Tommy Wiseau: The Last Auteur - Brows Held High

Oh hi, death knell of a toxic culture and the ideologies that perpetuate it.
Filmmaker IQ: The Origins of Auteur Theory
• The Origins of Auteur ...
Lindsay Ellis: Auteur Theory vs Michael Bay
• Auteur Theory vs. Mich...
Shannon Strucci: SO YOU WANNA BE A FILM NERD
• SO YOU WANNA BE A FILM...
Pauline Kael: Circles and Squares
www.hoodedutili...
Follow me on Twitter: / kylekallgren
Support me on Patreon: / kkallgren

[@KyleKallgrenBHH]

Adding a note to this: I’ve seen people misinterpret this video as being pro-Wiseau because I call him an auteur. Let me be absolutely clear: Wiseau is an auteur, and all auteurs are garbage.

[@andrewlyon4495]

“Writing. Direction. Producing. Acting. Long ago, the four roles lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Studios attacked. Only the Auteur, master of all four disciplines, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A few years passed, and Greg and Sandy discovered the new Auteur, an alien named Tommy. And although his financial skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Tommy can save Hollywood."

[@EnvyOmicron]

This comment is extremely underrated.

[@Argonautx66]

Oh you mad genius, you!

[@thedashboard9562]

This comment FTW

[@frederikklarname149]

[@stephaniewozny3852]

......I *hate* you for making me want to see something like this.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Thanks for the reference to our video! I personally have a lot of issues with Auteur theory but I come at more from a practical filmmaking side of things. Auteur theory's greatest weakness is that it simplifies the filmmaking process and credits (or blames) all of a film's quality on one individual. The truth is a film is the sum product of the collaboration between the director, actors, writer, cinematographer and editor. To attribute everything that happens in a Michael Bay film to Michael Bay (or even a Hitchcock film to Hitchcock) is really dismissing the work of countless people who also worked on the film that ultimately shaped the direction of the film. Auteurism wants to create a personal relationship between the Film and the director that Written novels have with their authors (language like "camera-stylo" or camera-pen is all throughout the original texts). The public and academia readily to buy into this analogy because the way in which a film ACTUALLY gets made is sort of clouded in a self perpetuated mysticism. This mysticism, as demonstrated really first by the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, is *really good for business* (a lot of what Hitchcock says is hyperbole for the sake of publicity - including that cattle business). We're coming up on Awards Season so brace yourself for a lot more of this... The Room may not just be a mockery of Auteur theory - but the natural result of filmmaking guided by a blind adherence to auteur theory. But Wiseau isn't the last auteur, walk into any film festival and you will find dozens of Wiseaus. With the popularization of pop-film-criticism on KZbin that stresses auteur theory, the incredibly easy access to filmmaking tech, and the ego necessary to actually complete a film... Tommy Wiseau isn't a rarity, he just happens to be the most famous of disaster artists... for now.

[@KyleKallgrenBHH]

Thank you so much for the insight! And you're probably right- there are plenty of Wiseaus in the world, waiting to be discovered. But after the massive cultural shift in this past year, I think Wiseau will be the last auteur that the culture at large is willing to accept.

[@sanjurosama]

If an author of a novel uses professional help if he or she wants to for instance use foreign language in his or her work, does that make him or her less of an author? I don't believe a director is responsible for everything and I don't think most film reviews I've read or listened to claim that but to my understand directors usually have the power to veto against ideas they don't like. In The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to improvise in a scene by drinking beer from one of terminator's victims' fridge and acting like drunk. James Cameron made clear he didn't like that and you can't find that even in the deleted scenes.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

sanjurosama yes directors always have veto power. But the analogy to translation doesn't describe the relationship, it really is closer to an author hiring other authors to write scenes. Really the best analogy is the relationship is closer to a conductor of a symphony. The conductor does not create the music, but the conductor does craft the performance.

[@sanjurosama]

I didn't mean a translator but for instances where more than one language is used and the author wants to convey some level of authencity. I do think that some directors hold more creative power than others, not just because they have the money. Someone like Akira Kurosawa earned his places as a director first by being an assistant director and a screenwriter, before making his own movies. I know it's unfair but when I like or dislike a movie, I usually credit, whoever I think has the most power in the production, which is usually either the director or the producer. There are many cases, where directors don't follow the script, either when shooting or editing, edit or replace the credited composer's work, edit or dub actor's performance and so on. Besides, I can't really blame child actors, because it's the higher up's responsibility to cast well and give good direction. Sometimes individual actors might override the director's "vision" like in the case of Fist of Fury, where Bruce Lee took over the action scenes, which is what the movie is known for or Drunken Master II, which was taken over by Jackie Chan, when filming was taken to Hong Kong.

[@mekkabon]

Filmmaker IQ I feel like the analogy of a conductor to musicians doesnt work well. The conductor didnt necessarily write the piece, and doesnt get much leeway in terms of how heorshe feels like a well known song should be performed based on their own ideals. A conductor just has to keep everyone in step and on the same page. A director gets to tweak every little nuance if they choose. It is those tweaks that a director consistantly does that sets them apart from others.

[@Eyewarp]

"Repetition without development is decline." YESSSSSSSSSSSS. I am going to cut open my chest, crack open my ribcage like an egg and etch that sentence onto my heart with an argon laser.

[@asalways1504]

Great Eyewarp Such words have never rang more true. What came to my mind when that was said were authors Nicholas Sparks, Stephen King, and Jodi Picclout.

[@iam9991000]

It could also be stagnation.

[@PenumbranWolf]

What about Refinement? Nuance? Subtly? Just because a director uses a shot a lot doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing. It could become a shorthand; A piece of that directors language in their dialogue with the viewer. You think it's lazy, but if a director has the luxury of having a career consisting of multiple movies then I would expect to see a style consisting of shorthand and personal flourish develop. Directors who "experiment" or don't nail down a style of their own. To paraphrase H.P. Lovecraft, earlier in his career he said of his own work that he had "Poe" works and "Stoker" or "Shelley" works but he'd yet to have a "Lovecraft" work. Anyone can mug someone else, and one can take aesthetics or aspects from others, but having a discernible style makes a person distinct. It makes you memorable.

[@Tuckerscreator]

I've thought about this in the context of Zach Snyder's films. There's plot points in his work that are clearly copied from earlier works, his own or from adaptations, but he tends to imitate them shallowly and not capture what they originally meant. In Watchmen, Doctor Manhattan is accused of being a menace, leaves humanity to wander, and grows more and more disinterested in the notion of life until he is moved to return by the beauty of life's randomness. In Batman v. Superman, Superman is accused of being a menace, leaves humanity to wander... and then suddenly returns the instant his girlfriend's in danger.

[@JimFaindel]

Yes, but that would, precisely, mean repetition WITH development.

[@VTPPGLVR]

I had to pause at 2:50 and reconsider the universe. THERE’S A REASON SHE’S HIS FUTURE WIFE!!!!

[@RoyalKnightVIII]

Sadly Tommy can not escape the French language in English 😂 the word future is also a french word

[@dliessmgg]

So, you're calling for the death of the auteur? ;P

[@charlottesetsu]

Sensible_Chuckle.gif

[@mahmudmurad4655]

The auteur will not die but the amount of trash that is coming in the future days will make him almost invisible.

[@doughboydevito4529]

"We've all felt the need to perform, to show ourselves as funny, and charming, and vibrant, and loved, even if we're only pretending to be" Damn, Kyle, why are you calling me out like that? Lol

[@governor_explosion]

I feel you. I have no idea whether my art is good or not, and I've sometimes told myself "An artist is one who creates and finishes their work" to make myself feel more confident. I may not be doing what I want as well as I want, but even a mediocre person who sees a project out to the end is more successful than a talented person who quits halfway. That's why I'm hesitant to criticise Tommy Wiseau. I mean, "The Room" is not a very good movie, but it's also one more movie than I've made in my life. I wouldn't even know where to start making one.

