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<strong>Proceedings</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Seminar</strong> on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded maintains the dominant ideology <strong>of</strong> the culture within the viewer. Ideology is not imposed on cinema but is its integral part. Auteur theory – Auteur theory draws on the work <strong>of</strong> group <strong>of</strong> cinema enthusiasts who argued that films should reflect a director’s personal vision. The word ‘auteur’ is the French word for author. In 1954, Francois Truffaut wrote an essay entitled A Certain Tendency in French Cinema. In this work he claimed that film is a great medium for expressing the personal ideas <strong>of</strong> the director. He suggested that this meant that the director should therefore be regarded as an auteur. In fact, Truffaut once provocatively said that “There are no good and bad movies, only good and bad directors”. Auteur Theory suggests that a director can use the commercial apparatus <strong>of</strong> film-making in the same way that a writer uses a pen or a painter uses paint and a paintbrush. Sometimes this theory is useful when analyzing the works <strong>of</strong> actors who are working within the ‘star system’ For example, it is possible to interpret Golmal 3 in relation to the canon <strong>of</strong> films created with Ajay Devgan in them. Auteur theory holds that a director’s film reflects the director’s personal creative vision. The best films will bear their maker’s ‘signature’ Alfred Hitchcock is one <strong>of</strong> the first names who comes to mind when talking about auteur theory. His most famous films are Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds and Rear Window. In law, the film is treated as a work <strong>of</strong> art, and the auteur as the creator <strong>of</strong> the film is the original copyright holder. Under European Union Law, the film director is considered the author or one <strong>of</strong> the authors <strong>of</strong> a film, largely as a result <strong>of</strong> the influence <strong>of</strong> auteur theory. Feminist Film Theory–Feminist film theory was influenced by second wave feminism and the development <strong>of</strong> women’s studies within the academy. Feminist film theory inspired from sociological theory and focused on the function <strong>of</strong> women characters in particular film narratives or genres and <strong>of</strong> stereotypes as a reflection <strong>of</strong> a society’s view <strong>of</strong> women. Claire Johnston was among the first feminist critics to <strong>of</strong>fer a sustained critique <strong>of</strong> stereotypes from a semiotic point <strong>of</strong> view. She put forward how classical cinema constructs the ideological image <strong>of</strong> woman. Drawing on Roland Barth’s ‘notion <strong>of</strong> myth’ Johnston investigated the myth <strong>of</strong> ‘Woman’ in classical cinema. The sign ‘woman’ can be analyzed as a structure, a code <strong>of</strong> convention. It represents the ideological meaning that ‘woman’ has for men. In relation to herself she means nothing (1919:25): women are negatively represented as ‘not man’. The ‘woman as woman’ is absent from the text <strong>of</strong> the film. Molly Haskell’s “From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment <strong>of</strong> Women in Movies (1974) analyze how the women portrayed in film related to the broader historical context, the stereotypes depicted the extent to which the women were shown as active or passive, and the amount <strong>of</strong> screen time given to women. For e.g. women have mainly played decorative objects in Hindi cinema for a long time. Or, even in films where they had important roles, they are more victims and martyrs or victimizers <strong>of</strong> other women. Rarely have films like Kunku presented women as strong women who can raise their voice against injustice, who can rebel in their own way and make their own political statement. Formalist Film Theory–Formalism is primarily concerned with style and how it communicates ideas, emotions and themes. Two examples <strong>of</strong> ideological interpretations that are related to formalism: the classical Hollywood cinema has a very distinct style, sometimes called the Institutional Mode <strong>of</strong> Representation, secondly, continuity in editing, massive coverage, three point lighting, “mood” music, dissolves, all designed to make the experience as pleasant as possible. Film noir which was given its name by Nino Frank is marked by lower production values, darker images, under lighting, location shooting and general nihilism: this is because, we are told during the war and post-war years filmmakers were generally more pessimistic. Italian film The Bicycle Thief is a great example <strong>of</strong> film noir. It can be argued that, by this approach, the style or language <strong>of</strong> these films is responsible, but by social, economic and political pressures <strong>of</strong> which the film makers themselves may be aware or not. It is this branch <strong>of</strong> criticism that gives us such categories as the independent movement, the New American 526 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
