10. April the 16th: Auteur Theory

  • Watched: The Five Obstructions, Lars von Trier (2003).
  • The term “auteur” was coined the by French.
  • Francois Truffault, Jean Luke Goddard
  • Camera stylo
  • Cahier du Cinema, and was associated with the French New Wave.
  • Auteur Theory are the intended choices that the director makes, which reflect his/her creative visions.
  • People thought that film should be analyzed like literature. It should be taken more seriously.
  • Andrew Sarris developed the Auteur Theory. Talking about filmmakers as authors.
  • Future: controllable
  • L’avenir: uncontrollable material, we can’t predict.
  • The more obstruction that Lars put, the more opportunities for creativity he had. The films were more interesting when there were more obstructions than when there were none. The movie in Brussels was similar to typical Hollywood movies. The message was less powerful because of the leeway.
  • When you have restrictions, you have to find ways to cope with these problems. If you have the skills, then you can apply them.
  • (Discussion about auterism to be continued t-ill next class)