[@doughboydevito4529]

M. Wayne Wiseau tried, but failed. Lots of people die without even doing the former. I know this sucks as a fucking pep talk, but hey, do the art you want to do. The world needs more art.

[@Agamemnon2]

Finishing anything is where art comes from, in my opinion. I had aspirations to be a writer at one time, but I've regressed from awful fanfic garbage to being unable to string the simplest plot together anymore. Don't be me. Put something out there. That's my pep talk :D

[@davidbjacobs3598]

My other problem with auteur theory is how it disregards all other contributions to the film. The Room would not have been made without Sestero's companionship and Sandy's co-direction. It would not have been finished without Eric Chase's editing (that poor unfortunate soul). Vertigo would have been a very different movie without James Stewart, and the final scene of Psycho was imposed by the studio (for better or for worse). Film is a collaborative medium. Encouraging directors to ignore the masters of craft who surround them is detrimental to the process.

[@GagsAnimation]

What mediums are not collaborative?

[@biskit8050]

@@GagsAnimation none of them, but film is one of the most collaborative, definitely compared to novels

[@GagsAnimation]

@@biskit8050 what about comics and novels?

[@hirocarupu8746]

So, we kept making the same day dream over and over in our media. And when a mysterious man came and did the same we couldn't do much but to laugh at what he reflected about ourselves.

[@muddlewait8844]

Damn. Too much truth in this for my day off

[@johnvinals7423]

Film directors should be guides, not Gods.

[@TalysAlankil]

The "Kaeleesi" killed me.

[@AaronAnaya]

Those Kael quotes are great, but her using Hitchcock is a bad example. He didn't just repeat himself he refined his limited approach to a point. I love Reed as well both ways of working are valid.

[@scaper8]

Yeah, to me he's a good example of her earlier point of repetition but with development and refinement. Not perfection, necessarily, but change and alterations.

[@StarlightPrism]

I really like videos like these, it's a big reason why I'm a fan of Lindsay Ellis: I like hearing about how even "bad" and "shallow" media can have value. Is The Room good? Of course not, but it still reflects a certain mindset, certain attitudes, certain aspects of the society it was made in. I'll have to check out that Pauline Kael video. She sounds totally savage.

[@dynaboyjl.4220]

read some Adam Cadre if you're ever interested: adamcadre.ac/calendar. he does a lot of film analysis that tries to reflect it in the history and theory it's based in, and he probably led me directly to Lindsay and Kyle's more analytical videos.

[@JBaley1017]

I honestly never got that reference to Rebel Without A Cause until The Disaster Artist. It’s been forever since I’ve watched Rebel, and that line never stuck out to me.

[@Tuckerscreator]

Fun fact: Wiseau originally misquoted the line as "you're taking me apart" until he had to be reminded it's actually "you're tearing me apart".

[@gregorsamsa9264]

You mention Welles, which I find interesting. Because Welles was, while initially quite "auteur-ish" later very open about how much Gregg Toland, "Citizen Kane's" cinematographer, shaped the aesthetic of the film.

[@gregorsamsa9264]

Also, just because we deify auteurs to the point of absurdity doesn't mean they didn't make great films.

[@DellDuckfan313]

Noah Blank Welles is an interesting example, because he comes off as someone who has long realized how much of a joke auteur theory is, and is just playing along and giving zero fucks about his still-oblivious audience. He was larger than life (literally) and he owned it. Compare that with Hitchcock, whose films and personality always come off to me like he's believing his own auteur hype. He's so full of himself. It's like Film Class 101, it's so unbelievably straight. I have a hard time watching Hitchcock, personally, and I don't know why.

[@gregorsamsa9264]

DellDuckfan313 I love Hitchcock as a director, personally. I still have trouble sleeping because of "Psycho." But he was, admittedly, a terrible, terrible person.

[@Tamacat388]

Noah Blank I never quite found the line that connected auteurs to being bad automatically. Auteur-ism is bad because some cherry picked examples are...perverts maybe? And having sexuality expressed on film is bad because...racism? I felt like this video came down to a few interesting arguments against auteur worship. Worship. Because the lady seemed to be dissing the audience and critics more than the filmmakers from the few lines Kyle showed us and the other half of the video was Kyle apologizing for being a straight, white guy interested in film. Apology accepted?

[@DellDuckfan313]

Thanatos388 See, I felt Kyle was attacking the dictatorial power structure behind auteurship more. Let's give all creative decisions to some white guy to whom everyone else must budge. If you squint it's a bit like Great Man Theory. Tommy shows us that in practice, this can lead to a director bullying his cast and crew (and himself, which is something Kyle didn't mention) in order to fulfill some kind of demented vision. It's also related to abuse of power (Weinsteinian or otherwise) and discrimination. At least that's what I got from it. I'm not sure what Kyle wants, exactly. More movies made by committee?

[@grahamkristensen9301]

Another thing that neither Kyle or Pauline Kael bring up is that film is inherently a collaborative medium. Auteur theory could be argued about artforms like painting, sculpture, literature and (sometimes) music that's usually the creation of just one person, but applying it to film undermines the contributions of everyone else who worked on it. Sure, the director has control over how certain things go, but in the end the actors, editor, cinematographer, screenwriter, costume designer, set designer, special effects artist, composer are all integral to making a movie the way it is. There are plenty of "auteurs" who owe their style to certain collaborators. Would Martin Scorsese be the same without the editing of Thelma Schoonmaker? Would the Coen Brothers' movies look the same without the DP work of Roger Deakins? Would Tim Burton's movies sound the same without the scores of Danny Elfman? Hell, think of all the set designers, sound engineers, puppeteers and special effects artists that made Star Wars so iconic, and yet it's George Lucas who gets all the credit. The point is, auteur theory doesn't apply to film because movies aren't just some magic force born out of thin air from the unbridled creative energy of one guy, unless that one guy did literally everything himself.

[@X13makoJack]

The whole point of auteur theory was to argue that film had a main voice like those other things, because otherwise film could not be art as people at the time understood it. The cahires du cinema critics created auteur theory specifically for movies and the repetition was used as example for a director's influence from one project to another. Those other things (besides music) didn't need auteur theory to begin with and it doesn't apply to them. That whole point about all the set designers and editors? That's talked about and how it compares to the role of the director and if you want to talk auteur theory you should probably start with those publications. It's like responding to an argument about whether morality requires a god figure to exist meaningfully with "well we don't know god is real", that subject is a lot of books earlier.

[@Furore2323]

Thank you Mr K, for all of your bleeding bullets onto blank doc files, and hard labour in the editing software. You've delivered some of the most fascinating, challenging, and hilarious entries in the 'what the hell does video essay mean' canon. I hope that you and all your loved ones have the best possible Christmas time, whatever form that takes.

[@doughboydevito4529]

6:44-6:53 "You either die as a beloved auteur, or live long enough to see yourself trending on Twitter for being a repulsive predator" :P

[@dylanb.8459]

Tell that to John Waters

[@Tuckerscreator]

It is better to be nobody than it is to make another person suffer through your sexual abuse so you can get a trophy.

