To what extent can Christopher Nolan be considered as an auteur?
Introduction
Considering the collaborative process of filmmaking, especially nowadays in most film production, the concept of there being a singular creative supervisor is debatable. Nonetheless one cannot deny the existence of directional motifs and instances of thematic and stylistic elements within the work of filmmakers like Tim Burton and Alfred Hitchcock. These directors indicate that within traditions and genres lies the overall definition of an auteur: a director whose inventive traits are listed throughout his or her work like a signature. Auteurism rose to the surface in the 1950s French New Wave criticism as an appraisal of Hollywood directors who were ready to deny
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Throughout the years, the auteur theory slowly ensconced itself as an essential key to film analysis, providing a specific guideline to evaluate a director’s film. Whether the approach based on this tradition may center on cinematic techniques or ideological themes, or the two, the analysis always takes place within the context of the auteur’s other films; hence, allowing critics to scrutinize the rudiments of the work based on the director’s stylistic traits. One of the most successful filmmakers in the 21st century that has been brought up as a rising auteur is British-American director Christopher Nolan, who has developed his artistic idiosyncrasies in his canon. Heavily inspired by acclaimed auteurs such as Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott, Nolan follows the grand tradition of film noir, and tells the tale of men that struggle with identity conflicts. Despite the incontrovertible fact that the director has a limited range of work to be qualified for the auteur status; with six of his nine feature films being either remakes, literary adaptations, or franchise films, extensive scrutiny has …show more content…
One of the many of his definable cinematic devices that Nolan presents in his work is the theme of splintered identity. In Nolan’s world, characters, often the protagonists, suffer from a form of existential crises, being unable to clarify their true self-image. Nolan’s obsession on this rather ‘unusual’ idea (in the Hollywood industry) was initially introduced in his primary feature film, following. In following, the protagonist who is simply known as the Young Man, frankly speaking, has no identity. Without a proper career or name, the Young Man finds himself spending his time by stalking ordinary people. This lack of identity allows the mysterious character, Cobb, to manipulate the protagonist through deception and inspiring him to adopt a different persona as a means of ultimately framing the Young Man for a murder Cobb committed. Influenced by Cobb’s guidance, the Young Man goes through physical transformations throughout the narrative, from an archetypical male to a besuited man similar to the image of Cobb’s. Cobb himself has no true identity, and creates himself a deceptive persona to approach the Young Man and become his mentor, which is later revealed to be a disguise to lure his prey. His deceiving features even fool the blonde, tricking her to believe that he is in love with her. Cobb fully exploits this
Auteur theory is an important mode of film criticism that indicates the extent of the director’s involvement in the final output of the film. As it has been previously mentioned, Spike Lee’s films express certain notions about race that emerge from his personal viewpoint as well as from his political and aesthetic beliefs. The focal point of this chapter is the auteur theory and its relativity to Spike Lee. In order to prove the connection between the theory and his works, it is necessary to refer to Lee’s biography, since both his background and distinguishable personality have contributed to his technical skills as well as to his unique style as a film director. The particular chapter will also include the synopsis as well as the technical analysis of each film correspondingly.
The Auteur Theory, a theory formulated by François Truffaut states the idea that the true author of a film is the director. The Auteur Theory revolves around how the director leaves an implicit mark on the film and because of this cinematic, literary, or thematic signature or motif, they are credited as the author of the film. While there are numerous people involved in the production of a film, with some directors it is truly prominent who can be described as the author of the film such as with Mel Brooks. Mel Brooks, renown comical director and screenwriter is one instance of the undeniability of the Auteur Theory. Despite Mel Brook’s complete involvement in his films, writing, co-writing, directing, and even starring in many of his films,
This sense of hostility springs forth from the misconstrued view of literature being the superior art form among the two, extending to the apparent artistic inferiority of cinematic adaptations, which seemingly “betrays” its source material. But the idea of cinema as a potent and dynamic art
Auteur is the french word for author and is a term given to those far and few between who were responsible for handling and directing most of, if not all post and prior production of a film, including techniques, advertising, and choice of cast. So much so that they are considered to be the "author" of the film. Alfred Hitchcock has no doubt left an indelible and engraved mark on all of cinematography as one of the most successful and influential auteurs of all time, as seen through the wide range of techniques Hitchcock employed throughout his films such as voyeurism, doubleness, and the famed magcuffin, as can clearly be seen in the film "Rear Window" as well as "Shadow of a Doubt". Hitchcock also showed immense dedication to the post and
The film Not Quite Hollywood (2008) is a documentary which explores Australia’s genre of film from 1970s and 1980s. The film highlights how Ozploitation discourse has been created to analyse concepts within Australian genre films. However, Ryan (2010) believes that Ozploitation discourse restricts the analysis of Australian genre films as it makes it unclear and difficult for the audience to see how “Australian cinema engages with popular movie genres” (Ryan 2010, p.843). Ryan (2010) states that Ozploitation “devalues local genre cinema” (Ryan 2010, p.844) as it compels Australian film genre to be the realm of “exploitation and trash cinema” (Ryan 2010, p.844).
