Auteur - Wikipedia Auteur hide This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages ) The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. ( August 2016 ) This article needs attention from an expert in Film. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article. WikiProject Film may be able to help recruit an expert. ( November 2016 ) An auteur ( / oʊ ˈtɜːr / ; French : ( o. tœʁ ), lit. ' author ' ) is a singular artist who controls all aspects of a collaborative creative work, a person equivalent to the author of a novel or a play. The term is commonly used to refer to film directors with a recognizable style or thematic preoccupation. Auteurism originated in the French film criticism of the late 1940s as a value system that derives from the cinematic theories of André Bazin and Alexandre Astruc -- dubbed auteur theory by the American critic Andrew Sarris. The concept was invented to distinguish French New Wave filmmakers from studio - system directors that were part of the Hollywood establishment, and has since been applied to producers of popular music as well as to video - game creators. Contents 1 Film 1.1 Origin 1.2 Truffaut 's development 1.3 Hollywood changes 1.4 Criticism 1.5 Law 2 Popular music 3 Video games 4 See also 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 Further reading 8 External links Film See also : List of film auteurs This section possibly contains inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text. Please help improve this article by checking for citation inaccuracies. ( August 2016 ) Origin Film director and critic François Truffaut in 1965 The definition of an auteur has been debated since the 1940s. André Bazin and Roger Leenhardt presented the theory that it is the director that brings the film to life and uses the film to express their thoughts and feelings about the subject matter as well as a worldview as an auteur. An auteur can use lighting, camerawork, staging and editing to add to their vision. Truffaut 's development In François Truffaut 's 1954 essay `` Une certaine tendance du cinéma français '' ( `` A certain tendency in French cinema '' ), he coined the phrase `` la politique des Auteurs '', asserting that the worst of Jean Renoir 's movies would always be more interesting than the best of the movies of Jean Delannoy. `` Politique '' might very well be translated as `` policy '' or `` program '' ; it involves a conscious decision to value and look at films in a certain way. One might see it as the policy of treating any director who uses a personal style or a unique worldview as an Auteur. Truffaut criticized the Cinema of Quality as `` Scenarists ' films '', which are works that lack originality and rely on literary classics. According to Truffaut, this means that the director is only a metteur en scene, a `` stager ''. This tradition suggests that the screenwriter hands the script to the director and the director simply adds the performers and pictures. Truffaut said : `` ( t ) here are no good and bad movies, only good and bad directors ''. Hollywood changes From 1960, with his first self - directed film The Bellboy, Jerry Lewis was one of the earliest Hollywood studio - system actor - turned - director to be critiqued as an auteur. His attention to both the business and creative sides of production : writing, directing, lighting, editing and art direction coincided with the rise of auteur theory. He earned consistent praise by French critics in both Cahiers du Cinéma and Positif. His singular mis - en - scene, and skill behind the camera, was aligned with Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and Satyajit Ray. Jean - Luc Godard said, `` Jerry Lewis... is the only one in Hollywood doing something different, the only one who is n't falling in with the established categories, the norms, the principles... Lewis is the only one today who 's making courageous films. He 's been able to do it because of his personal genius ''. Criticism Even before auteur theory became clearly defined, the director was considered to be the most important among the people working on a film. Early German film theorist Walter Julius Bloem credited this to film being an art for the masses, and the masses being accustomed to regard someone who gives the final product ( in this case, the director ) as an artist, and those who contribute before ( i.e. screenwriters ) as apprentices. Starting in the 1960s, some film critics began criticising auteur theory 's focus on the authorial role of the director. Pauline Kael and Andrew Sarris feuded in the pages of The New Yorker and various film magazines. One reason for the backlash is the collaborative aspect of shooting a film, and in the theory 's privileging of the role of the director ( whose name, at times, has become more important than the movie itself ). In Kael 's `` Raising Kane '' ( 1971 ), an essay written on Orson Welles ' Citizen Kane, she points out how the film made extensive use of the distinctive talents of co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz and cinematographer Gregg Toland. Some screenwriters have publicly balked at the idea that directors are more authorial than screenwriters, while film historian Aljean Harmetz, referring to the creative input of producers and studio executives in classical Hollywood, argues that the auteur theory `` collapses against the reality of the studio system ''. In 2006, David Kipen coined the term Schreiber theory to refer to the theory of the screenwriter as the principal