Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Death of the Auteur Theory

The Melrose Place pilot, to be broadcast tonight on The CW, was directed by Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim, who also did "An Inconvenient Truth."

6 comments:

Christian Lindke said...

And the Pilot for 3lbs. My Davis Guggenheim number is 2, through Jody.

But in a world where a 2nd Unit Director like Alexander Witt has more to do with how good an action movie is, than the actual director, the auteur theory is already dead.

There are auteurs, Tarantino and Rodriguez always present their vision, and there are "collaborators" like Ridley Scott and Doug Liman.

It is really a shame that so many critics look only at who is directing the film, and maybe the cinematographer, and not who the 2nd Unit director is or who the Sound Editor/Editor is. George Lucas' work was much better when Marcia Lucas was editing his films. It's too bad that after their messy divorce she never edited another film -- the editor of Taxi Driver for goodness' sake.

David Chute said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David Chute said...

I'm confused. You've seen it and it's bad, or you assume it must be? Either because it's "Melrose Place" or because you hated "An Inconvenient Truth"?

I'd say, on the strength of Guggenheim's work on "24" and "Deadwood," that your punk ass "network" was lucky to get him.

Tulkinghorn said...

Absolutely no judgment on quality, just wondering at the individual qualities that could make the same person the 'author' of those two.

"24" and "Deadwood"? Maybe the guy's good.

Then why Gore?

David Chute said...

You would have to ask him. He could agree that Gore is an ass while still wanting to put his skills to work for the cause. Many possible variations.

Christian Lindke said...

The answer to the question "why Gore?" is quite a simple one. He genuinely believes that Anthropomorphic Global Climate Change is a serious problem. Anyone who believes that fact, regardless of talent level, would jump at the chance to make a high profile documentary on the subject.

A better question is "Why Melrose Place?" Then again, Doug Liman directed the pilot for The OC and set a dramatic template that made for great television...until they abandoned the when JJ Philbin was Executive Story Editor in 2004 and 05 -- her touch on Heroes wasn't much better. Thankfully, they returned to form in the final season and ended with one of the best final episodes of any TV series to date.