Task 7 ~ Role allocation - Auteur theory

Auteur theory

In 1954, the film director and critic Francois Truffaut wrote an article entitled “A Certain Tendency in French Cinema”. In this article he claimed that film is a great medium for expressing the personal ideas of the director. He suggested that this meant that the director should therefore be regarded as an ‘auteur’.

The worth of this theory has been questioned by some critics. But, it is particularly useful as a starting point for the interpretation of some films and the application of the role that I will be playing in my production

Auteur Theory suggests that a director can use film-making in the same way that a writer uses a pen or a painter uses paint and a paintbrush. It is a medium for the personal artistic expression of the director. The film critic, Andre Bazin, explained that: auteur theory was a way of choosing the personal factor in artistic creation as a standard of reference, and then assuming that it continues and even progresses from one film to the next.

Auteur Theory suggests that the best films will bear their maker’s ‘signature’.  This may be presented as itself an attribute of his or her individual personality or perhaps even focus on recurring themes within the productions. Alfred Hitchcock, an auteur himself plays this idea up in most of his movies where he makes sure that he appears on screen in a brief cameo spot. This became a game that viewers would engage in, waiting to find out when he would appear.