[@doughboydevito4529]

Tuckerscreator Thought the same thing when I saw that other guy comment that shit (If your comment was directed at me and not the other person, that wasn't the intention of my comment. I was just pointing out how lots of people in Hollywood turn out to be creeps)

[@dylanb.8459]

my point was john waters made a career out of being a creep (without ever being predatory) and he now a more stand up individuals then people who made far less creepy/disturbing films

[@doughboydevito4529]

Dylan B. When I said "the other guy" in my comment, I was speaking of someone who said "It's better than not being remembered by history" or some shit like that, but I think their comment got deleted. Sorry abt the misunderstanding. I don't know if the Tuckerscreator guy was responding to you, or the "remembered by history" guy, but I think it was probably the latter. Again, just a simple misunderstanding.

[@clancydr7211]

Richard Brody film critic, author, BEARD EXPERT I often go through life in awe of great beards, and the unworthy humans blessed with the good fortune to be chosen by them. In my line of work, I meet many such great beards, and I do my best to pay proper tribute to each and every one.

[@tomboz777]

Haha...what a video Kyle! 😎

[@bacht4799]

Bunny in the Box by the way how is your sex Life..!😁😎

[@tomboz777]

Fûck A cheap

[@BoomDoop]

I don’t think I fully agree with this idea. While I can see how the auteur theory can be limiting and dangerous, I don’t think it’s reasonable to outright say that all that comes out of it is trash. I’m not a fan of giving the director full credit for the film, but I think at times a driving vision, personality, or leadership can definitely add to a film. I think it just depends on a case by case study where’re some films like the Wizard of Oz or Casablanca really shine from collaboration, while the 400 Blows or the Love Witch wouldn’t be the same without that driving individual. Overall this brings up a good argument and I’d love to hear what other people think.

[@ChafitaJuice]

I agree with most of what you said: a director conceived as an artist represents a driving force behind an idea on cinema, it is, after all, the vision upon which a visual and sonorous image is displayed on a cinematic experience. Of course, one can (and more often than not does) give credit to musicians, actors, set and costume designers, etc.: it is quite rare if not impossible to find a filmmaker who has created a piece all by himself (in this respect, as many others have stablished, films are a collaborative effort indeed). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Robert Weine, although not yet considered an auteur piece, can serve as an example of such necessity of credit beyond the director. Just to point at one element, the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. It was actually designed by artists (prominently by Hermann Warm) with a heavy influence of the german expressionist movement, which printed a surprisingly effective aura of mystery and horror to the film (if you haven´t seen it, I urge you to look for images on google and imagine what the movie is like). This aesthetic was, in my opinion, largely responsible for the success of the director´s idea, and thus should be noted as an important contributor of the project as a whole. Another example is that of actor Klaus Kinski, who was famous for undermining, even ridiculizing, the decisions of pretty much every director he worked with. Of course, the fact that, despite his infamous temper, he was still a very sought after artist speaks volumes on his talent as an actor, and thus, it could be said, his importance in the movies he appeared on. Now, the last example gives way to what I am intending to add to the conversation: that the "cinéma de auteur" is often misunderstood or quite frankly misinterpreted as a "limiting" or even offensive concept. Klaus Kinski was, in my humble opinion, an actor who pretty much deserved the recognition that he gave to his own work: "monumental", at times even sublime. Yet, there is a reason why, when one sees Fitzcarraldo, Nosferatu, or Aguirre: The Wrath of God, one is compeled to experience it as a Werner Herzog film. And that is because, ultimately, it is HIS vision as an artist that which is being realised right there, in the cinematic experience; it is HIS idea on cinema which is moving in front of the spectator. Of course this doesn´t necessarily mean that the audience or even the cast and crew are being alienated from the cinematic experience. In fact, as Marcel Duchamp eloquently put it, I firmly believe that the artistic experience in general is conformed by three: the artist, the piece itself and the posterity, or audience. Now, accepting this distinction would mean one has to recognise, as you put it, the "driving vision" behind the project. And really the "cinéma de auteur" is precisely that: acknowledging the filmmaker as that driving vision; the cosmology, the ideas, the images, the sounds, the themes that can be ultimately traced back to the artist´s mind as an origin. So, rather than thinking the notion of auteur as a limiting concept, I prefer to see it as the liberty of the filmmaker to realise his vision without compromises (historically, this is the original meaning and relevance of the cinéma de auteur in opposition to the Hays Code or the impositions of the producers´agendas in Hollywood or under regimes such as Hitler´s, Mussolini´s or Stalin´s). It is, after all, the realisation of freedom through and by cinema. This is beautifully represented by Werner Herzog´s vision and decisions driving Kinski´s temper towards an outstanding performance for his films. Sorry for the long post, I hope it is at least interesting to the handful who choose to read it.

[@timf7413]

FWIW I don't think even most proponents of Auteur theory (at least not in it's more modern and nuanced forms) would really argue that all directors should get full credit for a film, but rather that certain directors clearly wield greater influence over a work than others and thus can stake a firmer claim to true authorship. There are offshoots of Auteur theory that are even formally willing to extend the concept of authorship to individuals other than the director in certain circumstances (the producer in classical Hollywood Cinema for example). Film may be a collaborative art form, but from my perspective, there clearly are times when people are reduced to technicians laboring in service of someone else's artistic vision.

[@juliarhodes1735]

I felt your implication that a person taking on the role of a predominate creative voice in a work automatically leads to mediocre navel-gazing films and turns artists into narcissists and sexual predators was a bit of a logical leap. Can't one still view the director as the author of a film while still admiring and appreciating the creative contributions of actors, production designers, cinematographers, etc?

[@diegodoumecq5144]

I'm sure Mr. Wiseau wouldn't like to be seen as an auteur. He'd probably prefer "a singular artist who controls all aspects of a collaborative creative work, a person equivalent to the author of a novel or a play". Call him an auteur and he'll probably tackle you.

[@imagedezach]

auteur theory has its jump-the-shark moments, but to dismiss it as promoting "trash" is a fundamental flaw even from the perspective you seem to espouse in your videos, namely, the fact that the types of stories being told in cinema would be different if the industry were more inclusive with regard to women, minorities, LGBT community, etc. To assume that the stories being told and the techniques being used to tell them would be different based upon the identity (sexual, racial, or otherwise) of the primary creative force in the film is EXACTLY one of the major tenets of auteur theory. so, yeah, you can't have your cake and eat it too here.

[@alexgaggio2957]

I’m not sure the argument was that auteur theory was bad because it focuses too much on the individual that directs the film more so that the theory in practice tends to overlook these marginalized groups because it focuses on a body of work which people who aren’t a straight white men tend to have less access too. So the outcome tends to be “auteurs are the most brilliant filmmakers” and these auteurs tend to be of a certain demographic solidifying them as “better” filmmakers thus giving them more opportunities at the expense of their counterparts and repeating the cycle. Does that make sense?

[@alexgaggio2957]

Sam Hall I think I get what you’re saying. I don’t think we should be as flippant about auteur theory either but I think Kyle’s criticisms are still valid even though it’s not conclusive.

[@MrPinbert]

Kyle's argument in this video can be summarized as this: "These directors shouldn't make movies the way they do, because wamen!".

[@AvalonisHere]

What a tragic misunderstanding on your part.

[@PolarPhantom]

@@alexgaggio2957 That makes perfect sense, frankly.

[@representationmetaphorique]

God, I fucking love Pauline Kael

[@LaNoLaCola]

erin h Pauline GODDAMN Karl

[@thegardenoffragileegos1845]

The Greatest generation meets the Silent Generation. Something about people from that era made them manifest the smartest and most self aware culture America ever produced.

[@koroconnell]

I KNOW RIGHT??? She was literally one of the most influential voices in cinema critique and some film buffs don't even know her...

[@lewrl1]

erin h I'd never heard of her before but she seems really fascinating.

[@joelthefirst]

I find myself often not agreeing with her reviews, but I still find her work to be worth the time.

