ENG 225 CCP Week 3 Auteur Theory Director Arthur Penn Paper

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapter 8 of Film: From Watching to Seeing, as well as your instructor’s guidance and lecture materials, and Chapter 7 from Film Genre Reader IV. 

Note: You should watch any chosen film twice—once to ensure that you have grasped the storytelling and once to take more specific notes on aspects of the film you wish to discuss. You may choose any appropriate director, but be sure to consider the three criteria of auteur theory before making your selection. 

Pick one film from the list,  second film has to be by the same director 

Courtroom drama

AFI defines “courtroom drama” as a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a critical role in the film’s narrative. 

Film 

Year 

To Kill a Mockingbird

1962

12 Angry Men

1957

Kramer vs. Kramer

1979

The Verdict

1982

A Few Good Men

1992

Witness for the Prosecution

1957

Anatomy of a Murder

1959

In Cold Blood

1967

A Cry in the Dark (Evil Angels)

1988

Judgment at Nuremberg

1961

Epic

AFI defines “epic” as a genre of large-scale films set in a cinematic interpretation of the past. 

Film 

Year 

Lawrence of Arabia

1962

Ben-Hur

1959

Schindler’s List

1993

Gone with the Wind

1939

Spartacus

1960

Titanic

1997

All Quiet on the Western Front

1930

Saving Private Ryan

1998

Reds

1981

The Ten Commandments

1956

Fantasy

AFI defines “fantasy” as a genre in which live-action characters inhabit imagined settings and/or experience situations that transcend the rules of the natural world. 

Film 

Year 

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

2001

It’s a Wonderful Life

1946

King Kong

1933

Miracle on 34th Street

1947

Field of Dreams

1989

Harvey

1950

Groundhog Day

1993

The Thief of Bagdad

1924

Big

1988

Gangster

AFI defines the “Gangster film” as a genre that centers on organized crime or maverick criminals in a modern setting. 

Film 

Year 

The Godfather

1972

Goodfellas

1990

The Godfather Part II

1974

White Heat

1949

Bonnie and Clyde

1967

Scarface

1932

Pulp Fiction

1994

The Public Enemy

1931

Little Caesar

1931

Scarface

1983

Mystery

AFI defines “mystery” as a genre that revolves around the solution of a crime. 

Film 

Year 

Vertigo

1958

Chinatown

1974

Rear Window

1954

Laura

1944

The Third Man

1949

The Maltese Falcon

1941

North by Northwest

1959

Blue Velvet

1986

Dial M for Murder

1954

The Usual Suspects

1995

Romantic comedy

AFI defines “romantic comedy” as a genre in which the development of a romance leads to comic situations. 

Film 

Year 

City Lights

1931

Annie Hall

1977

It Happened One Night

1934

Roman Holiday

1953

The Philadelphia Story

1940

When Harry Met Sally…

1989

Adam’s Rib

1949

Moonstruck

1987

Harold and Maude

1971

Sleepless in Seattle

1993

Science fiction

AFI defines “science fiction” as a genre that marries a scientific or technological premise with imaginative speculation. 

Film 

Year 

2001: A Space Odyssey

1968

Star Wars

1977

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

1982

A Clockwork Orange

1971

The Day the Earth Stood Still

1951

Blade Runner

1982

Alien

1979

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

1991

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

1956

Back to the Future

1985

Sports

AFI defines “sports” as a genre of films with protagonists who play athletics or other games of competition. 

Film 

Year 

Raging Bull

1980

Rocky

1976

The Pride of the Yankees

1942

Hoosiers

1986

Bull Durham

1988

The Hustler

1961

Caddyshack

1980

Breaking Away

1979

National Velvet

1944

Jerry Maguire

1996

Western

AFI defines “western” as a genre of films set in the American West that embodies the spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier. 

Film 

Year 

The Searchers

1956

High Noon

1952

Shane

1953

Unforgiven

1992

Red River

1948

The Wild Bunch

1969

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

1969

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

1971

Stagecoach

1939

Cat Ballou

1965

• Explain auteur theory.
  • Describe, using Chapter 8 of the text as a reference, the criteria for what makes a director an auteur.
• Identify a director who meets the criteria posed by auteur theory
  • Summarize briefly the ways in which this director meets those criteria using examples from at least two of the director’s films.
• Apply the lens of auteur theory in breaking down the director’s technical competence, distinguishable personality, and interior meaning using specific examples of his/her work (e.g., particular scenes or plot components).
• Analyze the specific ways in which filmmaking techniques, consistent themes, and storytelling distinguish your chosen director as an auteur among his/her peers.