Redefining the European Auteur
Starts Mon 9 May 2011
18:30 – 20:30
8 weeks
European Cinema after World War II was very much influenced by the
development of Auteur Theory which placed the emphasis on the director as
artist and creator of the film. This course looks at how the concept of auteur
has evolved in the last fifty years. It considers the definitions of auteur at the
time of the French New Wave (1958-1963), when Godard and Truffaut
revolutionised the idea of European art cinema. In Spanish Cinema, the
restrictions imposed by censorship under Franco led to a different type of
auteur (Luis Buñuel, Carlos Saura and Víctor Erice). The course will try to
consider how Auteur cinema has evolved in the last fifty years and is being
redefined in today’s European cinema. A range of relevant films and
filmmakers from Europe (more specifically French and Hispanic) will be used
as case studies.
Course tutors: Carmen Herrero, Principal Lecturer in Spanish, and Isabelle
Vanderschelden, Senior Lecturer in French Studies at Manchester
Metropolitan University.
Intermediate level courses are suitable for people who have attended previous
courses, or have some prior knowledge of a subject.
What do Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Eric
Rohmer, Roberto Rossellini, Carlos Saura, Pedro Almodóvar, Catherine
Breillat and Claire Denis have in common? They are considered as European
auteurs. Each of them makes ‘auteur films’ which share common features and
form a coherent body of work, reflecting the personal world view of their
director.
We start with the post-war period and look at the changes in European filmmaking practices and film styles (Italian Neo-realism, British Free cinema,
French New Wave, New Spanish cinema) which had a direct influence on the
critical developments which took place in the 1950s and 1960s and led to the
development of the auteur theory in Europe. Special attention will be given to
the development of the ‘politique des auteurs’ (auteur theory) around André
Bazin’s team and the Cahiers du cinema critics in the 1950s. The first case
study, Godard’s Pierrot le fou (1965) will illustrate the innovative style of the
French New Wave and analyse its impact.
In the Spanish context we will consider the strategies devised by auteur
directors such as Luis Buñuel, Carlos Saura and Víctor Erice in the 1960s and
1970s. The second case study, Medem’s Lucía y el sexo (2001) will illustrate
the persistence of those strategies and the opining of new avenues by
directors such as Almodóvar or Alex de la Iglesia. The last part will be
dedicated to examining the different strategies that contemporary European
filmmakers have used to negotiate their ‘intermediate status’ between genre
and European art film as a plausible model.
Through these two main case studies, we will be able to reflect on the
evolution of the concept of auteur in European cinema in the last 50 years,
then discuss and reassess the relevance of the concept in certain European
films today.
Week 1
General introduction presenting the
Mon 9 May
different definitions of the auteur and
18:30 – 20:30 illustrating with precise examples from the
last 50 years in European cinema.
The Annexe
Carmen Herrero
and Isabelle
Vanderschelden
Week 2
The Annexe
Isabelle
Vanderschelden
Introduction to the development of auteurs
Mon 16 May
in the context of the French New Wave
18:30 – 20:30 and the critical framework of the Politique
des Auteurs in the 1950s.
Week 3
Mon 23 May
18:30
First Screening: Pierrot Le Fou (Godard
1965), which is often considered as the
last of his New Wave period.
Cinema
Dir Jean-Luc Godard/ FR IT 1965/
110mins/ French wEngST
Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina,
Samuel Fuller, Jean-Pierre Léaud
Ferdinand leaves his wife and child in
Paris and runs off with his ex Marianne,
heading to the South of France on a
doomed, romantic adventure.
Pierrot le fou is a stunning mixture of
genres, and a wonderful homage to
American genre movies – a landmark film
in Godard’s nouvelle vague days.
Mon 30 May Bank Holiday – no session
Feedback on Godard as illustrating the
Mon 6 June
concept of New Wave auteur and Pierrot
18:30 – 20:30 Le Fou, looking more specifically at
thematic and style motifs explored in the
film, and its place in his career.
