The Usefulness of the Term “Auteur” Has Been Questioned by Some Commentators as Failing to Acknowledge the Complexity of the Filmmaking Process. with Reference to One of the Directors Studied so Far on the Module,

The usefulness of the term “auteur” has been questioned by some commentators as failing to acknowledge the complexity of the filmmaking process. With reference to one of the directors studied so far on the module, discuss the degree to which analysing his films through an auteurist perspective can help or hinder understanding. You should take into account the ways in which your chosen director uses the resources of cinema as a medium as well as the question of personal vision.

Film director Pedro Almodóvar was symbol of Spain’s newfound freedom in the post-Franco democracy and has since developed into the dominant figure of contemporary Spanish cinema. Paul Smith (2000: 5) describes him as “the one true auteur to emerge in the 1980’s”, while many commentators see him as a “consummate and undisputed auteur” (Jordan and Allinson, 2005: 77). However, attempting to conclusively define Almodóvar as an “auteur” is challenging as the concept has been consistently defined and redefined since its inception. Vernon and Morris (1995: 13) state, “Models of auteurism at work today bear scant resemblance to the term’s original meaning”. Through an auteurist perspective, we must consider how both Almodóvar and his films conform to aspects of both the original ‘theory’, such as personal vision and ‘signatures’, and subsequent developments of the concept focusing on areas of collaboration and commercialisation. Our conclusions can then be used to determine whether Almodóvar’s status, as an auteur or not, helps or hinders our understanding of his films.

The original term “auteur”, pioneered in the pages of French journal Cahiers du Cinéma in 1954, instilled filmmaking as an art form, resulting from the personal vision and distinctive style of a single individual, most commonly identified as the director. The concept was both popularised and internationalised in the 1960’s by American critic Andrew Sarris with his notion of “auteur theory”, defining auteurism under a

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