Sam: [makes reference to a not altogether mainstream movie]
Melissa: Would I like that movie? What is it about?
Sam: Well it's a [director's name] film.
Melissa: Never mind ... [awkward silence]
Sam: What?
Melissa: That doesn't tell me what it is about!
You see, I believe in the auteur theory (or at least it's main tenets) so much, that I feel I've answered the question specifically and sufficiently. I'm trying not to do this anymore (the apparently vague answer, not the belief part) for my wife's sake, but regardless, I'm absolutely certain that the auteur theory is exemplified by Terrance Malick, whose Badlands (1973) was the subject of one such recent exchange. I was recently perusing the web and came across the trailer for Malick's new film To the Wonder. It's a great preview, and I've viewed it several times, but I've got no idea what the movie is "about" in the conventional narrative sense. One thing I am sure of is that "it's a Terrance Malick film," and frankly that makes it worth seeing in my estimation. I'll be going to the theatre to see Malick tell and show me a story. The film is his story, and that's what it's about.
What would you say about a director like David Gordon Green? To go from "George Washington" and "All the Real Girls" to "Pineapple Express" or even further to "Your Highness" is about as varied as it gets. Do you ascribe more to the theory in the sense that each film can be different as long as the director makes it his own regardless of stylistic choices? Or do you believe there has to be some semblance of continuity of style or camera choice or angles or set direction, etc.?
ReplyDeleteWell, I believe that a director's vision is what most dictates what ends up on the screen. Some directors obviously exert their will more strongly than others, but David Gordon Green is an interesting case. Who knows? Maybe years from now the stylistic and thematic similarities between "Your Highness" and "George Washington" will be obvious. They are both about dispelling the myth of heroes.
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