“The director is always the most important influence on a film.” Compare how far your two chosen films support this statement.
As film has progressed over time, the term ‘auteur’ has become synonymous with directors that employ a distinctive style to create a desired effect. The critic Andre Bazin (of Cashiers du Cinema fame), is noted with first using this term. He hypothesised that all films made by the same director contain similar themes and features, due to the directors signature style; hence auteur. This theory suggests that the director is the most influential factor in determining a films aesthetic. Whilst this is usually the case nowadays, prior to 1950 and during Classical Hollywood, the studio was responsible for the tone and feel of a film. As such, the studio could be said to have operated as auteur. With that said, it is notable that the collaborative nature of filmmaking was much more prominent in Classical Hollywood, restricting the opportunity for directorial auteurs. As studio control lessened throughout New Hollywood, more directorial auteurs began to emerge.
Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) exemplifies the type of films that were produced during Classical Hollywood. Therefore, it offers an interesting view into how MGM used their control over the production process to create an economically successful film. Rather surprisingly, in some scenes, MGM give the creative freedom to Curtiz to be independent. However, these moments are so brief that it doesn’t warrant Curtiz being labelled as an auteur. Contrastingly, Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967) begins the transition between Classical Hollywood and New Hollywood. This is most evident by the freedom in which Penn was given to be innovative. His use of explicit themes and contemporary film form was instrumental in developing directorial auteurs. However, the fact that he borrowed heavily from the French New Wave of cinema suggests that he can’t be labelled as an auteur.
MGM had a definite house style, acting as, essentially, a set of identifiable features that most of their films displayed. One of the most striking reminders of this, is MGM’s use of lavish constricted sound stages, to construct sets and faux locations. Sound stages were used in many MGM films because they were affordable and ensured that the film crew remained in one place. Sound stages also allowed for some creative meaning to be explored. For example, during the ending of Casablanca, the runway is hidden by heavy fog and low visibility. Thus mirroring the dubious circumstances in which Victor Laszlo escapes. This enhances the narrative but was a feature common to many other MGM films, thereby suggesting that the studio had control over the film rather than the director, Michael Curtiz.
One of the key differences between Casablanca and Bonnie and Clyde is the use of location. Rather than being confined to a sound stage, Penn was able to shoot on location in Texas. This enhanced the historical accuracy of the film, something that Penn would become known for, having also shot on location in New Mexico during filming of The Left Handed Gun (Arthur Penn, 1958) – a film about Billy The Kid. This suggests that Penn showed some auteur – type innovation. However, the innovation is limited because French New Wave filmmakers had also used this. The key difference between both is that Penn used this out of creativity versus the French directors who used the locations out of necessity. This suggests that whilst Penn borrowed ideas from France, he made them his own with unique meaning and effect.
During the Classical Hollywood era, most studios utilised a standard binary opposition between a clearly defined protagonist and a clearly defined antagonist. Subsidiary to this, was usually a female character who acted as Propp’s Princess archetype. MGM and Casablanca don’t buck this trend. We see Ilsa in a reductive role, merely acting as a love interest for Rick. Ilsa seems innocent and naive, as shown by the soft lighting when she firsts visits Rick’s bar. For a modern viewer, this seems demeaning and critically speaking, this portrayal of Ilsa conforms to Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory. This choice was probably out of convention, as this was something that studios had been doing for years. In this regard, Curtiz doesn’t seem to innovate and challenge the submissive roles of women in Classical Hollywood but no other directors were doing so either at the time. This highlights the misogyny present in studios and further highlights the level of studio and executive control over the film, relative to the director.
On the other hand, Penn’s portrayal of Bonnie is much more nuanced and modern. Bonnie and Clyde don’t conform to the archetypical character roles used by studios in Classical Hollywood. Instead, their violent actions juxtaposed with their care for each other suggest they are anti-heroes. A new term coined during this era. Bonnie in particular subverts the Male Gaze because in the opening sequence Penn suggestively styles her with red lipstick and no clothes, showing her traditional femininity. The gunfight at the end of the film contrasts with this and the dichotomy suggests that there are layers to Faye Dunaway’s character, something that was revolutionary at the time. This suggests that Penn is very much an auteur as he popularised prominent female roles in film, beyond a simple love interest. This carried over as more New Hollywood films started to be produced with intricate character roles for female actresses. It is interesting to note that Penn popularised this, instead of borrowing from the French New Wave, perhaps implying that he is more of an auteur than first thought.