<strong>Proceedings</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Seminar</strong> on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nanded independent movement, the new queer cinema and the French, German and Czech new waves. Genre Studies–Genre studies are a structuralist approach to literary theory, film theory and other cultural theories. The study <strong>of</strong> a genre in this way examines the structural elements that combine in the telling <strong>of</strong> a story and find patterns in collections <strong>of</strong> stories Genre studies have gained the most recognition in film theory where the study <strong>of</strong> genre directly contrasts with auteur theory which privileges the directors’ role in crafting a movie. Psychoanalysis Film Theory– Psychoanalysis and the cinema were born at the end <strong>of</strong> the nineteenth century. They share a common historical, social and cultural background shaped by the forces <strong>of</strong> modernity. Theorists commonly explore how psychoanalysis, with its emphasis on the importance <strong>of</strong> desire in the life <strong>of</strong> the individual, has influenced the cinema. A great many films from the first half <strong>of</strong> the 20 th century drew upon psychoanalytic concepts such as: the unconscious as in Keaton’s Sherlock Jr.; dream work in Cavalcanti’s Dead <strong>of</strong> Night; the Oedipus complex in Olivier’s Hamlet and psychoanalysis itself as in Hitchcock’s Spellbound. Historically speaking film and psychoanalysis have always been close siblings. The unconscious studied by psychoanalytic film theory has been attributed to four different agencies: the filmmaker, the characters <strong>of</strong> a film, the film’s audience, and the discourse <strong>of</strong> a given film. 1) The filmmakers unconscious: - In its earliest stages, psychoanalytic film theory compared films to such manifestations <strong>of</strong> the unconscious as dreams, slips <strong>of</strong> the tongue, and neurotic symptoms. Just as these are considered to be manifestations <strong>of</strong> a patients unconscious, films were considered to be manifestations <strong>of</strong> a filmmaker’s unconscious. 2) The Character’s Unconscious: - Here the focus is on the character <strong>of</strong> a given film and their behavior and dialogue is being analyzed in an attempt to interpret traces <strong>of</strong> their unconscious. 3) The Audience’s Unconscious: - The audience focused approach will <strong>of</strong>ten focus on the way in which the behavior and dialogue <strong>of</strong> certain characters can be interpreted as manifestations <strong>of</strong> our unconscious. Thus, as we sit quietly in the dark and forge are psychic bonds with this or that character, we unconsciously project our own fantasies, phobias and fixations. 4) The Unconscious <strong>of</strong> Cinematic Discourse: - This version <strong>of</strong> psychoanalytic film theory abandons the character central approach and focused instead on how the form <strong>of</strong> films replicates or mimics the formal model <strong>of</strong> the conscious/unconscious mind posited by psychoanalysis. Marxist Film Theory–Marxist film theory is one<strong>of</strong> the oldest forms <strong>of</strong> film theory. Sergei Eisenstein and many other soviet filmmakers in the 1920s expressed ideas <strong>of</strong> Marxism through film. In fact, Hegelian dialectic was considered best displayed in film editing through the Kuleshov Experiment and the development <strong>of</strong> montage. Sergei Eisenstein <strong>of</strong>ten considered to be the “father <strong>of</strong> Montage”. He is well known particular for his silent films ‘Strike’, ‘Battleship Potemkin’ and ‘October’. His articles “Film Form and The Film Sense” explain the significance <strong>of</strong> montage in detail. Eisenstein believed that “collision” <strong>of</strong> shots could be used to manipulate the emotions <strong>of</strong> the audience and create film metaphors. According to him an idea should be derived from the juxtaposition <strong>of</strong> two independent shots, bringing an element <strong>of</strong> collage into films. This he called ‘methods <strong>of</strong> montage’. In his film ‘Strike’ a shot <strong>of</strong> striking workers being attacked cut with a shot <strong>of</strong> a bull being slaughtered creates a film metaphor suggesting that the workers are being treated like cattle. This meaning does not exist in the individual shots; it only arises when they are juxtaposed. At the end <strong>of</strong> ‘Apocalypse Now’ the execution <strong>of</strong> colonel Kurtz is juxtaposed with the villagers’ ritual slaughter <strong>of</strong> a water buffalo. Concepts similar to montage would arise during the first half <strong>of</strong> the 20 th century, such as Imagism in poetry specifically Ezra Pounds’ Ideogrammic Method or Cubism’s attempt at synthesizing multiple perspectives into one painting. 527 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
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