Daniel Storey
Unit 4
Comparison of Approaches - Genre. Auteur Theory
Comparing the two.
Genre Readings have various advantages to it. One good point is that once you breakdown a movie
into an overall genre an possible sub genre you can find other movies that you'll like, this is used by
everyone to determine what type of movie they'd watch or not watch, or to help them find other movies
by searching, e.g. 'Comedy movies' or 'Comedy, Sci-fi' which will find you movies like 'Paul', 'FAQ
About Time Travel', 'Guardians of the Galaxy', etc. Which is invaluable to find more films because if you
like one you are likely to like them all.
However, a weakness of this is that the method of classing movies is not exactly perfect. When you
read into movies properly there are elements from lodes of different genres and if simplify it then to one
or two genres then another movie that's hit the same group could be a completely different type of
movie for example, not even looking too deep into the film, while watching 'Guardians of the Galaxy'
there is a rather large amount of action involved, were as there is virtually non in 'Paul' yet they will both
be simplified as a 'Comedy, Sci-Fi'. In fact if you're looking into the genres of 'Guardians of the Galaxy'
properly you see elements from multiple genres, including. Action, Adventure, Drama & Comedy. The
fact in itself that there's so many elements from different genres could potentially be desirable with in a
film and just have an overall genre to go with it (in this case, Sci-Fi) which then means that you get a
remarkably accurate idea of what the film is you're about to watch. Were as if you were to analyse
'Paul' in the same way you wouldn't get such a broad range of genres. The overall genre wouldn't even
match, it would literally come out as an overall 'Comedy' film with a hint of 'Sci-Fi'.
Yet, using a general genre reading approach which is widely used by everyone as individuals and by
movies, websites and everywhere else too. These 2 completely different films come under the category
'Comedy, Sci-Fi'.
That's what's wrong with this approach, but also what could potentially be good about it. It's great if the
genres have been analysed properly to give you an idea of films, and to help you find similar films you
would like. However, simplifying the analysis just makes the idea behind this approach almost useless
as it is likely not to work the way you would think, and produce films that say they're the same type of
film but could be completely different.
Auteur theory is great, because it really begins to look at a specific type of movie, as opposed to
looking at it's genre, this looks into everything else. The themes, characters, music, etc. everything else
that makes up a movie.
You could argue that Tim Burton movies have this auteur-ship about them, meaning that if you're a fan
of, e.g. 'Beatlejuice' then you're more than likely also going to like his 'Batman' or 'Edward
Sissorhands'. This could then be the same concept for any director. What it means is that un-like genre
readings it's a good way to find specific films and specific types and styles of films.
This is also good for if you come across a film you like, new or old. While having auteur theory in mind
it means that there's more than likely going to be instantly more that you'll also like.
A Weakness of this however is that a director, while maintaining a specific style, is most likely not to
stick to the same type of film, which could potentially cause problems if someone is looking for another
film they might like, e.g. if you don't like the idea behind a 'Sci-Fi' film then you probably wouldn't like
'Batman' or 'Mars Attacks' were as you may like something like 'Dark Shadows'.
However, if genre isn't a think that has to be considered in your preference of movie (i.e. if you can
watch any type of movie, if you'd like it.) then auteur theory is a brilliant tool to find a style of movie you
like and then find other movies you would also like matching the directors style.
There are people who disagree with auteur theory in general, who believe that it takes more than 1
man to make a film and he doesn't even have a say in it all, there are writers, editors, producers, etc. all
adding to the film.
However, I disagree with them as crew change around a lot but the only constant then would be the
director, it's him with the vision who is making it, as for writing, the point of auteur theory is that its a
Daniel Storey
Unit 4
similar way it's made not a similar storyline. Even if it was, there's nothing that says the writer pictured it
completely differently while he was writing it, but it was still made in the directors vision.
I always use the example of reading a book, whenever you read a book you picture it in your head as
you're going along, its just what you do and it's what everyone does. The chances that you're picturing
it exactly as the writer pictured it is basically 0. Which means then if you were adapting it to a movie
then it's being made in your vision as the director not the writers vision, still making it the directors film
despite the writer.
Which is Better?
Personally I feel that auteur theory is a better approach to class and analyse movies, to say to me that
it's a Tim Burton film or a Christopher Nolan film will be able to instantly give me an idea into exactly
the type of film it is, a much better idea than if you were to say its an 'Adventure, Sci-Fi' or even if you
gave me a proper analysis to say that it's overall an 'Adventure, Sci-Fi' which also has 'Action', 'Drama'
and aspects of 'Comedy' in it too, even with that, telling me the director will give me such a better idea
into the film before seeing it.
If used right though, genre reading can still be a useful tool in a slightly different way. My overall
favourite type of film would be a 'Sci-Fi' which consists of 'Drama'. Both approaches can work together
when people describe their type of film, there's no reason someone's favourite type of film can't be a
Tim Burton film. However in this case for me, my favourite type of film has to be an overall 'Sci-Fi' with
'Drama'. Doesn't matter what style, in fact it can be interesting to see different peoples way to approach
it. This is were genre readings can be handy for me to find my favourite type of film.
After analysing 'Guardians of the Galaxy' I now can add it to my list of 'Sci-Fi' with 'Drama' I like. It
means I could use genre to find another film like 'Another Earth' which would go on to become one of
my favourite films.
In conclusion they're both great tools for films but to be used in different ways, auteur is great to
describe a type of film and great for looking for a style of film, even to find something completely new
that you would probably like because it's the same director as they're grouped by how they're made.
However without the genre approach I couldn't group films together by what the films about and there
would be no link between, e.g. 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and 'Another Earth' and I could never find
other movies that are similar which could all potentially be on their way to being my favourite films.
There are a number type of people who are likely to share my opinion of auteur theory being better
overall to approach films, some of these might be critics, as they could compare films against his other
works as opposed to against other movies which could be good for different reasons, meaning there's
nothing direct to compare them against, then it dwindles down to a matter of opinion and the whole
system begins to fall, as you can't rate something for being good when it might not be good to other
people.
Film Makers potentially would agree as they might like a film for a lot more reasons than just it's
content, they could like films because of the way their shot, casted, etc. which genre just doesn't cover,
unlike auteur theory.
Finally the people who might disagree with my opinion could be, normal people who watch films just for
content and are looking to find other movies with similar content, which is were genre comes in as a
director is likely not to make the same film over and over again. You just use genre to find the same
film from different people.
People who just disagree with auteur theory in general would be against my opinion as they would
believe that it takes more than 1 man to make a movie.