[@lgbs727]

Praise for this amazing video aside, I think someone like Tommy Wiseau exposes the dangers of the auteur theory (and its descendants) rather than the complete failure of this theory. This idea of auterism as a fantasy, while true, doesn't explain auteurs who came before the theory (the ones the Nouvelle Vague so highly praised), or female auteurs like Agnès Varda or Chantal Akerman, who have very distinct styles and don't operate under this male fantasy. Besides, Sarris himself defends in his Notes on the Auteur Theory that it was a political move (like many others in film history) designed to provoke and stimulate new perspectives in film criticism, even though some critics and directors were radical auterists anyway. The problem with auteurism is more in its perception by others than in its meaning itself, I think; reducing auteurism to what some male directors do with it can't be entirely correct. It's about a person directing, but it's also about their vision of the world, of film history and of themselves.

[@GloriaInvictis]

"Auteur Theory... was... designed to provoke and stimulate new perspectives in film criticism, even though some critics and directors were radical auterists anyway." Exactly. So if the new perspectives are no longer new, and directors can act according to it without intentionally being a part of it, what good does it do? Why is/was an auteur held in high regard by the common people? What purpose auteurs serve in a time when every KZbinr is an auteur? Isn't the general low quality of KZbin a direct outcome of Auteur Theory? Shouldn't it be therefore seen as an undesirable state, or at least, a call to caution?

[@timf7413]

I think it boils down to a couple things: 1. It's a form of brand recognition. If people identify an artist with a specific overriding style that speaks to them, it's comforting to know what they're likely to get when they go to see a new work by that artist. 2. It's a reaction to the mainstream Hollywood product. At a time when the big commercial releases that dominate cinema are generally seen as cynical attempts to soak audiences for the price of a ticket and build franchises and cross platform media tie ins, people feel the need to rally around anyone who's seen from some sort of genuine artistic drive. When people feel like all vestiges of art are being driven out of the marketplace, even a low quality attempt will assume an aura of respectability.

[@fizzyinsanity]

i think there's a legitimate (if temporary) value to auteur theory: it lets us use our old language of art with film (and video games). the film is the first piece of art that is not primarily designed by a single person. even plays had their playwrights, great works of architecture their architect, but who do we point to as the creator of a film? obviously we can't. too many people share the big decisions. so the development of auteur theory kind of makes sense because it lets us figure out film using background from other mediums (questions it prompts: how is the auteur like/unlike the visual artist? the author? the playwright?). auteur theory isn't accurate but it can still be useful

[@chedruid]

The comment section is daily full with auteurs

[@bigpoppapump2594]

"Aut-" something alright...

[@seanramsdell4172]

Definitely not autism (this is coming from an autistic film fan)

[@sanjurosama]

Sadly Harvey Weinstein won't be harrassing them anymore. Julie Taymor's Frida wouldn't have as much nudity, if it wasn't for him. Bong Joon-ho sure made the wrong choice, when he didn't let him cut Snowpiercer.

[@ALLSOFTproduction]

Auteur implies the director has a body of work as you stated but Tommy has only directed one film. There isn't a consistency to his form only a single instance, he's not an auteur.

[@Tuckerscreator]

He's made others: The Neighbors and The House That Drips Blood On Alex. They are very full of awkwardness and "oh hai"s.

[@jasonhebedead1710]

@@Tuckerscreator According to it's credits Tommy didn't really do anything on THTDBOA other than act in it.

[@johnpae9236]

I am sorry to say this kyle, I love your work but I need to say that I am not sure all this hangs together as well as it seems. I am in the majority of your twitter poll when I say an auteur is someone with extraordinary control over a filmmaking project. This makes the auteur unique in this sense because it collapses what is a collaborative enterprise to a personal one. So as we as an audience view the final result the ideal goal should be to be a personal experience between the auteur and the audience beyond that is the impersonality of a committee-made film. The fact that this image seems to be associated to the "strong decisive man" does not seem to me to be the central flaw in the paradigm, as strong decisive action, regardless of the gender of the one who executes it, seems to be the main force that propels an auteur-like work. If anything, the hilarious failure of The Room doesn't necessarily show the death of the auteur theory in itself, or even its final conclusion, it just seems to clarify in the most obvious terms the immediate pitfall of having total control of a project: if you can't make it work, no one can. so to me it seems that the real "moral" of The Room is not the death of the auteur, but just the idea that sometimes, you need to let someone help out with a passion to make it work.

[@samuelsagins4876]

Auteur theory always seemed ridiculous to me purely on the level that it downplays the contributions of the HUNDREDS of other people who work on a film prepro, during production, and post

[@Tamacat388]

Sam Sagins So if Wes Anderson wasn't there Moonrise Kingdom would pretty much be the same movie?

[@Oddeyeful]

Hundreds of people work on Citizen Kane. What's your point? They created it without Orson Welles.

[@Tamacat388]

Oddeyeful Do you agree with this clip in regards to most jobs where there is someone in charge? kzbin.info/www/bejne/fH-odX2GmtR7kNE

[@StCrimson667]

One of the most toxic ideas that I see a lot going along with auteur theory is often how it's used to justify bad behaviour and disrespect. The idea that true artists always abuse people, that true artists always treat other people like dirt, that true artists are arrogant, self-absorbed, and cruel. This idea is toxic because not only does it justify abuse and cruelty by hiding it behind a veil of artistry and genius and not only because it teaches people that, if you act arrogant, self-absorbed, and treat other people like dirt, then you are a great auteur, but that it also creates an atmosphere where other geniuses, geniuses who are not arrogant, self-absorbed, and don't treat people like dirt are unable to survive. For every genius who revolutionizes the media while being a complete and utter jerk, there are at least five who could do what that person does and better who aren't complete jerks that will never get their work taken seriously. And, of course, those geniuses are often people of colour, LGBT, women and non-binary, neuroatypical, etc. In the end, what really makes genius jerks flourish isn't their talent, but their cruelty, their lack of concern for other people, and their willingness to step on other people, and that toxic idea of the genius jerk only creates an environment where that's the only way to get to the top. I think if there's one thing that I've seen in modern cinema, especially in 2017 and coming in 2018, it's that it has shown that, when given the chance to show what they can do, all those people who never would have gotten a second look by the industry can revolutionize their medias and their fields and change entire genres and tell stories that no one has seen before and becoming hugely successful for it, but they have to be given a chance and a fair chance at that. I think that I'm one of those people who wants nothing more than to create beautiful things and tell stories which change the world, but someone who can't survive in a cruel, dog-eat-dog world, but hopefully I'll be given my chance someday soon. If nothing else, this year and the coming year make me hopefully. Hopefully, one day, people will see my work in bookstores and up on the big screen, that's all I've ever dreamed of.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

This a million times. Along with that horrible quote, "pain is temporary, film is forever" being used to justify putting people in dangerous positions. It's tough - you have to hustle. You have to endure what others won't... but that's not reason to treat people like crap.

[@gmanz8487]

I never knew these great directors who would be crappy human beings based on the fact about how they treat their actors like garbage, just to get their positions right!

[@gmanz8487]

@The Logomaker You forgot to mention Wes Anderson and Edgar Wright! The ones who have treated their actors well

[@bricebricegb]

I was once at a Room screening where we got to ask questions to Tommy and I asked him "Describe your use of Mise en Scène as an auteur in the film medium" and everyone booed me off.

