Auteurism

Question 1

What does auteur mean and who is considered the auteur on a film?

Answer 1

Auteur means author and the person on the film considered to be the auteur is the director.
The director is the chief creative talent behind any given film and thus can be understood as that film’s author

Question 2

Auteurism is tied to and enabled by _____ cinema. Why?

Answer 2

Auteurism is tied to and enabled by art cinema. It distinguishable by art cinema because it bears traces of its creation and its creator

Question 3

In classical film, how does the auteur play a role?

Answer 3

Classical cinema is considered “a tale without a teller.” Style was supposed to be invisible, to support, not distract viewers. Therefore, an auteur had minimal room from imposing their own style.

Question 4

Define ouvre

Answer 4

Body of work (usually referring to an auteur).

Question 5

What were key events in the formulation of auteurism?

Answer 5

Cahier du cinema, The publication of Franćois Truffaut’s “A Certain Tendency of French Cinema” in 1954, the notion of the auteur was born in tandem with cinephilia

Question 6

Despite the studio system, how were auteurs identified in the Hollywood context by film critics throughout the 1950s and 1960s?

Answer 6

Surprisingly, auteurs were sometimes identified in the Hollywood context as well. Despite the studio system rules some directors were still able to create a style (Howard Hawks, John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock)

Question 7

Who popularized “auteur theory” in North America in the mid-1960s?

Answer 7

Andrew Sarris

Question 8

Peter Wollen shifted the emphasis of auteur criticism in two significant ways. What are they?

Answer 8

From the flesh and blood author to the “textual author,” from conscious intentions to unconscious effects.

Question 9

What are some of auteurisms limitations (as described by André Bazin in 1957)?

Answer 9

• It dismisses films that are not directed by auteurs
• It tends toward an attitude of “artistic infallibility” in the case of auteurs
• It establishes a priori assumptions concerning the evolution of talent
• It devalues a film’s subject
• It is assumed that simply having a worldview that gains expression is a mark of distinction
• It fails to consider history society, and technology