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Auteur Theory

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The Cinematic Auteur
Steven Spielberg
Auteur Theory says that a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision, as if they were the primary "auteur" (the French word for "author"). In spite of the production of the film as part of an industrial process, the auteur's creative voice is distinct enough to shine through all kinds of studio interference and through the collective process.”
Steven Spielberg is now recognized as one of Hollywood’s leading auteurs; a filmmaker who expresses his identity over a body of films. Steven Spielberg, for instance, lends his touch to films he's associated with, whether it's as director OR producer, as with The Goonies
Importance of auteur theory in film analysis and interpretation.
Auteur theory is the process in which to critique films. “The theory gives enormous, almost total responsibility for a film’s success or failure (artistically, not at the box office) to the director” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). According to film critic Andrew Sarris there are three rules to determine if a Director is an Auteurist. (1) Technical competence which refers to how well a movie is made; (2) Distinguishable Personality which refers to movies must have identifiable style and viewpoint; (3) Interior Meaning which refers to that the body of work should express coherent world stance.
The features of being an auteur include; 1 having a recognizable style, 2 repeatedly returning to the same subject mater, 3 habitually address a particular psychological or moral theme, 4 employ a reoccurring visual and aesthetic style, 5 constantly work with the same actors or cinametogarphers or editors…ect , or demonstrate any combination of the above. Steven Spielberg is an auteur and today I am going to prove it. I will show you through his use of themes, subject matter, visual style, Collaborations, and Institutions.
Name a director who you would consider an auteur and explain your reasoning
Some notable Auteur Directors are Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg and Spike Lee, hugely popular with their blockbuster movies. What are some arguments against auteur theory and provide examples to support your points.
Arguments against the auteur theory by film critic, Pauline Kael stating that we are over thinking the movies stating “How was one to guess what art was and was not based on a logic that seemed hidden to all other critics?” (Kael et al., 1963).
In the world of directors' cuts, such destructive choices are commonplace. Even the subtleties, while peripheral and seemingly innocuous, have their effects. An extra cutaway here, a quick reaction shot there, and suddenly the gags aren't quite as funny. The sex scenes aren't as breathless. The fights lose their drive. The dialogue drags. Just a little more padding and primping and the intangible gestalt of the original is lost.
Directors' cuts make financial sense because studios can resell the movies in their vaults at little cost. However, there's a point at which auteur perfectionism slides into decadent excess, and the film suffers. It was one thing when Orson Welles asked that the intrusive titles be plucked from the now-classic opening shot of Touch of Evil (1958)--a request Universal granted 40 years later--another when James Cameron insisted on buffing up Terminator 2 with soap-operatic sequences he'd once had the good sense to leave out.
Consider Steven Spielberg's adjustments in the 20th-anniversary remastered edition of his 1982 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. The changes range from the unnoticeable--accentuating the hobble of E.T.'s gait as he races through the woods--to the sacrilegious--digitally replacing the cops' guns with walkie-talkies. If these strike you as cosmetic, recall the inexcusable interludes of colonial romance and stranded Playboy bunnies in Apocalypse Now: Redux, or the egregious Pixarification of Jabba the Hut in the Special Edition of Star Wars.
The same goes for Spielberg's digital polishing of E. T. Most viewers probably don't notice the difference, at least not consciously but they may well feel a shift in the film's tone as the danger level is diminished. For me, swapping guns for walkie-talkies violates the core principle of the movie--indeed, any children's adventure worth its salt--which is kids versus adults. The moment you reduce the threat from a bullet in the head to a rap on the knuckles, you are sacrificing not only the dramatic stakes but also the movie's underlying mythic conflict” (Rose, 2010)
How does auteur theory influence audiences and critics, using examples from film criticism, film marketing campaigns, and your own personal experience
The auteur theory can affect the way a film is marketed by giving directors recognition for their work such as movies by Peter Jackson in the new movie the Hobbit due out soon everywhere you turn there is a commercial for this movie because he is so popular with his other movies such as Lord of the Rings and Adventures of Tintin that were blockbusters, but directors who are not as popular will not be marketed as well. “When a famous director makes a good movie, we look at the movie, we don't think about the director's personality; when he makes a stinker we notice his familiar touches because there's not much else to watch” (Kael, 1963).
References
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (Chapter 7.3, Paragraph 1)
Kael, P., Kauffmann, S., Lambert, G., & Sarris, A. (1963, April). Films of the quarter. Film Quarterly, 16(3), 61–64.
Kael, Pauline, Circles and Squares, Film Quarterly , Vol. 16, No. 3 (Spring, 1963), pp. 12-26, Published by: University of California Press, Article DOI: 10.2307/1210726, Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1210726
Rose, A. (2010). Auteurs Gone Wild: Why the director's cut often turns into an ax murder. American Scholar, 79(2), 96-99.

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