[@Nelsonhojax15]

I notice a conspicuous minimum of Kubrick in all this Auteur theory bashing, which is funny because I feel like Kubrick represents the zenith of what auteurism has the potential to be. And what it has meant to me personally. I would compare a director with a distinctive style similar to something like a Van Gough painting. Instantly recognizable and identifiable with the particular artist. I get your argument against the dangers of self indulgent tomfoolery, but I think you ignore the very real artistic achievement that comes from being able to set yourself apart with a look and aesthetic. I've always hated the million forgettable movies that grace the screen every year. Even something as ridiculous as The Room, which I wouldn't call good art btw, has a personality to it. People remember The Room. Also, I'm disappointed in your apparent acclaim for Pauline Kael. Kael was and is a self-indulgent hack of the worst kind. I find that I agree with Renata Adler when she said the Kael's writings on cinema were "jarringly, piece by piece, line by line, and without interruption, worthless."

[@arthur4350]

Your argument is spectacularly ignorant because it ignores some obvious easy points: 1) Auteurism by focusing on the director who at the time were not taken seriously and seen as technicians (unless they were writers or producers) inevitably brought attention to women film-makers such as Ida Lupino, Dorothy Arzner, and some of the most beloved and influential auteurs are Chantal Akerman, and others. So the idea that auteurism is inherently tied to male power or that it's inherent to the movement is simply not sustainable. You are also neglecting the fact that many of the great auteurs were themselves figures with marginal identities and experiences...such as Nicholas Ray (bisexual), Murnau, Eisenstein, Cukor (homosexual) and so on. 2) Auteurists have long championed works by single-director works like Barbara Loden's WANDA, Laughton's Night of the Hunter and others. So the idea that an auteurist cinema ignores, blithely institutional film-apparatuses is not true. Citing Spike Lee as some punchline neglects the fact that Lee is a celebrated and renowned auteur and constantly engaged in cinephile culture. 3) Criticisms for auteurism exist and can be made, and have been made before, but you can't make an essay with entirely one-sided arguments such as this, citing Pauline Kael as some final word when she was highly inconsistent (i.e. she would champion directors with strong styles like DePalma and others, and almost never cite the lone individual collaborative film), and she was a terrible scholar (as in her attack on Orson Welles).

[@ambskater97]

Didn't Read LOL

[@sanjurosama]

@@ambskater97 Double lol at you then.

[@maxvetter1336]

The implication that Neil Been isn’t the greatest filmmaker of our time is deeply upsetting and frankly insulting to the art.

[@Garland41]

Oh hi Kyle...

[@siobhannicolson5566]

Merry Christmas everyone! Kyle; just a quick note, you made me want to become a director and scriptwriter through your film theory and analysis. And this video is no exception, showing something that is fascinating, confusing but all around brilliant while discussing Auteur theory. Kudos!

[@GravelordNito150]

The label "auteur" was never intended to indicate quality any more than "author" was meant to indicate great writing skill or "artist" is inherently meant to indicate particularly good painting skill. The term "vulgar auteurism" was a ridiculous misunderstanding of the term and its brief popularity on "film twitter" proves nothing outside of how low the bar has been lowered on film writing in the 21st Century. The fact that Tommy Wiseau took himself too seriously does not make him an auteur. Had he established his inept style over multiple movies that might have made him one, but that still would have proven nothing about the term as it was never meant as an indication of quality.

[@edisonmichael6345]

The thing is you have only to surf about this comment page to see a lot of people who conflate "auteur" and genius. As always, the meaning of words, when it flows out of its original use is uncontrollable.

[@SpyinGirly]

Excellent video as always but I could not help rewinding that Mulholland Dr. bit. That shit had me CACKLING.

[@mindyas398]

I wonder if calling The Room a death knell for auteur theory is too...erm... vulgar? To think of a director as exclusively an auteur is certainly a bad idea in a collaborative medium, but it's not like auteurism has yielded explicitly bad results. Tracy's "Vulgar Auteurism" is an attack on the limitations of relying upon individuals to always communicate a story in its proper essence through film. In particular, Tracy calls out Mann's Public Enemies for treating its subject (Dillinger) as the same, tight-laced protagonist just as any other of Mann's heroes, when that is exactly opposed to Dillinger's grandstanding nature. The stamp of the auteur thus undermines the integrity of the film as a whole. Wiseau also clearly uses his own authority to make absolute garbage. Contrast the above with, say, Stanley Kubrick. While he certainly has an identifiable directorial stamp, the style of Barry Lyndon, Dr. Strangelove, and 2001: A Space Odyssey each exemplify their subject matter very well. Meanwhile, Kubrick was known to have direct control of each and every frame, taking time to rewrite scripts mid-shoot and taking as many takes as he felt were necessary: definitely the mark of a self-conscious auteur. Kubrick also, I believe, breaks from your example of abusing his role to aggrandize and realize his sexual fantasies. Dr. Strangelove openly mocks men's preoccupation with sex to the point that it outright destroys the world. A movie like Eyes Wide Shut, on the other hand, if indeed that is a realization of Kubrick's own fantasies, it hardly paints him as "funny, charming, vibrant, and loved," but rather acts as an exploration of the dark underbelly of sexual fantasy and its abuses by those with power and wealth (enough to host the movie's simply charming orgy). Maybe Wiseau is simply the most hilariously egregious (probably not the worst) example of abusing and neglecting the responsibilities of being in control, especially on a creative project involving the input of so many craftspeople, actors, and actresses.

[@Nelsonhojax15]

Thank you for putting into words what I could not. I kept thinking "But what about Kubrick?" throughout the entire video, and you specifically nail down my exact thoughts. It also should be noted that Kael hated Kubrick's work, so I wonder if that plays a part as to why Kyle ignores the single biggest name in auteur theory in his auteur video. For my single self, I'm reluctant to put movie critics on too high of a pedestal. In the end, Kael spent most of her career simply getting paid to write her opinion. Not exactly the same as serious critique of the art form.

[@mindyas398]

Thanks for pointing out Kael's dislike of Kubrick! I went out and read a few of her reviews of Kubrick's work as soon as you mentioned it. They certainly put my claim that his movies "exemplify their subject matter" up for grabs (or, honestly, sent them straight to Hell), as Kael explicitly argues that they simply do not. Kubrick opts instead for a cold, slow, and ultimately Kubrickian aesthetic. That said, Kubrick's style is still one that I really appreciate. I would sooner fault Stephen King's novel than I would the movie that it was adapted into (and King himself did not much appreciate the movie, which matters not at all to me). I would say the same of A Clockwork Orange, a book that Anthony Burgess himself didn't much care for in his own oeuvre, though he also disliked what changes Kubrick made (specifically that Alex returns to his old self). I'm shifting goal posts here, but I do enjoy and prefer the liberties that Kubrick takes with his sources than were he passively adhering to them; these liberties were exactly what I and Tracy were faulting Michael Mann for in my original post. So, let me retcon my way out of this hole. Mann's biopic of Dillinger seems more beholden to its historical source. Dillinger was verifiably different than Mann's portrayal of him in Public Enemies. Compound that with the the fact that glorifying a gangster is not exactly something I can get behind. Kubrick's take on the Vietnam War in Full Metal Jacket, on the other hand, uses its setting effectively AND for an anti-war message that's more palatable to my tastes. tl;dr- I like Kubrick anyway, #notallauteurs

[@bigredjanie]

To be honest it is kinda hard to 100% defend Kubrick's actions after he drove Shelley Duval to tears on the set of The Shining. Is driving someone to THAT level really the best way to create "great art"?

[@slashandbones13]

Although in a certain sense, he got the American dream. A foreigner because of his unmovable passions became an icon.