Kishan Patel Art 2901 Exam 1 Essay 1 (100 points) Early films by Edison and Lumiere involved very simple cinematography, little to no editing and simple realist mise en scene. However, Georges Melies, a theater proprietor and an amateur magician, laid foundation for the new generation films. In A Voyage to the Moon, he becomes first person to introduce a sci-fi film.
The French New Wave was a film movement in the 1950’ and 60’s that consisted of an explosion of new film techniques, values, and styles that became a defining moment of cinematic innovation that’s impact is still present in the modern film industry. An influx of new, young directors sought to narratively, ideologically and stylistically veer off from the dominant, traditional mainstream cinema production standards and redefine the French film industry. The movement didn’t happen overnight and its origins and influences stem back to the occupation of France by Nazi-Germany during World War II, the subsequent Italian Neo-Realism movement, and a combination of previous film periods. During World War II, Paris was occupied by the Germans. This was a
: For my presentation I have chosen to examine Steven Spielberg and what stylistic features he uses to make himself considered as an auteur. An auteur is a director that has a unique style in filming and has complete control of the production process of the film. The three films that I have chosen to focus on are E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), A.I. Artificial Intelligence(2001) and Close Encounters (1977). These are three of Steven Spielberg's most known films.
There are many things that make “Citizen Kane” considered as possibly one of the greatest films every made; to the eyes of the passive audience this film may not seem the most amazing, most people being accustomed to the classical Hollywood style, but to the audience with an eye for the complex, “Citizen Kane” breaks the traditional Hollywood mold and forges its own path for the better. Exposition is one of the most key features of a film, it’s meant introduce important characters and give the audience relevant details and and dutifully suppress knowledge in turn. “Citizen Kane” does not follow this Classic Hollywood style exposition, instead going above and beyond to open the film with revealing as little information as possible and confuse/intrigue
Over the past century, film has served as a powerful means of communication to a global audience and has become a vital part of the contemporary culture in a world that is increasingly saturated by visual content. Due to the immediacy and the all-encompassing nature of film, the process of watching a film, is widely perceived to be a passive activity by the general masses. However, quoting Smith in his article about the study of film, “nothing could be further from the truth.” The study and understanding of film as an art form enhances the way we watch and appreciate films. It requires the audience's active participation and interaction with the film in order to fully comprehend the directors' intention behind every creative decision.
Like a gothic mastermind, Tim Burton incorporates dark, grotesque, child-like themes in his cinematic style. A director’s cinematic style is how their film is recognized and the techniques in their films to give their work value. Tim Burton is known for his unique cinematic style that has made his films one of a kind. Tim Burton’s style is made so unique through his use of sound tracking, lighting, and costuming for his films such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Edward Scissorhands. Tim Burton applies sounds such as background music and sound effects to add reality and emphasis to the film and to create a certain, precise moods.
However, that is of little import as his identity is shaped over the course of the four chapters of the story after he detaches himself of his old persona – he leaves his home, throws away his phone and retrieves as much of his money as possible and wonders if someone else would slip into his old life as easily as he had slipped out of it. As Mark Currie mentions in his Postmodern narrative theory, “identity is relational, […] it is not found within a person but that it inheres in the relations between a person and others” (17). Although we only get to see the events through the eyes of the unnamed narrator, he only begins to crystallize as a character once he begins interacting with others – he is the good Samaritan to the stranded Professor, giving him a lift when he needs to get back to his car and retrieves his wallet from the hotel, after the Professor vanishes, he unconsciously picks up his identity and gradually returns to life, plagued only by the fear of being uncovered as an impostor, while still feeling comfortable enough in his new identity in the company of strangers, playing along with the new game he has gotten himself into. Currie states that the way in which the author can control the sympathy and antipathy felt for characters is in direct relation to the distance from and
Baz Luhrmann is widely acknowledged for his Red Curtain Trilogy which are films aimed at heightening an artificial nature and for engaging the audience. Through an examination of the films Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, the evolution and adaptation of his techniques become evident. Luhrmann’s belief in a ‘theatrical cinema’ can be observed to varying degrees through the three films and his choice to employ cinematic techniques such as self-reflexivity, pastiche and hyperbolic hyperbole. The cinematic technique of self-reflexivity allows a film to draw attention to itself as ‘not about naturalism’ and asks the audience to suspend their disbelief and believe in the fictional construct of the film.
This isn’t the most realistic, as there is usually more than one individual working on a film, but the director is considered to be the guiding force. An auteur is one that has a distinct style and is one that can create films that are both commercially and aesthetically pleasing. A good example of an auteur film is The Godfather. Sarris states that an auteur is one that has a that can create both commercially and aesthetically pleasing films, and Coppola transformed a story fit for a low-budget gangster film, into something far more.
Throughout the years, the auteur theory slowly ensconced itself as an essential key to film analysis, providing a specific guideline to evaluate a director’s film. One of the most