Personal Views: Explorations in Film

8. Reflections on the Auteur Theory

213 The฀ status฀ of฀ the฀“auteur฀ theory”฀ as฀ theory฀ has฀ always฀ been฀ somewhat฀dubious.฀To฀Truffaut,฀who฀seems฀to฀have฀invented฀it฀ for฀the฀cinema฀(it฀is฀hardly฀new฀to฀the฀history฀of฀criticism,฀critics ฀having฀on฀the฀whole฀agreed฀for฀several฀centuries฀that฀Shakespeare ฀is฀the฀real฀author฀of฀Hamlet),฀it฀was฀rather฀“auteur฀policy ,”฀and฀meant฀simply฀that฀it฀is฀worth฀distinguishing฀between฀ different฀artists฀(for฀what฀more฀does฀the฀once฀notorious฀remark฀ that฀ Renoir’s฀ worst฀ film฀ is฀ more฀ interesting฀ than฀ Delannoy’s฀ best฀amount฀to?).฀It฀is฀also฀obvious฀that฀its฀usefulness฀and฀interest ฀exist฀within฀clearly฀defined฀limits,฀namely,฀the฀studio-dominated ฀“commercial”฀cinema฀where฀the฀director฀is฀an฀employee.฀ The฀proposition฀that฀(granted฀the฀social฀and฀historical฀determinants ฀operative฀on฀any฀work฀of฀art)฀Bergman฀and฀Fellini฀are฀the฀ real฀authors฀of฀most฀of฀their฀films฀is฀uninteresting฀because฀selfevident .฀The฀“auteur฀theory”฀is฀of฀value฀only฀where฀its฀validity฀ is฀highly฀arguable. ฀ Its฀ value฀ may,฀ I฀ think,฀ prove฀ to฀ have฀ been฀ largely฀ historical :฀what฀is฀valid฀in฀it฀is฀also฀obvious,฀and฀simply฀needed฀to฀be฀ pointed฀out.฀Even฀Truffaut’s฀original฀principle฀is฀scarcely฀beyond ฀question:฀yes,฀I฀think฀Tourneur฀is฀a฀more฀distinguished฀ artist฀than฀Mark฀Robson,฀but฀there฀are฀a฀number฀of฀Tourneur฀ assignments฀that฀I฀would฀hesitate฀to฀prefer฀to฀the฀least฀unappealing ฀of฀Robson’s:฀the฀most฀one฀could฀say฀is฀that฀Tourneur’s฀ camera-style฀shows฀taste฀and฀reticence,฀qualities฀that฀become฀ pallid฀and฀tenuous฀indeed฀in฀Days฀of฀Glory,฀and฀vanish฀altogether ฀in฀his฀Easy฀Living.฀A฀great฀artist’s฀failures฀are฀often฀interesting ,฀certainly,฀but฀the฀interest฀lies฀in฀the฀light฀they฀throw฀ 8 Reflections฀on฀the฀Auteur฀Theory 214 chapter฀8 on฀and฀the฀context฀they฀provide฀for฀the฀successes:฀that฀is฀to฀say,฀ it฀is฀a฀passing฀interest.฀My฀interest฀in฀Sergeant฀York,฀for฀example ,฀ceased฀when฀I฀felt฀I฀had฀understood฀its฀relation฀to฀Hawks’s฀ successful฀works—which฀is฀another฀way฀of฀saying,฀when฀I฀had฀ accounted฀for฀its฀failure.฀I฀have฀seen฀Rio฀Bravo฀something฀like฀ twenty฀times,฀and฀would฀see฀it฀again฀tomorrow;฀I฀have฀seen฀Sergeant ฀York฀thrice,฀and฀have฀no฀particular฀desire฀to฀repeat฀the฀ experience.฀One฀can฀blame฀Hawks฀or฀not฀for฀the฀failure฀of฀Sergeant ฀York:฀either,฀“the฀material฀was฀uncongenial,฀Hawks฀was฀ ill-at-ease,”฀or฀“the฀failure฀of฀the฀film฀indicates฀clearly฀Hawks’s฀ limitations.”฀Both฀seem฀to฀me฀true;฀it฀is฀the฀latter฀that฀gives฀the฀ film฀its฀passing฀interest. ฀ It฀still฀seems฀to฀me฀true฀that฀the฀director฀is฀the฀decisive฀determinant ฀of฀the฀quality฀of฀the฀vast฀majority฀of฀films;฀but฀the฀ statement฀ must฀ be฀ qualified฀ by฀ important฀ corollaries,฀ which฀ may฀at฀first฀appear฀contradictions.฀The฀first฀of฀these฀is฀that,฀the฀ Hollywood฀cinema฀being฀in฀question,฀the฀presence฀of฀a฀given฀ “auteur”฀is฀no฀guarantee฀of฀quality.฀It฀is฀not,฀of฀course,฀in฀any฀of฀ the฀arts;฀yet฀The฀Plumed฀Serpent฀(which฀I฀take฀to฀be฀the฀worst,฀at฀ least฀the฀most฀actively฀bad,฀of฀Lawrence’s฀novels)฀retains฀many฀ of฀the฀qualities฀of฀his฀best฀work,฀and฀this฀is฀more฀than฀one฀can฀ count฀on฀in฀the฀cinema.฀The฀second฀is฀that฀films฀of฀excellence฀ can฀(very฀occasionally)฀come฀into฀being฀independently฀of฀great฀ directors.฀The฀third฀is฀that,฀given฀the฀complex฀determinants฀at฀ work฀on฀a฀Hollywood฀film,฀a฀director’s฀most฀“personal”฀films,฀ the฀ones฀he฀“really฀wanted฀to฀make,”฀need฀not฀necessarily฀be฀his฀ best:฀The฀Beguiled฀is฀not฀necessarily฀superior฀to฀Madigan,฀The฀ Fugitive฀is฀plainly฀inferior฀to฀.฀.฀.฀(you฀name฀it!). ฀ Rather฀ than฀ pontificate฀ theoretically฀ (a฀ practice฀ to฀ which฀ my฀readers฀will฀know฀I฀am฀little฀addicted,฀or฀indeed฀suited),฀I฀ want฀here฀to฀consider฀briefly฀four฀films฀which฀strike฀me฀as,฀in฀ their฀different฀ways,฀test฀cases฀for฀the฀“auteur฀theory,”฀each฀of฀ them,฀I฀think,฀excellent,฀each฀demanding฀or฀illustrating฀the฀sort฀ of฀qualifications฀I฀have฀suggested.฀In฀each฀case฀the฀problems฀of฀ 215 reflections฀on฀the฀auteur฀theory authorship฀raised฀are฀only฀partly฀resolvable. 1:฀Remember฀the฀Night฀(1940)฀was฀scripted฀by฀Preston฀Sturges฀ and฀directed฀by฀Mitchell฀Leisen.฀Most฀will฀agree฀(given฀the฀respective ฀oeuvres)฀that฀Sturges฀was฀by฀far฀the฀more฀distinguished฀ “auteur”;฀from฀the฀Leisen฀films฀I฀have฀seen฀I฀have฀difficulty฀in฀ understanding,฀ or฀ feeling฀ any฀ sympathy฀ with,฀ the฀ intermittent ฀attempts฀to฀elevate฀him฀to฀“auteur”฀status...