[@thomasreed1386]

Mr. Kallgren, I wonder if you've had any thoughts about Pauleen Kael as a critic. I was troubled when I read her film books. I know she was considered a heroine when she supported Bonnie and Clyde against the attacks of Bosley Crowther (who hated the film mostly because it violated his sense of morality). And I know she lost prestige when she spent a weekend during the shooting of Nashville and raved about how wonderful it was...long before the film was finished or released. Whereas you express your ideas with clarity, even explaining some things such as auteur theory so even a chimpanzee like me can understand them, Kael always read as if she was Professor Kingsfield of The Paper Chase, expecting her readers to know what she was talking about, and hating them to the point of assassination if we didn't. Hope that you'll give your thoughts about Kael sometime in the future.

[@Vinzaf]

Jesus that fiancé bit caught me off guard and split my sides into orbit.

[@caitlinerickson7355]

So... how far back in etymology do we have to go before something counts as a French word? Like, fiancée is bad bc it has an accent(?) but future (which also comes from French) is fine because it was adopted long enough ago that the pronunciation changed?

[@Tuckerscreator]

If it's not currently a French word then Tommy doesn't have a problem with it. The book claims he lived in France but grew to hate it because he was badly mistreated there. And his last name is derived from the French word for bird, "oiseau".

[@ceramicholiness]

That mulholland drive bit made me laugh harder than I have in years.

[@Rhino-n-Chips]

Tommy literally uses Kubrick and Hitchcock's poor treatment of staff as a defence when he is abusing his stars onset.

[@elltell1990]

Whatabout-ery? How very 2017 discourse of him!

[@Tamacat388]

Did Kubrick even treat his staff poorly? He drove Shelly Duval mad but I never heard much else.

[@Alex30]

Rhino 'n Chips You can add Doug Walker in that list now. Lol

[@thehopeofeden597]

New Kyle? About The Room? Well there goes my homework.

[@trogdoar149]

Just seeing a picture of Wes Anderson makes me happy, I love that man, he is crazy talented.

[@lilith1493]

"Gud directors make pretty"

[@ingonyama70]

"Gr8 directors r 2deep4u" was my favorite.

[@Uriel.Cinema]

Redefining how I view my favorite film directors with your repetition in style point. Im shook

[@David_J.E.]

Geeze Kyle don't hold back. Tell us what you *really* think about Auteurs.

[@grahamkristensen9301]

One thing that hasn't really been brought up: auteurs are measured by their body of work. Tommy Wiseau only has one film to his name.

[@tsukiraaquarius8746]

*raises hand* While I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, didn't you say earlier that Love Witch was also a good example of Auteur theory gone right? If so, than by that extension, wouldn't that make Mr. Wiseau not the last Auteur? Or is it because Ms. Billar didn't star in it that it doesn't apply to the same degree as Mr.Wiseau?

[@ViveLRoi]

Getting to this late, but I think what Kyle means (and correct me if I'm wrong) is that Wiseau is not *literally* the last auteur, but is the *culmination* of the Auteur Theory taken to its logical conclusion. A talentless fool with complete control of his film, who subjects everyone else to his whims and vision-- even if everything that comes from it is dreck.

[@GeoNeilUK]

Wouldn't making Tommy Wiseau an auteur also mean that Ed Wood is also an auteur? Would it mean that Anna Biller is also can autuer? (in the caste of Anna Biller, I'd say yes and I'd love her to direct a reboot of the TV series _Tales Of The Unexpected_ but only if they keep the original iconic British theme tune and at least a recreation of the British title sequence) All I can think of is that his hatred of the French language reveals him coming from a Francophone country where his work was *REALLY* rejected and that caused him to come to America. He probably has some work in French that predates The Room that might actually be better than The Room, but we may never know as all that work is most likely lost.

[@ingonyama70]

The DISPARITY between the things Kyle says about auteur theory and the things that are put up on the screen is probably my favorite part. I feel a bit confused, still, though. Perhaps this one went just a shade 2deep4me. Is Kyle attacking auteur filmmaking as a whole, or is he just going after the hacks that turn their films into Gary Stu fanfics? If it's the latter, more power to him. If the former? ...personally, I've always thought of Spielberg as an auteur, even as mainstream as his movies are, and I can't think of a single movie of his that I do not like. Speaking of, Kyle, a Spielberg video someday would be lovely. Like...Love Witch "OH MY GOD WE'RE IN A CAKE" lovely. ^_^ Happy Holidays, Mr. Kallgren.

[@stefanoorsi3784]

That "Ars" censor bar might be the funniest thing I've ever seen.

[@murphyleigh6319]

That section discussing bodies of work thing was fucking savage, and I love it.

[@thecteam4395]

This is exactly why video games don't need a celebrity culture. John Romero ran himself into the ground in the 90s, Hideo Kojima was a big name, but I think it's clear that much of his style did not pass the test of time, and David Cage just can't write human beings. Like film, games are a collaborative effort, and with 3D animators getting treated "like cattle" (see LA Noire), we don't need any more reinforcement for throwing people under a bus. We need our nutcases coming up with ideas (John Romero's main strong point), but we should be feeding imaginations, not egos.

[@christopherwall2121]

This might be why Time-Traveling Alien In Person Suit John Carmack prefers to stay behind the scenes, so to speak

[@monkey1zGDP]

Hahahaha what a story Kyle

[@djoninstark1978]

Wait, hang on, I don’t quite follow. You wish he’d embraced the fact that he’s a creepy looking foreign guy instead of pursuing his dream of playing a hero? I mean, I’m all for learning to work with your own disadvantages, but that sounds dangerously like telling someone to stick with stereotypes and never strive to be someone’s hero.

[@cypher515]

"(Hitchcock) said that actors are cattle. That would make child actors veal." -- Mara Wilson

[@TheMetroidSocrates]

I was reminded of this video when watching Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, which many people have compared to The Room.

[@Videoblood]

Oh my Lord when you used the clip from Greenaway's 8 1/2 Women I screamed. Perfect!

[@T.R.A.I.N.I.N.G.]

Lol, you actually made good use of the soundtrack. Great video!

[@acerimmer2000]

"oh hi Mark"

[@m3rrys0ngstr3ss]

I guess it makes sense - I feel like I ready an interview somewhere where TW said he was trying to write a Tennessee Williams-esque piece.

[@sarahl701]

10:16 just knocked this Thursday up a notch

[@tudabee]

Thank you for the introduction to Pauline Kael, long may she reign.

[@etanaedelman9011]

One thing I wonder, is how many auteurs actually called themselves auteurs? Or subscribed to the theory? I mean, of course the Nouvelle Vague filmmakers promoted auteur theory, but did Kubrick, Tarkovsky, Bergman, Kurosawa etc etc consider themselves auteurs? The one time I heard a director talk about auteur theory, it was George Lucas during the making of The Phantom Menace and... yeah we all know how that turned out. How much of auteurism is something we ascribe to directors ourselves? Other forms of art, like painting or writing, often involve very few people and are usually attributed to one person. Maybe our brains can't understand that what we're looking at is not the creation of a single person, but a large collective.

[@sanjurosama]

I don't know did Kurosawa ever use the word auteur, but besides directing, he also co-wrote/wrote most of his movies and edited most of them and didn't like studio interference. When he directed the scene in Dreams featuring Martin Scorsese playing Vincent Van Gogh, at first he let him act any way he wanted, then he pulled him back and told exactly, line by line how to act.

[@eadlynjune]

I don’t think a director having a style is a bad thing. Wes Anderson and, dare I say, Baz Lurhman are some of my favorite directors that stick to a style. When you watch one of their movies though they’re never just the last one. Directing is like writing with a paintbrush, or a lense. Some writers write books with the same style but the story’s new so it doesn’t really matter because the way it was written wasn’t the point. I can say, while directing works with the story, it’s the same. I think people like Anderson write personal stories about people, so his directing tends to stay very close and intimate. He’s also perfected a color palette, so he likes to use it, albeit in different ways each time and sticking to different colors. Baz...that could take a whole twenty minutes so let’s just leave his pretty lunacy alone at he moment. The point is that having a style doesn’t mean your inferior to someone without one and visa versa. There is no one way you have to be, make your vision with the strokes you envision, even if you’ve used those stokes before.

