Bruce McDonald and Auteurism

Paper Summary:

In the late 1950s and early 1960s auteurism came to dominate film criticism. This theory can be defined as, "a critical approach to film that emphasizes the essential role of the director as the author of the work," with every aesthetic choice reflecting his or her personality. Many different approaches to more closely defining how to study, classify, and measure the value of auteurs were created. One of the most influential of these articles was Andrew Sarris' "Notes On Auteur Theory in 1962", which defined directors in terms of their ability to create films with technical competence, a style that reflected his or her distinct personality, and interior meaning. This study focuses on Bruce McDonald, a Canadian director. An analysis of his films in this paper shows his validity as an auteur according to Sarris' theory and at the same time shows the problems of studying directors as individual artists working within the constraints of cinema.

From the Paper:

"After "Notes On Auteur Theory in 1962" was published several arguments against Sarris' theory arose, and these can be applied to Bruce McDonald's auteurism as well. Beginning in the late 1940s Hollywood journalists debated the importance of diverse collaborators on a filmmaking team. According to some critics auteurism underestimated the importance of the collaborative nature of filmmaking. Sarris' theory certainly finds that the director is the center of film production, and as such is the auteur, but this does not take into consideration the role of other important "auteurs". These could include the screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. In McDonald's case his career is founded upon some key collaborations. On four of his seven feature films, the script was written at least in part by Don McKellar, another prominent Canadian actor, director, and writer."

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