Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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As a result, it could be interpreted and applied on rather broad lines; different critics
developed somewhat different methods within a loose framework of common
attitudes.” 42 Within Cahiers itself, the theory was hotly debated, and the notion that the
director was the sole organising source of meaning in the film was resisted by Bazin,
whose 1968 article “La Politique des Auteurs” argued that even good directors could
make bad films and that there was a danger of elevating the role of the director to such
an extent that this approach could become merely “an aesthetic personality cult”. 43
Bazin’s article also acknowledged what are now widely-held beliefs about the
weaknesses of the theory: that directors operate not in a vacuum, but in the context of a
cinematic tradition and within the constraints of the industry, and social and historical
contexts. He used the example of Gregg Toland, the Director of Photography on
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941), to demonstrate that the contributions of
collaborators should not be underestimated. Bazin did, however, agree with his
colleagues in distinguishing between auteurs and metteurs-en-scène. He believed that a
director could be elevated to the status of auteur on the basis of “how well he has used
his material. To a certain extent at least, the auteur is a subject to himself; whatever the
scenario, he always tells the same story”. Bazin also agreed with Jacques Rivette’s
definition of an auteur as “someone who speaks in the first person”. 44 Bazin’s (and
Rivette’s) definitions of an auteur are ones that can usefully be applied to Ward,
keeping in mind Bazin’s reservations about auteur theory.
Another important nuance in Bazin’s complex conception of auteurism was his belief
that “a film’s mise-en-scène should efface individual style to allow the inner meaning to
shine through naturally so that the spectator could come to his or her own conclusions
without being manipulated”. 45 This was one reason why he was the champion of deep-
focus photography and the long take. According to Cook, “Bazin’s argument comes
close to eliminating human intervention in the process of production altogether”, but
this would indicate that his views were completely at odds with those of the other
Cahiers critics, which was not the case. 46 Despite his preference for cinematic realism
42 Peter Wollen, "From Signs and Meaning in the Cinema: The Auteur Theory," Film Theory and
Criticism: Introductory Readings, eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, 5th ed. (New York; Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1974) 19.
43 André Bazin, "La Politique Des Auteurs," The New Wave, ed. Peter Graham (London: Secker &
Warburg in association with BFI, 1968) 152.
44 Bazin, "La Politique Des Auteurs," 150-51.
45 Cook, ed., The Cinema Book: A Complete Guide to Understanding the Movies 120.
46 Cook, ed., The Cinema Book: A Complete Guide to Understanding the Movies 120.