Wilder Interview and Auteur Theory

PETER WOLLEN:
I found Peter Wollen’s idea that all of Hawk’s films could be placed into two categories very compelling. These two categories are “adventure dramas or crazy comedies.” I found myself smiling when reading his description of male heroes in Hawk’s dramas. Wollen seemed to be spot on in describing the stereotypical male hero; cast away from society, living in isolation with only the company of a few of his very  exclusive friends .They don’t make a fuss about anything and hardly take credit for any of their heroic actions. I also didn’t realize how many genres Hawks covered. The ones mentioned are westerns, gangsters, war films, thrillers, comedies and even biblical epic. But again, all of these genres were able to be placed, according to Wollen, into one of the two categories I mentioned above.

I found myself unable to decipher why Wollen had a much more positive view of Ford’s work in comparison to Hawks. “My own view is that Ford’s work is much richer than that of Hawks and that this is revealed by a structural analysis; it is the richness of the shifting relations between antinomies in Ford’s work that makes him a great artist, beyond being simply an undoubted auteur.” (pg.599) I didn’t find that he made a point clear enough as to what component he is comparing in evaluating the richness of any given film.

When considering auteur theory it is important to note that it takes a group of films from one director and analyses its structure. With that said, in order to use this theory, one must have a plethora of films that can be examined. A director of one film, no matter how great it is, must have more so that this “artist’s” structure can be used for analysis. The structure of any given director must be compared over many of their films.. there needs to be a large sample. I found the link that Gillian provided to be quite helpful in having a more concrete understanding of what auteur theory really is.


INTERVIEW:
I really enjoyed reading the interviews between Crowe and Wilder because it is so easy to forget the amount of decision making that goes into the making of a film. I found it really interesting that he said that he wrote Barbra Stanwyk’s part specifically for her in Double Indemnity. I always assumed that characters were developed before they were casted. When asked about Audrey Hepburn I appreciated his modern reference to Julia Roberts. While appreciating her as an actress he makes a point to say that there will never be another Audrey Hepburn . I found it truly fascinating to hear all about what goes into decision making for all of a directors films. Hearing him speak about casting, finding proper apartments to be shot in, mistakes that were made ect… it made films seem like so much more of a process than I had previously perceived and this is due to the personal touch that Wilder was able to give to this experience.