author of a film. Film historian Georges Sadoul pointed out that the main author of a film is not necessarily the director, but can be main actor, screenwriter, producer, or even the author of the original story ( in case of literary adaptations ). Also, he argued that the film can only be seen as a work of collective and not as a work of a single person. Some criticize Auteur theory, and the practice of praising Auteurs, for being male - dominated. Specifically in the U.S., no woman director has ever been invited to join the pantheon of international auteur directors. Kathryn Bigelow, a potential contender for recognition as an Auteur, had to leave the U.S. for financial security, and is still not included as an Auteur. In fact, on the List of film auteurs, there are only five women out of a list of 133. Some point to the lack - of women directors. In 2016, just 7 % of all directors for the top 250 grossing movies were women. Others point to the lack of women in film schools, which has since changed. Now, Professor Martha Lauzen of San Diego State University says that women are represented in film schools. The under - representation of women in film has been called celluloid ceiling. Law In law, the film is treated as a work of art and the auteur, as the creator of the film, is the original copyright holder. Under European Union law, the film director is considered the author or one of the authors of a film, largely as a result of the influence of auteur theory. Popular Music This section is missing information about the artistic recognition of popular music genres, music stars as `` auteurs '', and comparisons to auteur theory as applied to film ( see Shuker in `` Further reading '' ). Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. ( August 2016 ) Record producer Phil Spector in 1964 From the 1960s, Phil Spector is considered the first auteur among producers of popular music. Author Matthew Bannister named him the first `` star '' producer. Journalist Richard Williams wrote : `` Spector created a new concept : the producer as overall director of the creative process, from beginning to end. He took control of everything, he picked the artists, wrote or chose the material, supervised the arrangements, told the singers how to phrase, masterminded all phases of the recording process with the most painful attention to detail, and released the result on his own label. ''. Another early pop music auteur was the Beach Boys ' multi-tasking leader Brian Wilson, who himself was mentored by Spector. Before the progressive pop of the late 1960s, performers were typically unable to decide on the artistic content of their music. Wilson became the first rock producer to use the studio as a discrete instrument, thus making the Beach Boys one of the first rock groups to exert studio control. Music producers after the mid 1960s would draw on his influence, setting a precedent that allowed bands and artists to enter a recording studio and act as producers, either autonomously, or in conjunction with other like minds. The Atlantic 's Jason Guriel wrote that Wilson `` paved the way for auteurs like Kanye West... anticipat ( ing ) the rise of the producer... ( and ) the modern pop - centric era, which privileges producer over artist and blurs the line between entertainment and art... Anytime a band or musician disappears into a studio to contrive an album - length mystery, the ghost of Wilson is hovering near. '' Video games See also : Art game and Video games as an art form This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( July 2016 ) Japanese developer Hideo Kojima ( Metal Gear series ) is considered to be the first auteur of video games. Other auters include Tetsuya Nomura ( Final Fantasy series ), Fumito Ueda ( Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian ), Yoko Taro ( Drakengard, NieR, NieR : Automata ), Jon Van Caneghem ( Might and Magic ), Ken Levine ( BioShock, BioShock Infinite, System Shock 2 ), Tetsuya Takahashi ( Xeno series ), Hidetaka Miyazaki ( Souls series ), and Ragnar Tornquist. See also Authenticity in art List of film auteurs Philosophy of film Studio system Vulgar auteurism References ^ Jump up to : Santas 2002, p. 18. Jump up ^ Min, Joo & Kwak 2003, p. 85. Jump up ^ Caughie 2013, pp. 22 -- 34, 62 -- 66. Jump up ^ The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica ( n.d. ). `` Auteur theory ''. Encyclopædia Britannica. Jump up ^ Sarris, Andrew ( Winter 1962 -- 1963 ). `` Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962 '' ( PDF ). Film Culture. 27 : 1 -- 8. Jump up ^ Thompson & Bordwell 2010, pp. 381 -- 383. Jump up ^ Thompson & Bordwell 2010, p. 382. Jump up ^ Jim Hillier, ed. ( 1987 ). Cahiers du Cinema 1960 -- 1968 New Wave, New Cinema, Re-evalutating Hollywood ( Godard in interview with Jacques Bontemps, Jean - Louis Comolli, Michel Delahaye, and Jean Narboni ). Harvard University Press. p. 295. ISBN 9780674090620. CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Bloem 1924. Jump up ^ A Survivor of Film Criticism 's Heroic Age Jump up ^ Pauline and Me : Farewell, My Lovely Jump up ^ Kael, Pauline, `` Raising Kane '', The New Yorker, February 20, 1971. Jump up ^ Aljean Harmetz, Round up the Usual Suspects, p. 29. Jump up ^ Kipen 2006. Jump up ^ Sadoul 1972. Jump up ^ Giese, Maria ( 2013 - 12 - 09 ). `` Auteur Directors : Any American Women ? ''. IndieWire. Retrieved 2018 - 04 - 25. Jump up ^ `` Study : Female Filmmakers Lost Ground in 2016 ''. