Auteur Theory and Directorial Burlesque - Essay Example

? Auteur Theory & directorial burlesque Sociologists of culture have long tried to address the way by which the people sanctify creators and attach the attributes of ‘best’ or ‘great’ to their works. Explanation of these phenomena has been made through the means of various theories and research with respect to the illustrative responsibilities of institutions, agents and cultural and cognitive meniscus that utilize these. Attachment of values to the cultural products is one of the important parameters in the artistic enhancement. The assignment to the value to the cultural products includes the accumulated actions of organizational and agents of the institutions involved with those products. In the domain of cinematic extravaganza directorial role evolves as “consequential volume of discourse on a ?lm’s director and on consecration itself” (Hicks & Petrova, 2006, p. 180). The emergence of the auteur theory circumscribes around the role of the director in a movie. The auteur theory is actually a way of reading or the appraisal of the films through the indentation of an auteur (author) especially the director. The underlying mechanism of the theory states that quality of a film centers around the director as author. The paper will deal with the crux of the auteur theory with reference to a reputed director of Hollywood, M. Night Syamalan and his great works in the field of cinema. Auteur theory Developments and the proponents Historically, the notion of the authorship developed the essence of a secluded individual working fervently for the creation of the bodies of art. As for example the characters in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, there have been a perfect permeation of the romantic stereotype of the tortured Bohemian artist. The term auteur is basically a French word and the word prefixed with it i.e, ‘auoto’ means one. The notion of the single controlling figure was generally acknowledged in the early 1910s in the British fan magazine Bioscope, where certain directors were claimed as special. In a similar manner the term Autoren was used in which also promoted the idea of the director as the author. Sarris is mentioned more than any other leading English language auteurist authors as Peter Bogdanovitch, Peter Wollen and James Wood. In one of the two comparative popular history texts of the recent origin, Nowell-Smith, Sarris and Bogdanovitchare are mentioned. In 2004, the ISI Web of Science Citation Indexes for the arts and the social sciences figured out that Sarris, The American Cinema was cited around 100 times while on the other hand, Truffaut’s phenomenal ‘Politiques des auteurs’ was only cited 12 times (Hicks & Petrova, 2006, p.184). . The notion of the theory The theme of the theory conjectures upon the fact that the director of a film with his or her personal influences and artistic control over their films are so immense and charismatic that the director may be regarded as the their author and their films are recognized collectively as cluster of work sharing common notion or the ambience spread expresses the rigid predominance of the an individual’s style or vision (Auteur Theory, n.d., p. 3). The theory finds its roots of development of the influential essay written by Francois Truffaut in Cahiers du Cinema in 1954. The auteur theory differs from the straightforward theory of directors which could be found from Ian Cameron’s article “Films, Directors, and Critics”, in Movie of September, 1962 where the comment he made goes as follows: “The assumptions that underlies all the writing in the Movie is that the director is the author of the film, the person who gives it any distinctive quality. The significant premise on which the theory stands is the distinguishable personality of the director as a criterion of the value. Over through a wide array of films, the director wills exposit certain characteristics of style which will be represented as the signature of the director. The way in which the storyline of the movie flows largely depends on the thinking and feeling mechanism of the director. American directors are said to be superior in this arena as compared to the foreign directors as majority of the movies are generally commissioned in the United States and the director is more or less bound to express his personality through the visual treatment rather than through the literary content of the material. A Cukor who generally works in an environment where there is distribution of all sorts of projects and are assumed to possess more developed abstract style than a Bergman, who is free to develop his own scripts. It is the case that Bergman do not lacks personality but the reality is that his work has declined with the demolition of his ideas because of the inequality of the technique used and his sensibility. As for examples Joesph L. Mankiewicz and Billy Wilder are the examples of the writer cum director who are not equipped with abundant technical mastery. On the