Film Auteur Theory

‘The auteur theory can be summarised most simply as an acknowledgement of the director as the primary and shaping force behind a film’ (Craig Keller). How is Godard’s ‘primary and shaping influence’ detectable, if indeed, it is?

Introduction

The auteur theory or la politique des auteurs was a principle developed in the 1950s by a group of French film critics namely: Eric Rohmer, Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. These critics wanted to see an end to the “literary”, “lifeless” and not “truly cinematic” conventional cinema of the 1930s and 1940s. Inspired by fellow film critic Alexandre Astruc’s camera-stylo theory which argued that “filmmakers should use their equipment as spontaneously, flexibly and personally as a writer uses a pen” these young critics wanted to break the constraints of conventional cinema. Through the experimentation of different cinematic techniques they began to implement their own personal artistic values in films, as directors.

It was therefore their belief that an auteur is “the single individual most responsible for whatever personal expression (if any) a movie yielded up under critical analysis”. This definition has become the most universally understood of the auteur theory and therefore the one which will be referred to during this essay.

Prior to the development of the auteur theory, a large majority of films were produced, shot and edited in a similar style. Large studios, with fixed cameras and the scriptwriter having overall control were the order of the day thus creating a rigid style of film production. The auteurs became the primary shaping force behind a movie, manipulating scenes to fit their style rather than employing the traditional method of following scriptwriter’s prompts.

The auteur theory was initiated in the 1950s by a group of French Film Critics including the likes of Eric Rohmer, Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette. These critics spoke out against la tradition de la qualité of cinema from the 1930s and 40s – a period coined le cinéma de papa – claiming it to be “literary”, “lifeless” and not “truly cinematic”.

In terms of the auteur theory Jean-Luc Godard was seen as the truly radical auteur. By most he is today seen as one of the most innovative and artistic directors having created his own ‘Gordard’s style’. Whilst for others such as Susan Sontag he is ‘the deliberate destroyer of cinema’. Either way Godard epitomizes a director out to challenge traditional cinema. Through his early films, such as Vivre sa Vie: Film en douze tableaux (1962) and Une femme est une femme he began to interrogate and illuminate conventional cinema via new cinematic and artistic techniques. He has since become very much the pivotal protagonist of the auteur theory.

Objectives

This essay will assess the extent to which Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘primary and shaping influence’ is detectable in his films. In the main body of this essay I will consider Godard’s ability to implement his own cinematic style through several inventive techniques. I will consider his ability to challenge the barriers between off screen and on screen reality through his use of sound and editing techniques. I will however, also argue that any kind of definition of the auteur theory oversimplifies the realities of a film making process and can therefore not be seen as a definitive theory.

Andrew Sarris explains, one of the premises for an auteur is that the director must ‘exhibit certain recurring characteristics of style which serve as his signature…over a group of his films’. It is therefore my intention to make reference to four of Godard’s films to highlight his during the Nouvelle Vague period.

I will, therefore, make reference to four of Godard’s films: A bout de Souffle (1960), Une femme est une femme (1961), Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux (1962) and Le Mepris (1963) to demonstrate……

When cosidering these films one of the most common trends noticeable is his need to challenge the barriers of off screen and on screen reality. Prior to the Nouvelle Vague, films were predominantly revised novels put on screen. To most directors

As Kreidel suggested in 1980 “[N]o one has yet made a more modern cinema than Godard”. Indeed, Godard through his reaction against traditional realism typifies someone who represents reality with recourse to conventional cinema. Prior to the Nouvelle Vague, directors followed very strict rules in their film making process in which they filmed in large studios with artificial lighting and with scripts which prevented improvisation. Godard completely reversed these rules in his films by directing them in a very spontaneous manner. Following the release of A Bout de Souffle actor Jean-Pierre Melville who played Parvulesco in the film said Godard’s movie was “anything shot anyhow”. Godard himself confirmed that “on A Bout de Souffle I used to write the evening before shooting.” According to Godard, the reason for him doing this was because “I liked to be surprised. If you know in advance everything you are going to do, it isn’t worth doing. If a show is all written down, what is the point of filming it? What use is cinema if it trails after literature?” This idea of filmmaking was revolutionary at the time and was a way in which Godard was implementing his own directional style to his movies.

One of Godard’s earliest artistic influences came when directing his first motion picture A Bout de Souffle. Despite the film being a simple naturalistic movie with the camera following the characters in a deliberately real world filming realistic images, several factors led to the film being cut, mainly due to the length of the film. This created one of Godard’s most innovative filming techniques, the jump shot, and an editing method which would truly show Godard ability as a cinematic artist. The jump shot essentially create discontinuity in his films as it would catapult the action from one scene to the next with no palpable transition. One of the most noticeable examples of Godard’s jump shots in A Bout de Souffle came in the scene when Jean Seberg who plays Patricia is a passenger in the scene when Jean-Paul Belmondo’s character Michel drives her round the centre of Paris in a stolen convertible. During this scene there are up to seven jump shots in rapid succession of the position of Patricia head and the streets of Paris. In creating such a deliberately jagged shot Godard reminds the audience that they are watching a film, and not life itself, a concept vital to Godard when directing his films.

One of the most innovative ways in which Godard’s primary and shaping force is evident in his films can be shown through his use of colour. In conventional cinema, colour was generally used in order to increase the commerciality of films. When it was occasionally used, it enhanced the mood in separate scenes. Godard as a notable auteur employed a far more ambitious use of colour. In his first two colour films Une femme est une femme and Le Mépris he predominantly used primary colours due to him being influenced by “modern art: straight color, ‘pop’ art”. Godard uses bold primary colours to indicate the characterisation and narrative development in his films but in such a way that it does not act upon the viewer in a directly sensual way. In Godard’s first colour film Une femme est une femme, Angela is intent on having a child with her husband Emile. Emile however, is not so keen on the idea and comes across as rather blasé about the subject; he predominantly wears blue in the film which symbolises his rather laid back nature. After being repeatedly refused by Emile on the topic of having a baby, Angela goes to Emile’s friend Albert to have an affair in the hope to conceive. Albert despite being happy to oblige feels no real affection for Angela and this is shown as he mainly wears grey to symbolise his disinterest in her.