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018 - 04 - 25. Jump up ^ Cochrane, Kira ( 2010 - 01 - 31 ). `` Why are there so few female film - makers ? ''. the Guardian. Retrieved 2018 - 04 - 25. Jump up ^ Kamina 2002, p. 153. Jump up ^ Eisenberg 2005, p. 103. ^ Jump up to : Bannister 2007, p. 38. Jump up ^ Williams 2003, pp. 15 -- 16. Jump up ^ Williams 2003, pp. 15 - 16. ^ Jump up to : Edmondson 2013, p. 890. ^ Jump up to : Cogan & Clark 2003, pp. 32 -- 33. Jump up ^ Willis 2014, p. 217. Jump up ^ Miller 1992, p. 193. Jump up ^ Guriel, Jason ( May 16, 2016 ). `` How Pet Sounds Invented the Modern Pop Album ''. The Atlantic. Jump up ^ `` Hideo Kojima - video gaming 's first auteur - Screen Robot ''. Screen Robot. Retrieved 7 April 2016. Jump up ^ Fahey, Rob ( 9 December 2016 ). `` Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian : The Last of their Kind ''. GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 9 December 2016. Jump up ^ `` How the creator of Dreamfall got back to his roots - Polygon ''. Retrieved 6 April 2017. Bibliography Bannister, Matthew ( 2007 ). White Boys, White Noise : Masculinities and 1980s Indie Guitar Rock. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7546 - 8803 - 7. Bloem, Walter Julius ( 1924 ). The Soul of the Moving Picture. E.P. Dutton. Caughie, John ( 2013 ). Theories of Authorship. Routledge. ISBN 978 - 1 - 136 - 10268 - 4. Cogan, Jim ; Clark, William ( 2003 ). Temples of Sound : Inside the Great Recording Studios. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8118 - 3394 - 3. Edmondson, Jacqueline, ed. ( 2013 ). `` Producers ''. Music in American Life : An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories that Shaped our Culture ( 4 volumes ) : An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories That Shaped Our Culture. ABC - CLIO. ISBN 978 - 0 - 313 - 39348 - 8. Eisenberg, Evan ( 2005 ). The Recording Angel : Music, Records and Culture from Aristotle to Zappa. Yale University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 300 - 09904 - 1. Kipen, David ( 2006 ). The Schreiber Theory : A Radical Rewrite of American Film History. Melville House Pub. ISBN 978 - 0 - 9766583 - 3 - 7. Miller, Jim ( 1992 ). `` The Beach Boys ''. In DeCurtis, Anthony ; Henke, James ; George - Warren, Holly. The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll : The Definitive History of the Most Important Artists and Their Music. New York : Random House. ISBN 9780679737285. Min, Eungjun ; Joo, Jinsook ; Kwak, Han Ju ( 2003 ). Korean Film : History, Resistance, and Democratic Imagination. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978 - 0 - 275 - 95811 - 4. Sadoul, Georges ; Morris, Peter ( 1972 ). Dictionary of Film Makers. University of California Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 520 - 02151 - 8. Thompson, Kristin ; Bordwell, David ( 2010 ). Film History : An Introduction. McGraw - Hill Higher Education. ISBN 978 - 0 - 07 - 126794 - 6. Kamina, Pascal ( 2002 ). Film Copyright in the European Union. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978 - 1 - 139 - 43338 - 9. Santas, Constantine ( 2002 ). Responding to Film : A Text Guide for Students of Cinema Art. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8304 - 1580 - 9. Williams, Richard ( 2003 ). Phil Spector : Out of His Head. Music Sales Group. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7119 - 9864 - 3. Willis, Paul E. ( 2014 ). Profane Culture. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4008 - 6514 - 7. Further reading Ashby, Arved, ed. ( 2013 ). Popular Music and the New Auteur : Visionary Filmmakers After MTV. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 19 - 982734 - 3. Diver, Mike ( October 8, 2014 ). `` The Return of the Video Game Auteur ''. Vice. Maule, Rosanna ( 2008 ). Beyond Auteurism : New Directions in Authorial Film Practices in France, Italy and Spain Since the 1980s. Intellect Books. ISBN 978 - 1 - 84150 - 204 - 5. Shuker, Roy ( 2013 ). `` Auteurs, Stars, and Music History ''. Understanding Popular Music. Routledge. ISBN 978 - 1 - 134 - 56479 - 8. External links Look up auteur in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. BBC guide Auteur Theory in Film Criticism Teachers guide to auteur theory pdf 16 + source guides : Auteur Theory / Auteurs at the British Film Institute French New Wave Cahiers du Cinéma Directors François Truffaut Jean - Luc Godard Éric Rohmer Claude Chabrol Jacques Rivette Left Bank Henri Colpi Marguerite Duras Armand Gatti Chris Marker Alain Resnais Alain Robbe - Grillet Agnès Varda Other filmmakers Philippe de Broca Jacques Demy Jean Douchet Jean Eustache Georges Franju Pierre Kast Louis Malle Jean - Pierre Melville Luc Moullet Jacques Rozier Straub -- Huillet Roger Vadim Theoretical influences Alexandre Astruc André Bazin Robert Bresson Jacques Doniol - Valcroze Henri Langlois Joseph - Marie Lo Duca Jean Rouch Key films Le Coup du Berger ( 1956 ) Le Beau Serge ( 1958 ) Le Signe du Lion ( 1959 ) The 400 Blows ( 1959 ) Hiroshima mon amour ( 1959 ) Breathless ( 1960 ) Adieu Philippine ( 1962 ) Cléo from 5 to 7 ( 1962 ) La Jetée ( 1962 ) Related Auteurism Cahiers du cinéma Cinémathèque Française Jump cut Two in the Wave ( 2010 documentary ) Progressive music By style and subgenre Bluegrass Country Electronic Electronica Folk House Jazz Metal Pop Punk Rock Avant - 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Question: who is typically considered the auteur of a film
Answer: a singular artist who controls all aspects of a collaborative creative work