other hand in contrast, Dougla Sirk and Otto Preminger have been recognized more because of their execution of miscellaneous projects revealing a consistent stylist pattern. The ultimate premise on which the theory depends is on the underlying meaning or the internal meaning, which signifies the ultimate glory of the cinema as an art. The underlying meaning is quite dubious in meaning. It either reflects the vision of the world neither the director projects nor the attitude shown by him towards life. It is generally ambiguous in the sense that a part of it is embedded in the cinematic stuff and cannot be rendered in non cinematic terms. Truffaut has stated that it is the temperature of the director on the set which is a close approximation of the professional aspect. The premises of the auteur theory may be conceptualized as the three layers of concentric circles which may be represented by the diagram as follows: Fig. 1 (Wartenberg & Sith 2005, p.186) The concentric circles shows that the outer most circles depicts the techniques used by the director, the second one representing the personal style and the third one representing the interior or the underlying meaning. There is no such predetermined ways through which the director can pass through the three circles. The auteur theory is in a pattern of constant flux where with the change in time some of the auteur will rise and some of them will fall. Again, despite of the emphasis on the body of a directors’ work rather than on the deserted masterpieces, it is generally expected out of the great directors that they create great films very often. One of the possible exceptions to the rule can be thought of Abel Glance whose greatness is a function of his greatness. The film ‘Every night at eight’ also depicts one of the greatest representation of the auteur theory. The film keeps centering on the natural flow of the pleasantly unpretentious manner until one would expect of Walsh until the incongruously intense scene with George Raft thrashing about his sleep and revealing his inner fears in a mumbling dream talk. The girl whom he loves enters the room in the midst of his unconscious avowals of feelings and listens to him very sympathetically. The unique dimension of the director can be said to be reflected in the fact that he has been able to employ an extraordinary feminine narrative device in order to dramatize the emotional vulnerabilities of his heroes (Wartenberg, 2005, pp.103-107). Critique The idea which is reflected in the Auteur theory is the concerned with the sole contribution of a single individual. Generally films are collective processes and therefore only the attribution of the works of the directors crops up criticisms. Generally in the overall success of the film agents like actors, writers, set designers, camera operators, musicians, financial backers, technical advisors, costume and make-up artists, editors, marketing and distribution staff, etc. (Hicks & Petrova, 2006, p. 180). Auteur theory and M. Night Shyamalan A short biographical insight M. Night Shyamalan is one of the stall worth directors of Hollywood. Born in Pondicherry, India in 1970 is a son of a cardiologist (father) and obstetrician (mother). With Hindu roots, Shyamalan was raised in the posh suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended Catholic and Episcopal grade schools. His tremendous passion for film making was ushered at the age of eight when he was given a Super-8 camera. By the age of 10, he started making films and by the age of the 16 he completed around 45 short films (M. Night Shyamalan, n.d.). Achievements In Hollywood today, M. Night Shyamalan is widely renowned for creating emotional thrillers and a dynamic and unique vision of storytelling. his recent credits the films like Devil (2010), The Last Airbender (2010) , The happening (2010), Entourage(2007) and Lady in the Water, The Village, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense bear great significance as they have received phenomenal applause from the audience (M. Night Shyamalan, n.d.). Self made architect and ardent competitor In the year 2000, when Shyamalan was on a conference with executives from Walt Disney engrossed in the discussion of the ‘Unbreakable’ and the discussion of the phenomenally successful movie , “ The Sixth Sense”, Shyamalan wanted to market “Unbreakable” as a comic-book movie describing the tale of the unlikely superhero. But the executives of Walt Disney insisted him on portraying it as a spooky thriller like “ The Sixth Sense”. He is still today well acclaimed by audience as a director who makes scary movies with a twist in the story line. He is also known to be the master of his own self and not working according to the studio rules. After the tremendous success of “ The Sixth Sense” he criticized the Disney executives, came into open challenge with directorial maestros like Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock. He is among the benevolent young directors in Hollywood who has accelerated