In Godard’s second colour film Le Mépris Godard continues the pattern of using colour to represent characters personalities but tends to also use colour thematically. In the opening scene, when Camille is lying in bed with Paul discussing how much they love each other, Godard uses colour filters which are seen as a representative of what is going to happen in the film. If one considers that red symbolises love, white incertitude and blue coldness then it maps out what happens in the film, love to ambivalence to contempt. Furthermore, when examining the colours that are worn by the characters in the film, the reoccurring theme of Godard using colour to represent personality reappears. Paul the scriptwriter in the film is seen in a grey suit with blue specks highlighting his passive personality during the film. Jerry the ambitious American film producer is mostly seen in a blue suit, red tie and driving a red sports car which in turn highlights his dominant greedy and selfish nature. In addition, Camille is shown in several coloured dresses throughout the film so as to emphasize her continual change of emotions. Finally Francesca, Jerry’s secretary wears a red jumper in the scene when she seduces Paul which again emphasizes Godard’s attempt to symbolise emotional currents in the film.

It is important to note that several critics have suggested that on top of Godard using colour thematically the primary colours are also a referent to American musicals, a genre which fascinated Godard. This referent is most evidently seen in the opening credits of Une femme est une femme when bold colourful words flash up on the screen like neon lights reflecting the lavishness of the American musical. Furthermore, other critics suggest that the primary colours are a referent to either the French flag or American flag which again represents Godard’s primary and shaping influence within this film.

A pivotal part in defining Godard as the primary and shaping force of his films can be seen in his use of sound. Prior to the Nouvelle Vague, sound was employed in film to replicate audibly the visual emotion of a scene in order to captivate the audience and make a scene appear more ‘realistic’. Martin Heidegger highlights this tradition by saying that viewers have become accustomed to sound’s “elegant effects” and thus treats them as real.

Godard however, firmly believed that in ‘faking’ sound to captivate the audience, one is taking away the realism which he wanted in films. A point agreed by Richard Roud who suggested that “even in the most so-called realist film, sound has always been an exception”. It was therefore Godard’s intention to restore sound so that it would captivate ‘real life’ by refusing to edit or remix any previously recorded track, which he defined as sonic realism. One of Godard’s most notable examples of this was seen in A Bout de Souffle. Due to the sound being naturally recorded there are several scenes in the film when some of the character’s conversations are muffled by natural or real noises. The use of natural sound reaches a peak during the scene in Patricia’s apartment when the noise of the sirens bellowing in through the open window actually drowns out the character’s dialogue. Rather than being a distraction that takes the viewer out of the moment, the use of natural sound here, and throughout the film, only heighten the realism. After all, in life, it would be unrealistic to sit in a room with an open window in the centre of Paris and not hear any intrusive sounds. Jean Colet praises Godard’s creation of realism through sound stating “[Godard applies] to sound the same demands as for the pictures. [He captures] life in what it offers to be seen-and to be heard-directly.”

Godard’s artistic use of sound can also be seen through his use of music in his films. In Godard’s Une Femme est une Femme he begins to break up music in short bursts. This use of music gives the sense of the film as a sort of assemblage – different bits of the material world put together in a particular way. This further exemplifies Godard’s use of experimentation as when asked about his use of sound and music he said ‘Things are there: but let’s see how they work.’

Second Section

It is undeniable that Godard has produced some of the most inspiring and innovative films through his use of story line and cinematic techniques. His exploitation of light, colour, and sound, editing and alienating the audience showed Godard had revolutionised traditional French cinema and in doing so has inspired modern day film directors such as Quentin Tarrantino. However, in using Keller’s summary that an auteur is simply the primary and shaping force of his films it is unquestionably oversimplifying the realities of the film making process. As Godard changed so much in his films compared to traditional cinema it is not possible for him to be praised for every aspect of his films creation. Godard said in an interview in 1983:

“I find it useless to keep offering the public the ‘auteur’. In Venice, when I got the prize of the Golden Lion I said that I deserve only probably the mane of this lion, and maybe the tail. Everything in the middle should go to all the others who work on the picture: the paws to the director of photography, theface to the editor, the body to the actors. I don’t believe in the solitude of…the auteur with a capital A”.

Furthermore, Godard admitted that him and the likes of Truffaut, Rohmer and Rivette whilst taking the plaudits for the auteur theory, exaggerated the significance of the theory so as to establish personal expression as one of the primary values in Nouvelle Vague films.

Several theorists have also raised doubts as to the significance of the auteur. Foulcault and Roland Barthes suggest that all creative ideas are moulded by the social and political forces that surround us. They go on to state that ideas are contrived from the knowledge that one has gained from past experiences. If one puts this in the context of Godard’s films it would suggest that Godard’s cinematic ideas and techniques were influenced by what he has learnt from past experiences. An example of this can be seen in his indirect use of Brechtian distanciation. Whilst it is evident that he was inspired by Brecht’s idea of alienating the audience to prevent them from being passive observers can one really claim that Godards cinematic techniques were not the result of Brecht’s indirect influence? Furthermore, when analysing many of Godard’s films, Godard refers to several quotes from the likes of William Faulkner and Edgar Poe. These are quotes which could have been easily edited but instead Godard “taste for quotation” suggests that he is not the primary and shaping force in his films.