One element of Casablanca that Curtiz had absolutely no control over was the sound design, I taking the lead instead, was a composer – Max Steiner. Steiner repeats his composition of ‘As Time Goes By’ throughout the entire film. He uses this romantic score as a leitmotif to explore the complex love between Rick and Ilsa. He mixes diegetic and non-diegetic versions of the score to suggests different ideas. For example, during the flashback to Paris, the score is non-diegetic, completely removing the viewer from the action. This informs the romance between Rick and Ilsa, suggesting that it is a relic of the past. This is contrasted with Sam playing the song on the piano in the bar (diegetic), implying that their romance might have reignited. The subsequent return to non-diegetic sound at the culmination of the film, extinguishes this hope. This creativity by Steiner enhanced the meaning in the film but suggests that Curtiz’ influence on the film was even more diminished.
Similarly to Curtiz’ minimal input towards the sound design, Penn had next to no impact towards the editing of Bonnie and Clyde. Instead, editor Dede Allen was able to manipulate some elements of the film through a highly expressive and stylised attitude towards editing. Whilst she borrowed some of the French New Wave’s experimental editing techniques, she was extremely influential in ending the linear continuity editing that was omnipresent during Classical Hollywood. During the end sequence of Bonnie and Clyde, the 51 rapid cuts make the viewer feel uneasy and don’t explicitly give away the ending. Equally the final shot uses a canted angle, further contributing to an uneasy and unresolved tone to the denouement. Allen’s unique editing here allows her to present a tone of excitement but also of chaos, that enhances the themes that Penn presents previously. However, since Penn handed the responsibility of editing to Allen, there is a varied style of storytelling in Bonnie and Clyde that makes the action more engaging.
During Classical Hollywood, the Production Code was enforced to its fullest effect, so studios had to be creative with how they portrayed explicit themes. This meant that Casablanca told a romantic story against the backdrop of a war, without much violence or romance. Instead, much of the violence is implied through character. The protagonist Rick is established from the offset as a hardened man but his grizzly, rugged persona is endearing to the audience. The antagonist, Major Strasberg, is even more clearly defined by his Nazi allegiance. On a more macro level, there is an allegorical element to each character, with Rick resembling USA and the Major resembling Nazi Germany. This allows MGM to explore WW11 on a micro level, through character interactions. Since the war was ongoing at the time of the film’s release, the strong undercurrent of violence would have been petrifying to the audience due to its gritty realism. The idea to frame this seemingly romantic movie during WW11, was as a result of collaboration between the filmmakers. Most notably, executive producer Jack Warner, whom was intrigued by stories of war and terror. Even though this allegorical device was innovative, it was as a result of collaboration within the studio and the studio acting as an auteur. This further highlights how Curtiz was solely there to follow the instructions given to him by MGM and Jack Warner.
The violence in Bonnie and Clyde is much more on the nose. Arthur Penn decided to completely ignore the ageing Production Code and this is evident throughout the film, where guns and gunfire are on full display. Equally, there is more intense sexuality on display, in the opening sequence and when Bonnie and Clyde attempt to have sex. This appealed to a new generation of viewers (The Baby Boomers), who had a much more open and free thinking attitude to sex and violence. In fact, Penn was one of the first major catalysts in developing this mindset in younger viewers. At a similar time, bands such as: Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith were accelerating this mentality with suggestive lyrics and heavy music. There was definitely a symbiotic relationship between media, such as Bonnie and Clyde, and the changing outlook of a young and optimistic American generation. This further implies that Penn was an auteur as he had a big influence on changing what was accepted by an entire generation. He ignored the production code, followed by the studios, instead presenting divisive themes. This intense sexuality and violence was to become a mainstay of most New Hollywood films, so Penn very much pioneered this in Bonnie and Clyde.
Whilst nowadays most directors have complete freedom and creative control over their films, this was not the case during Classical Hollywood. The studio system that films were produced under lead to commercially successful but creatively similar and repetitive films. However, after the success of Bonnie and Clyde, many more directors began to enjoy creative control. Penn was the catalyst in moving away from the studio system and allowing for many auteurs to be established over the subsequent years. It is therefore interesting that Penn himself is most probably not a complete auteur because of his borrowing from the French New Wave. Equally, his lack of control over editing implies that he knew his film could be enhanced by collaborating with Allen, herself using ideas from the French New Wave. This collaboration during the filmmaking process is a distinct link between Casablanca and Bonnie and Clyde. This suggests that the best films do not really solely on the input of one person and that the sharing of ideas and techniques lends itself to the most engaging films.