Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) firmly positioned himself as the finest Soviet director of the post-War period. But his influence extended well beyond the Soviet Union.  The Cahiers du cinéma consistently ranked his films on their top ten annual l

Sukiyaki Western Django screening. http://yfrog.com/5b8qfj #

After a brief discussion on auteur theory, we watched another Miike film: Sukiyaki Western Django.  Certainly not a fan favorite, but very much an intriguing idea. Here are the links to some readings on auteur theory. Andrew Sarris – Notes on the Auteur Theory Peter Wollen – The Auteur Theory François Truffaut – Une Certaine Tendance of Cinema Francaise Auteur Theory auteur – usually always a director one who brings to a film signs of their own individuality (perhaps in way narrative is constructed, way certain themes are explored, or visual style) not all directors are auteurs

able to function as main creative force & controlling presence metteur en scène – director who ‘merely’ brings competence to specialist role of directing within production over which they have no overall artistic control

raise up to auteur – rise above “restraints” of formulaic genre film-making auteur theory made 2 fundamental contributions

encourage serious study of popular Hollywood cinema demanded a close analysis of mise-en-scène as principle site where auteur identity could be extracted

auteur study is a construct of criticism problems

problems of “authoring” a film because it involves many creative people directors whose work did not reveal marks of essential underlying personal force were relegated to metteur en scène – and work relegated to them evaluation of film in terms of whether or not it possessed auteurist identity (bad film by auteur was better than great film by non-auteur) auteur theory diminished strengths & achievements of industrial production process rather than broadening film study, led to debates on who was & who wasn’t an auteur

“sign” of a director can carry success auteur sign signifies set of stylistic & thematic features to be found in film itself, thus more specific early auteur theory was connected with personal characteristics & biographical details of auteur (auteur-as-person) late 1960’s it shifted toward auteur-as-structure

still has names (Hitchcock films) but only to understand group of films move from Hitchcock the biological author to Hitchcock a critical construct that unites a series of texts biographical still important to confirm observations & “presence”

because of many individual contributions, i.e. music, writing; the idea of auteur becomes the combining force & the catalysts for the individual parts leaves room for auteur as individual (final determining creative force) & as combining force in “new” Hollywood, defining auteur is difficult if even possible – auteur names are thrown around as labeling for cataloging & marketing (a film by James Cameron) other kinds of auteurs

studios – a particular house style | Warner Bros. in 1930’s producer – certain visions in each work | Jerry Bruckheimer star – takes over film, a “star” signature | Kevin Costner, Johnny Depp spectator – meaning is only created in act of reading – an encoded message (text)

remains only as potential meaning until it’s decoded by a reader (or spectator) different readers come to a text with own specific social, cultural, & psychological formations as individuals text is “authored” by the reader rather than by text’s originator

auteur based critical approach

auteur director regarded as “persona” his role must be excavated through critical analysis emphasis on biographical is common need to have available generic structure of auteur to evaluate film to even if spectator ignorant of auteur structure, simple power of naming remains significant

power of name recognition name as trademark or guarantee name-tag commodity (Spielberg)

auteur study attempts to establish set of thematic & stylistic features (a signified) for the auteur name (the signifier)

more so done by auteur who quite consciously puts in place components of an identity which his name can then be said to signify

today, director of strives self-consciously to construct recognizable auteur identity to confirm commercial & critical existence of name they bear

real challenge is examining work of directors whose work is so varied we are tempted to artificially limit range & scope of work for purpose of critical neatness

such as developing a check list to apply to all films of specific director

auteur structure doesn’t offer itself as schema for audience to work with although additional layers of meaning & response can emerge when a body of films which have shared auteur origins Final Exam Review Your final exam will consist of answering 5 of 8 essay questions each worth 20 points for a total of 100 points.  Good luck and I will see you Wednesday for the exam!

New student film reviews posted! Check them out! # Hot Fuzz screening. http://yfrog.com/9faawjj # The Happiness of the Katakuris screening. http://yfrog.com/j6w8otj # Last set of Student Film Reviews posted. # Glut of sequels and reboots not working, from NY Magazine. http://icio.us/wua4m0 #

We discussed many film theories this evening and topped it all off with The Happiness of the Katakuris.  Monday will bring our last film and auteur theory. Film Theory & Criticism (a rapid overview & listing – you can look up some of the ones that I do not focus on) classic film theory – designate specific value of cinema formalist (creationist) film theory – Rudolf Arnheim, Sergei Eisenstein, Bela Balazs

cinema more than “the feeble mechanical reproduction of real life” transforms and constructs reality the how of artistic expression – editing, cinematography

realist film theory – Andre Bazin, Siegfried Kracauer

reality possesses ambiguous quality Bazin believed filmmakers should develop style that respected ambiguities & that did not unfairly coerce or manipulate viewers into sharing a single, mass emotional response to a scene or film techniques best suited to represent reality were deep focus cinematography (great distance separate sharply focused foreground & background objects) & the long take (shots of long duration) & minimizing editing

auteur theory – from French New Wave era (more on this later) structuralism & semiotics – total theory or grand theory approach

concentrated on film’s relationship to underlying structures that govern production of all meaning myths

post-structuralism & deconstruction – Jacques Derrida & Michel Foucault

denial of existence of a knowable truth & quasi-scientific analysis of text move away from textual interpretation & move to interaction of text and spectator reception theory – relation of audience to text (focusing on gender, race, social status) auteur-structuralism

psychoanalytic film theory – film medium activates deep-rooted psychological desires & anxieties

voyeurism fetishizing the body taboo images

ideological film theory – examine relationship between movies & society & specifically how film represents social & political realities (social and political issues) Marxist theory – examination of social & political ideologies, class struggle feminist film theory – collection of approaches

images of women and stereotypes assume male as dominant audience – male gaze and women viewed as objects influenced many other theories

gay & lesbian criticism – look at homosexuals in film, hidden stars

The Celluloid Closet ((book on homosexuality in Hollywood)) investigating stereotypes & rereading

queer theory – non-normative expressions of gender & a concern with non-straight expressions of sexuality & rereading

new ways of thinking about sexuality – bisexuality, androgyny, transgender looks more at films made for this reason than gay & lesbian camp

post theory – argue against a “Grand Theory” of film cognitive film theory – studies way viewers process & interpret visual & auditory information in film & how specific structural features may invite particular kinds of interpretation star system / theory – exam star as a combination of image, labour, capital Next week is Sukiyaki Western Django, auteur theory, and a review for your final exam.

What is postmodernism?  Is Hot Fuzz postmodern?  Tonight we discussed characteristics of postmodernism and screened Hot Fuzz. Postmodernism in Film organization of film industry – mass production to flexible independent production exemplify postmodern themes or offer images of pomo society – dystopian sci-fi bricolage / pastiche – playful mixing of elements (genre for us) – we could also use pastiche for mixing of film elements such as live action and animation nostalgia – reflect on past but w/o real exploration intertextuality / blank parody – Hot Fuzz and homage erasure of boundary between past, present & future self-referential – break down 4th wall no separation between high and low films and techniques voyeurism Nest class we venture into film theory.  Make sure you bring your film journals, they are due right after we watch our film.

Survive Style 5+ screening. http://yfrog.com/mhft3j # Bonus points for commenting on Survive Style 5+! Check out the post. # New student film reviews posted. http://bit.ly/aujiEN # Research papers due this evening – DO NOT FORGET! # Pontypool screening. http://yfrog.com/iy59vj #