The Annexe
Isabelle
Vanderschelden
Week 5
Introduction to Spanish Auteurs (Buñuel,
Saura, Erice and Almodóvar)
The Annexe
Carmen Herrero
Second Screening: Lucia y el sexo (Julio
Medem 2001)
Cinema
Feedback on Medem’s Lucía y el sexo,
looking at the concept of auteur in the
1990s
The Annexe
Week 4
Mon 13 June
18:30 – 20:30
Week 6
Mon 20 June
18:30
Week 7
Mon 27 June
18:30 – 20:30
Carmen Herrero
Week 8
Conclusion. A synthesis of how the auteur
Mon 4 July
concept is still relevant today and how
18:30 – 20:30 French and Spanish auteurs, more
specifically, have had to adapt to new
technologies and the globalisation of
culture.
The Annexe
Carmen Herrero
and Isabelle
Vanderschelden
Indicative Bibliography
Buse, P. et al. ‘The Spanish popular Auteur: Alex de la Iglesia as polemical tool’ New
Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film, 2:3, 2004, pp. 139-148.
Caughie, J., Theories of Authorship London: Routledge, 1981.
Darke. C. ‘The French New Wave’ in Nelmes, J. (ed.) An Introduction to Film Studies, 4th
ed. London: Routledge, 2007, 399-428.
Douchet, J. The French New Wave New York: DPA, 1999.
Evans, P. (ed.). Spanish Cinema: the Auteurist Tradition Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1999
Grant, Catherine, ‘www.auteur.com?’ Screen, 41: 1, 2000, pp. 101-108.
Greene, N. The French New Wave: A New look London: Wallflower, 2007.
Herrero, C. ‘Edgy art cinema: cinephilia and genre negotiations in recent Spanish rural
thrillers’ Studies in European Cinema, 7:2, 2010, pp. 123-134
Hitchman, S. ‘History of French New Wave’ 2008 accessible online
http://www.newwavefilm.com/about/history-of-french-new-wave.shtml
Hopewell, John. Out of the Past: Spanish Cinema after Franco. London: British Film
Institute, 1986.
Marie, M., French New Wave: An Artistic School Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.
Marsh, Steven (Ed.), The New Spanish Cinema. London: I.B.Tauris, 2010.
Martínez-Exposito, A. ‘Elitism and populism in Spanish auteur cinema of the nineties’,
Estudios Hispánicos 45, 2007, pp. 261-278.
Maule, R. Beyond Auteurism: New Directions in Authorial Film Practice in France, Italy,
and Spain since the 1980s London: Intellect, 2008.
Morrey, D. Jean-Luc Godard Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005.
Neupert, R. History of the French New Wave Cinema Madison: University of Wisconsin
Press, 2002.
Nowell-Smith G. Making Waves: New Cinemas of the 1960s London: Continuum, 2007.
Beck, J. and V. Rodríguez Ortega. Contemporary Spanish Cinema and Genre
Manchester Universtiy Press, 2008.
Skerritt, D., The films of Jean-Luc Godard: Seeing the Invisible Cambridge University
Press, 1999.
Stone, R. Julio Medem Manchester University Press, 2007.
Triana-Toribio, N. ‘Auteurism and commerce in contemporary Spanish cinema:
directores mediáticos’ Screen 49:3, 2008, pp. 259-276.
Triana Toribio, N. Spanish National Cinema London: Routledge, 2003.
Vincendeau, G. and P. Graham (eds) The French New Wave: Critical Landmarks
London : BFI 2009.
Wood, M. P. Contemporary European Cinema London : Hodder Arnold, 200
Films of Interest
Two in the Wave
Dir Emmanuel Laurent / FR 2010 / 93 mins / French wEng ST
Screening in May
A compelling documentary about the friendship and rivalries between two of
the great nouvelle vague directors: François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard.
Using archive footage, film clips and dramatisation, Two in the Wave takes the
audience back to a decade that revolutionised the world of cinema.
Silken Skin (CTBA)
(La Peau Douce)
Sun 29 May & Wed 1 June
Dir François Truffaut/ FR 1964 / 118 mins
Jean Desailly, Françoise Dorléac, Nelly Bénédetti
Iconic French auteur François Truffaut’s Silken Skin is a subtle exploration of
an extra-marital affair as lecturer Pierre turns his advances towards an air
hostess. Heavily influenced by great directors such as Renoir and Hitchcock,
the film bristles with emotion and tension.
Event/ Post-screening discussion on Wed 1 June with Isabelle
Vanderschelden, Senior Lecturer in French at Manchester Metropolitan
University.