Auteur Theory

Question 1

Andrew Sarris 1962

Answer 1

American Film Critic
Took Truffauts model and expanded it:
Technical competence
Personal and recognizable style
Interior leaning

Question 2

What does Auteur mean?

Answer 2

Film should be treated as an art form and filmmakers should be treated as artists
-Auteur =Author in French
-Idea that the director is the sole contributor in their film
-Director is equivalent to an author of a play

Question 3

Before Auteur Theory

Answer 3

Cinema wasn’t taken seriously
Regarded as an asumsement
Made by group not individual
Dependent on money and technology
could be reproduced countless times in cinema

Question 4

Auteur Originated from

Answer 4

Term camera style by Alexandre Astic
The camera is quite simply a means of expression just as all the arts are gradually becoming a language a form by which an artist can express his thoughts exactly as he does in a novel or essay

Question 5

Truffaut argued directors needed to:

Answer 5

-Have full control over the film
-Make films that reflect their own fears anxieties dreams and hopes
-The director needed to be working from within the studio system battling against the restrictions

Question 6

Criticisms of Auteur Theory:

Answer 6

Pauline Karl
American film critic who disagreed with Sarris and Trauffaut.Perfered to analyze films without thinking about previous work
She critzised auteur theory:
Technical competency does not always result in good films they can be bland and unoriginal with no innovation