi Driver wouldn't be what it was without all those elements together. Look even at what Bernard Herrmann did for Hitchcock or John Williams did for Spielberg. You might think of that music when thinking of those directors' work, but those directors didn't make the music, showing how you authored a film can be more than just a director. Look at various other producers also who can be regarded as auteurs as well. Val Lewton, who didn't direct Cat People, Jack Turner did, but many of the Val Lewton horror films of the period are mainly given credit to him and share a uniquely Val Lewton style. Why not say they share an auteur voice of this producer? It's very obvious that the same producer or author behind the scenes was creatively involved. Take another producer like David O' Selznick, for example. Gone with the Wind is almost credited more to him than anyone else with all the director changes from George Cukor to the credited director Victor Fleming, but really, Selznick is usually given credit for the film. And why not? He was one of the main reasons the movie got made at all and maybe the main vision and the most consistent auteur vision of Gone with the Wind. You could even look at someone like Kevin Feige with Marvel Studios the same way today. Although several directors from Joe Johnston to Joss Whedon to the Russo Brothers and James Gunn have all put their own obvious personal stamps on their films they've directed. The Marvel aesthetic and style is probably most associated with Feige. Auteur theory is a policy. It's a theory used to identify and clarify, but it's not the rule. A film isn't better or worse depending on its autorish voice or who gave it that autorish voice, but it's good to understand whose personal creative voice made a film what it was. And although a director can be part of that, it doesn't mean that's the only thing that made it that way. Movies are collaborative, and you should understand how often many voices made a film into what it was. Auteur theory can help your understanding of the art form, and how and what to take seriously from that art form. It's good to know it and understand it, but also good to not let it overpower you and let the role of the director overpower what you know about movies as well. But we'll get into that more next time. I'm Jim Grier, and this is Deep Focus.
