Skip to Main Content
Film Studies For Dummies
book

Film Studies For Dummies

by James Cateridge
April 2015
Beginner content levelBeginner
408 pages
11h 43m
English
For Dummies
Content preview from Film Studies For Dummies

Chapter 14

Praising Great Directors: Auteur Theory

In This Chapter

arrow Evolving from directors to auteurs

arrow Debating the pros and cons of the auteur theory

arrow Evaluating the careers of some major auteurs

Before auteur theory emerged in the 1950s, so-called serious art critics considered movies as rubbish. Now they’re often thought of as great works of art. How did this happen?

Well, many people argue that before you can talk about art, you need to have an artist, someone whose personal stamp you can detect on everything that they produce. Poets, authors, composers and painters all create the more ‘respectable’ art forms. In cinema, auteur theory places creative responsibility with the director.

After I define, dissect and debate auteur theory, in this chapter I also explore some good examples of individual auteurs of film history and of today. For ease of reference I have roughly grouped these film-makers chronologically: firstly, those who worked in the classical period of 1930 to 1960; secondly, those who emerged throughout the 1960s to the 1990s (most of whom are still active today); and, finally, some contemporary 21st century examples. In serving up these profiles, I had room to include ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

The Business of Film, 2nd Edition

The Business of Film, 2nd Edition

Paula Landry

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781118886564Purchase book