The auteur that I have selected for my focus in regard to the discussion of authorship is the renowned film director, Danny Boyle. His most notable works include blockbusters like Trainspotting (1996), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), 28 Days Later (2002) and 127 Hours (2010). Boyle’s films have seen him be awarded with numerous accolades, including best director for Slumdog Millionaire and even movie of the year for 127 Hours (IMDb, 2015, [online]). He is widely considered to be one of the best British directors of all time (Telegraph.co.uk, 2007, [online]).
Seeing as my topic is authorship, it goes without saying that we need to talk about the auteur theory and how that relates to my selected director. Originating from France, the word auteur literally translates to mean author. The theory itself only came to prominence in the late 1940s and essentially argues that the director of a motion picture is more likely to be considered the auteur than the actual screenwriter (Wollen, 1972, p.74-80). This is due to the director's control over the numerous aspects of a film, both the visual and audio elements. The auteur theory also argues that directors have their own personal ‘stamp’ and are ultimately a “brand” as opposed to being just a director (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014, [online]).
Now, although it’s a debatable theory and many have disagreed, it wouldn’t be too difficult to apply ideas from the auteur theory to Boyle’s films and depict his personal “stamp”. For example, most of his movies tend to contain graphic content, Trainspotting displays addicts injecting heroin and 127 Hours portrays a desperate man cutting his own arm off. Also, his films often tackle extreme situations, like a zombie outbreak in 28 Days Later and a rags to riches story in Slumdog Millionaire. In terms of cinematography, a trademark of Boyles is his ‘energetic visual style’ (Tikkanen, 2015, [online]). During an interview in 2013, Boyle himself said that ‘I like my films to be visceral - to burst right through the door at the beginning’ (Yorkshirepost.co.uk, 2013, [online]).
In an essay he wrote in 1968, Roland Barthes put across this idea of ‘the death of the author’. Essentially, Barthes’ argument is that the reader is as important as the text and it is the text itself that is vital when constructing meaning, not the author. Obviously this goes against the auteur theory in the sense that Barthes is dismissing the influence of the author and focussing upon the text itself, stating that ‘the death of the author is the birth of the reader’ (Allen, 2013, p.73-77). This theory was dismissed by Foucault, who believed that critics needed to recognise that authorship is essentially a function (Ede & Lunsford, 1990, p.88).
To conclude, I believe that the author does in fact play a major role in both the production and meaning of a text, I don’t think they can just be ignored. I also feel as though Danny Boyle does have his own stamp which is why his films are so anticipated and popular, because of him and his reputation.
Bibliography:
Allen, G. (2003). Roland Barthes. London: Routledge.
Ede, L. and Lunsford, A. (1990). Singular texts, plural authors. Carbondale u.a.: Southern Illinois Univ. Press.
Encyclopedia Britannica, (2014). auteur theory | filmmaking. [online] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/art/auteur-theory [Accessed 27 Oct. 2015].
IMDb, (1956). Danny Boyle. [online] Available at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000965/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2015].
IMDb, (2015). Danny Boyle. [online] Available at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000965/awards [Accessed 27 Oct. 2015].
Telegraph.co.uk, (2007). The top 21 British directors of all time. [online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/3664474/The-top-21-British-directors-of-all-time.html [Accessed 27 Oct. 2015].
Tikkanen, A. (2015). Danny Boyle | biography - British filmmaker. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: http://www.britannica.com/biography/Danny-Boyle [Accessed 27 Oct. 2015].
Wollen, P. (1972). Signs and meaning in the cinema. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Yorkshirepost.co.uk, (2013). Danny Boyle: ‘I like my films to be visceral – to burst right through the door at the beginning’. [online] Available at: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/features/danny-boyle-i-like-my-films-to-be-visceral-to-burst-right-through-the-door-at-the-beginning-1-5526066 [Accessed 27 Oct. 2015].
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