his pace of achievement in a jet fast velocity and has established his reputation as an outsider by refusing to move from Philadelphia to Hollywood. Shyamalan’s character reflects one of the stubborn paradoxes of Hollywood and the film industry “loves the myth of the auteur, the rugged individual filmmaker who plays by his own rules, until faced with the reality” (Weiner, 2008). The Sixth Sense Shyamalan’s movie, “The Sixth Sense” made about $ 40 million and totaled more than $ 600 million internationally (Weiner, 2008). M. Night Shyamalan in the film ventures on the supernatural from the human perspective. The success of the film in part evolves from the complex narrative structure that puzzles the audiences’ understanding of the narrative until its climax situation. The capability of the extra-sensory perception or the ESP to perceive what lies beyond the normal laws of Physics is the basis of the title of the film. There are also different components in the film which include partly thriller, part love story and partly horror. In short it is a journey of one’s self discovery, learning of the communication processes and that of the understanding of one’s own perception which has been delivered through the protagonists in the film i.e, Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) and Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment). The scripts focuses on the examination of the effects of alienation, bonds of relationship and the incapability of communicating in the modern society. Questions develop on the processes or the way in which the director is successful in manipulating the spectator in the way of viewing the story in one angle and then appropriating a position which revealed totally different way of the spectators’ ways of understanding. The blending of this has been incorporated in a synchronized manner by the help of varied stylized techniques employed throughout the film. Noteworthy are the specially point of view shots, the long take and revolving camera, off screen sound and through marvelous dialogue and acting. The film has been centered on the two protagonists and the director diverts the attention of the spectators by bifurcating the story line into two different ways. One is the romantic saga of the Malcolm Crowe and his wife, Anna and the development of Cole as he by bits and parts learns the tactics in revealing the secrets to his mother in order to lead a healthy and normal life. These depictions of personal journeys make an ever lasting impact on the imagination of the spectator even long time after viewing the rigorous strength of acting, script and direction. The title sequence and the opening shots of the film function in a metaphorical manner on both the narrative as well as the role of the spectator in watching the movie. Also the musical advance during the sequence is basically an acoustic journey which sets the tone for the supernatural world in the filmic world. The movie also provides the general pathway for the inversion that takes between violence exposited in the films’ real living world and the tension which is felt by the spectator during the moments of the supernatural. The tension that is injected into the film is also based upon the fact that the way in which the spectator views the plot and also depends on the spectator who is watching the movie. This is the center of the main reason that Night’s script can be realized as the humanized perspective of the supernatural and that the characters who are made monstrous in the reel life are also in the majority part its victims. The film advances from the supernatural which is generally unbelievable to the supernatural which are transferred in to the realms of belief trajectory. There is also a conversion in the between the characters who can sense the supernatural and the way in which those experiences are visually related to the spectator. The transformation which took place can be evident in the shift of the ghosts from malicious beings to lost souls and the understanding of the characters. The intricate dialectical narrative structure tends to mould the understanding of the viewer and end up in the misreading the role that Malcolm performs within the society. Placing Malcolm as the central protagonist, the spectator comes in the understanding of the constructed film world from his own perspective. The director put forward Malcolm in various situations with both wife and Cole’s mother. Every aspect of these functions on different levels within the structure of the narrative provides insight into the way in which Malcolm infuses his understandings about his reality and the embedded roles within that reality (Cheyne, 2003). Among the most memorable element of the movie is the famous plot twist at the end which is thought to be the trademark of Shyamalan’s trademark techniques. However the viewer gets attracted to the plot well before the twist made. The director uses the Gothic surrounding of his native city of Philadelphia in order to create the atmosphere