[@quatermasss]

I thought by this point, nothing new or original could possibly be said about T. Wiseau and The Room.Boy oh boy, was I ever wrong.

[@1987MartinT]

The story of Tommy Wiseau comes off kinda as a tragedy when put like this. A man standing tragically and buffoonishly in the ruins of his failure without being able to understand why he has failed, since, as far as he knows, he has done everything he needed to do to guarantee success.

[@FranciscoRodriguez-ue2by]

Wait a minute, what about Anna Biller? I don't think I saw her in the directors' pictures.....And I distinctly remember that Kyle said she was "one of the best cases ever made for the auteur theory"......

[@gabe_s_videos]

Continuing from my other comment, I really don't like that you kinda passed the buck about saying WHY you dislike the auteur theory onto someone else in an entire video who's point is to say why you dislike it. You only BARELY touch upon it at the very end, and it's great, but it's just smarmy and dismissive. It's not analysis, it's a rant video, something anyone can do. If you're going to make a fifteen minute video essay about a strong opinion, make it about the strong opinion. At the same time, if you're going to discuss social injustice and how angry it makes you, at the very least don't talk about it like you're the first person to discover it. A waste of two perfectly valid discussions that could make for their own separate videos by scotch-taping them together in the middle.

[@TimeTravelerJessica]

Thank you for the Pauline Kael lecture link. That is freaking glorious.

[@limelightraver5690]

This is incredible such an interesting new perspective that’s never occurred to me. Awesome video

[@gaphic]

U know, it’s very rare that I subscribe based on just one video. But this is truly superb

[@JoshTheTheatreKid]

I always thought Tommy Wiseau was a Alien wearing an ill-fitting human suit.

[@aperson------------]

About auteur theory: Is Kubrick an auteur? He displays constant growth and change and variety and yet it is somewhat clear in every one of his films that it is a Kubrick film. Same with Paul Thomas Anderson, they both display change and growth, but I would (maybe I'm completely wrong) consider them auteurs

[@Titleknown]

While your points are excellent, I will say, there really should be a broader conception amongst film circles on who the major shaping "voice" of a piece is. Like, say, in terms of effects artists I would call Screaming Mad George and Paul Blaisdell auteurs. Ditto for William Golding as the main auteur on the Princess Bride, because so much of that piece's majesty is in his script. Tho, of course, lending credence to the industry-sexism-related issues of auteur theory, you wouldn't believe the time I had trying to find five distinctive female directors for an installment of a piece I'm planning on doing for kaiju based on the styles of certain film directors (BTW, the ones I settled on were Katheryn Bigelow, Julie Taymor, Lotte Reiniger, Sally Cruikshank and Rachel Talalay)

[@seanramsdell4172]

Caroline Leaf?

[@Titleknown]

...Okay, I think I got a sixth entry for that now, thank you. That's the great thing about animation, the individual creators' style can come out a lot stronger. As one can see also, heck, also amongst artists of color like Milton Knight of Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog and Twisted Tales of Felix The Cat fame, and in the Bambi backgrounds of Tyrus Wong...

[@FunnyAnimatoFilms]

Well, yeah, but what comes next? Does the theory just have to evolve? Does our culture have to evolve? Does this fix itself by just having more voices in the room? What's the solution? I don't want it to be death of the author, I'm out of a job if it's death of the author. Name recognition can build a career. It can be the fulcrum upon which the success of a property is weighed. In the same way it's good practice to sign your paintings and your books and your video essays, it has to be good practice to sign your movies. Maybe I'm wrong about this and my frustration is the same egoism that drove Pickford, Chaplin, Fairbanks and Klan guy to go start UA, but, you know, it is stupid not to have your name on the poster. I want to go into television one day. I want to make movies. I'm studying to do that and I'm good at it. I want my shot. I want to get nominated for an award. I think that I can. I don't think auteurism should die, it just needs to evolve. It needs to become more cohesive. It needs to focus on collaborative practice and developing your own ideas. If we can't hold our artists to the same standards of self-improvement that we expect from the rest of our culture and that we futilely strive for as mere mortals, than what the fuck are we doing! Maybe this is an entirely new school of thought I'm proposing, but there's a reason we get excited about the NEXT Fincher project. Maybe the change we need to be is to see ourselves in the middle of history. Imagining what film can be. Once we've done that, it turns the artistic process into a journey of self discovery. The questions in interviews shouldn't be about the past, it should be about what's around the corner. Maybe this is utopian, and I'm rambley and unfocused and full of shit but I don't think Wiseau SHOULD be the last auteur. If Griffith's on your list, there's nowhere to go but up!

[@stevencoffin328]

I have no respect for Pauline Kael's opinion after she openly lied about Orson Welles in her "essay" (aka her Herman Mankiewicz fan fiction) "Raising Kane" to further her own anti-Auteur theory.

[@Malkmusianful]

Auteur theory is flawed by design because it ignores the reality that film is inherently collaborative - that it has to be. Just because a director is the person to run the show doesn't mean they're the one who dictates the whole thing - the screenwriter, the DP, the actors and the producers all collaborate on the whole thing. They make the film into its own thing. Fishmans could easily be described as the auteur fantasies of Shinji Sato, but a band proper cannot abide to auteur theory unless if you're dealing with artists like Todd Rundgren and Trent Reznor who about play every instrument. Fishmans would merely be Shinji Sato on an acoustic if it weren't for him collaborating with several other musicians - and even then, auteur theory would dictate that he'd already be at the Long Season/Uchu Nippon Setagaya aesthetic as early as 1987. However, listening to the discography of Fishmans in reverse, you realize that Shinji took baby steps to get where he was. He didn't even stumble upon the Long Season aesthetic until he wrote "Nightcruising" for Aerial Camp. He stumbled upon traces of it - the psychedelia of King Master George to Orange hint at Long Season's flirtation with the genre whereas the spacier tracks on Neo Yankees' Holiday heavily hint at Aerial Camp (which hints at Uchu Nippon Setagaya). An auteur is expected to find their in-house style when, in reality, it takes fucking time to figure it out. You don't come out of the gate making Otto e mezzo or Annie Hal. You have to find your voice. You have to find what stories resonate with you better. And hell, even though Robert Altman is regularly considered an auteur by the "1960s and 1970s kino is the only good kino" crowd, he's not even an auteur. His screenplays were almost always written by somebody else (with him doing rewrites that varied in size, from a ground-up rewrite on Brewster McCloud to just allowing more opportunities for improv on Nashville), he tended to shift genre and subject matter from film to film (one minute he's doing absurdist comedies, the next he's doing existentialist deconstructions of established genres, the next he's doing fucking satirical musicals, the next he's doing murder mysteries, etc.), and he always made damn sure that his films were purely collaborative. Nashville would not be half the film it is if it weren't for Joan Tewkesbury's script, the soundtrack by every single actor on the project, the performances by every single actor, Altman's friends coming in and offering to help out, etc. To consolidate their efforts under the singular figure of Robert Altman would cheapen it immensely. Tommy Wiseau is extreme auteurism, IMO. He's auteur theory brought to its absolute extreme - where one guy controls all the shots (most of the time - Sandy Schklair co-directing, Eric Chase trying to edit, Raphael Smadja lighting the thing poorly) and demands that he be the singular one recognized for his own mistake. Hell, you see it in the press rounds for the Disaster Artist - it's always Tommy who's being interviewed by talk show hosts. It's never Greg. It's never Juliette. It's never Sandy. It's never anybody else BUT Tommy.