which carried the plot than the conventional horror genre techniques. Shyamalns’ direction is a superb manifestation with fine detailing and a marvelous twist at the end (Antulov, 2005). The spectator, by reason of being a passive voyeur, is asked to share his world-view through the use of stylistic techniques. The last Air bender The 3-D sci-fi movie, “The last Air bender” is another great, movie made by the director whose recognition was also huge. It was a benchmark movie of the director which isolates him from the general pool of talent and thrusts him to the epitomic position of versatility. In the movie the world is divided four kingdoms with each represented by the peace has lasted throughout the realms of Water, Air, Earth, and Fire under the supervision of the Avatar, who is a connecting bridge to the world of spirit and the only identity who is only capable of utilizing the process of the all four elements. When young Avatar disappears the Fire Nation launches an attack in order to eliminate all the air nomads and also with the future planning of the domination over the world. A century passes by and the current Fire Lord Ozai continues in the conquering spree with the bending abilities in the Earth and the water kingdoms and his siblings found a mysterious boy trapped in the ice near their village. They found that it was Avatar, the last nomad. So in order to protect Avatar the rescuers went with him to the Northern Kingdom in quest to master the waterbending and eventually fulfil the dream of restoring peace in the world (The last Air Bender, n.d.).The attempt of Shyamalan in order to conjure a domain of myth and adventure with the help of special effects and extended expository speeches is an exhibition of his personal mastery. The movie is so dim and fuzzy that one may confuse his or her disposable 3-D glasses with someone else’s prescription shades. Again, the director’s fondness for the shallow-focus techniques with a figure in the foreground inculcated with a razor-sharp clarity against the blurred background is really an art of complete genius (Scott, 2010). Conclusion The paper shades light on the indispensable role of the director in the creation of a movie to a totally phenomenal angle and capturing the mass acclamation. This particular notion is embedded with the auteur theory which arose as the result of the individual gearing mechanism of the director in accelerating the dynamics of the movie. The auteur theory stresses one of the greatest facts that the director is the pivotal or the apex individual in molding the dimension of the films and taking it to an elevated level. The theory boils down to three major role of the director and they are the domains of techniques, personal style and internal meaning. But also a loophole of the theory which has been encountered is that of the omnipotent and monopoly influence of the director in the consequences of a film neglecting all other influences imparted in the development of the film. In this paper one of the compassionate directors in Hollywood film industry, Mr. Night Shyamalan’s directorial venture is explained within the backdrop of two of his most successful movie, ‘The Sixth Sense’ and the ‘The last Air Bender’. Although there are also several critically acclaimed films the scope of discussion is generally limited. Through the discussion in the paper it is found that Shyamalan satisfies the criteria of the auteur theory mentioned here. But it is also a fact that beyond his success all the other people attached with the films holds indispensable part in the success of the films. Thus we can say that Shyamalan devotion to work has taken him to the top orders of the list of most respected directors of Hollywood. Thus it can be concluded that, “There are no good and bad films, only good or bad directors” (Wood, 2012, p.68). References 1. Antulov, D, (2005), The Sixth Sense, A Film Review available at < http://www.imdb.com/reviews/393/39373.html>(accessed on 18 June, 2012) 2. Auteur Theory, (n.d.), available at (accessed on 18 June, 2012) 3. Cheyne, L, A, (2003), The Sixth Sense: Humanizing Horror, Humanist Horror available at ( accessed on 18 June, 2012) 4. Hicks, A & Petrova, V (2006), Auteur discourse and the cultural consecration of American ?lms, Science Direct, Emory University, Department of Sociology, 34, pp.180–203, available at ( accessed on 18 June, 2012) 5. M. Night Shyamalan, (n.d.), Hollywood, available at (accessed on 18 June, 2012) 6. Scott, A, O (2010), Mastering the Elements, available at ( accessed on 18 June, 2012) 7. The last Air Bender, (n.d.), available at < http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/plotsummary> ( accessed on 18 June, 2012) 8. Wartenberg, T, E, (2005), The Philosophy Of Film: Introductory Text and Readings, John Wiley & Sons 9. Weiner, A, H, (2008), Shyamalan’s Hollywood Horror Story, With Twist, available at ( accessed on 18 June, 2012) 10. Wood, M. (2012), Film: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press Read More