[@kevinulysses2105]

You argue that the auteur theory is discriminatory against minority artists that are unable to create a body of work to analyze, and then you undermine that statement by putting up images of career directors who have worked for a long time who I assume fit your criteria for minority even if you do not give one. This asserts that even people of any given minority who are successful are still victims despite their success which is a view that fails to look at these artists as artists and instead sees them as members of a unchangeable social class. I would like to hear your defense of that position because I do not believe it is true. For example - Agnes Varda: Has been working since 1955 in multiple countries with 52 Directing credits on her IMDB page and is considered a crucial member of the french new wave. - Clair Denis: has made 13 feature films since 1988 and nominated for multiple festival awards such as the Palme D'or and the Golden Lion. - Jane Campion: An oscar winning screenwriter, For "The Piano" a Best Picture nominee, whose directed 7 feature films since 1989 and is currently working on a Golden Globe winning miniseries "Top of the Lake". - Sofia Coppola: An oscar winning screenwriter, For "Lost in Translation" a Best Picture nominee, whose directed 6 feature films since 1999, including "The Beguiled" this past year, as well as a Netflix christmas special. - Ava DuVernay: Has Directed 6 Documentaries, 3 Feature Films (Including "Selma" a Best Picture Oscar Nominee) and Created a still running TV series ("Queen Sugar") since 2008. Her new feature film coming out this year is "A Wrinkle in Time", produced by Disney. -Taika Waititi: working in the New Zealand film industry since 1999 as an actor, he has directed 5 Feature Films since 2007 including a Massive Marvel Blockbuster this past year with "Thor: Ragnarok" - Spike Lee: Received a Honorary Oscar in 2016 recognizing his entire body of work, He has accumulated 77 directing credits on IMDB since 1979, Gaining 2 Previous Oscar Nominations ("Do the Right Thing" and "4 Little Girls"), Huge Financial Successes ("Inside Man"), and even a current Netflix Series ("She's Gotta Have It")

[@wordsforgeeks3225]

Isn't Spike Lee an Auteur?

[@seanramsdell4172]

The People's Godard

[@insanepoet9]

Thanks for another great video, Kyle! Happy holidays!

[@ericemanwu]

That bit on hating french was hilarious in its own way.

[@Thraim.]

Beginning: I think Kyle doesn't like Auteurs... Ending: Jesus Christ, that hate boner is gigantic! Seriously though, a good Auteur _can_ brake through common clichés by disregarding what is "marketable" and doing his own thing, thus creating a new style. On the other hand we see lots of Directors who get high on snorting their own farts, and we can't even blame them because everyone keeps telling them how _unique_ their style is. In this regard Kyle's critique of Auteur Theory is _more_ than valid.

[@wratched]

If we can call Hannibal or Montgomery great generals, then auteur theory is valid. Auteurs have the power to command their army to produce the outcome they want. It has no bearing on whether the final outcome is successful. There are good auteurs and bad auteurs, just as there are good generals and bad generals.

[@acelyasummer422]

Pauline Kael hated Robocop. Nuff said.

[@ambskater97]

So?

[@MrCowabungaa]

My biggest gripe with auteur theory and similar theories in criticism is how it makes the jump from being descriptive to being normative too quickly. It's one thing to say "There is such a thing as an auteur." It's quite another, as Pauline Kael clearly described, to then also say "And auteurs stand for quality." Also, if you think Wiseau is the last auteur you haven't seen my main man Neil Breen yet. Because oh baby, ohhhh baby!

[@ItsTheFizz]

So Tommy Wiseau finished the job that Tom Green started... Huh...

[@Tacom4ster]

I don't use high quality as a rule for being an auteur, so I do consider Wisseau as an auteur

[@michaelwu7678]

But all the greatest movies so far have been made by auteurs? How can you argue that people aspiring to be like Kurosawa, Coppola, Tarkovsky, or Kubrick are bad for the art of filmmaking? Sure, auteur theory has its downsides but so does conventional filmmaking. Auteurs are nowhere near as repetitive as cookie-cutter Hollywood blockbuster directors. If they destroy the individual creativity of their cast and crew, at least they’re doing it for the sake of a unified artistic vision and not money/commercial success. Maybe I didn’t understand the video. Could you please elaborate on what you’re trying to say?

[@samuentaga]

Maybe you should listen?

[@PilgrimVisions]

I too am rather more confused than I usually am after finishing a Kyle Kallgren video. I'm not sure precisely what he is arguing against, let alone for.

[@VertigoDefinitivo]

Michael Wu You're using the wrong definition of what auteur cinema is. The auteurs didn't make great movies, it was the other way around. Auteur theory is a way of looking at the people who directed those movies. What Pauline Kael is saying (and what Kyle is saying) is that Auteur Theory is kind of silly. Micheal Bay, Wiseau, and all the other terrible directors can also be considered auteurs. And the talented people who don't have the power/money to make many movies will never be considered Auteurs.

[@Elsenoromniano]

All the greatest movies are made by auteurs, I can think of a lot of great movies that are not done by auteurs. The thing is not the individual filmmakers themselves, the problem is in how we perceive auteurs, if we perceive auteurs like the romanticist artist genius that creates a great work of art out of thin air drawing inspiration only from the muses and their imagination, above society, like the albatros in total control in the air in their art above the rest of society, then we are sucumbing to a cultural myth and in sucumbing to this myth we imitate the surface (the lifestyle, the affections, the authority on the set) without grasping the deeper meanings. Tommy Wiseau is exactly the product of that imitation, but without true reflections about art, why it changes, how to make it move forward, etc. Another problem of auteur theory that Kyle does not really discuss in the video is that is very narrow and robs a lot of other things to analyze that can be very interesting in the critical reception of a film, like their ties to a concrete society, a distinct cultural and historical perspective, a particular economic or political system. It robs us also the of a truly significant intertextual analysis, and leaves with superficial analysis like that director grew on a lot of this films or he really admired x filmmaker or actor. it also makes us forget that cinema, even more than other arts is a collaborative project and while the director can made many choices, not all are theirs. What would be of Citizen Kane without its photography, what would be of Star Wars without the set and model design, what of Kill BIll without the editing, or of batman Returns without costume designs, Hitchcock's films without the scripts of Alma Reville, they wouldn't be the same films, and all these peoples and many more influenced the look, feel and artistry of all these films and made creative decisions. Auteur theory leads us many times, specially in the more vulgar sense to forget that these people even existed, to see them as robots who just are there only to do as commanded to make the vision of director come true .

[@michaelwu7678]

VertigoDefintivo Ok so he’s saying the word auteur isn’t really useful and the theory doesn’t really tell us anything important about cinema except putting some directors on a pedestal? I understand the argument better now, thank you. Also P.S. I don’t really think the amount of movies someone makes is relevant to whether or not they’re an “auteur.” Andrei Tarkovsky only made 7 films and he’s considered an auteur.

[@seanramsdell4172]

Check out Brody's Front Row vids on the New Yorker

[@BlackScarabFilmZ]

This just might be my new favorite of Kyle's videos. And I am totally here for tearing down auteur theory.

[@Mattteus]

watch the French & Saunders' spoof of Fellini, especially the 8 1/2 part, it's hilarious

[@seanramsdell4172]

Also check out The Dove, late-60's Ingmar Bergman spoof featuring Madeline Kahn

[@kaxamdays9540]

This is... a great video. Good job Kyle.

[@RothurThePaladin]

I always learn something new from your videos. Thank you for your hard work.