Sometime around the mid 1950’s, a young critic by the name of Francois Truffaut of the French periodical Cahiers du Cinema, championed what would become one of the most influential theories in film history. Truffaut popularized the theory of the auteur, a view that holds the director as the most important figure in film production, stressing their dominance in the art. The suggestion behind this ideology is that the director’s personal and creative vision should be reflected in their films, as if they are the primary author, hence auteur. Truffaut and others argued that “the best movies are dominated by the personal vision of the director” (Gianetti 470).
Filmmakers in America were very much at the mercy of Hollywood during the ‘30s, ‘40s, and 50s. They were stuck in their studio system, collaborating on projects and having very little individual expression. The Hollywood studio system was a machine that continued to pour out movies by using their studio template, emphasizing group work and promoting actors to the point of becoming stars.
Very few filmmakers in America could consider themselves auteurs. Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford were directors working in specific genres with subject matters that weren’t significantly different from their peers in the same genres. What was different about Hitchcock and Ford was that they were able to evade studio interference due to their own technical expertise. They were able to make great films because they put forth their own artistic vision (Gianetti).
There were a number of writers that rejected auteurism, citing it as simplistic. Nevertheless it managed to dominate film criticism through the 1960’s. Subject matter alone would no longer be the deciding factor on what makes a good film. Instead, the stylistic treatment and artistic vision of the director would dominate. The auteur theory truly had liberating effects on the world of film. By the 1970’s, the major battle had been won and the end result would put the director’s personal vision in the forefront (Gianetti). The impact this had on future filmmakers would prove to be profound.
It wasn’t until around the late 1960’s, early 1970’s, that filmmakers could freely express themselves. The newly prominent auteur theory was one of the driving forces in the shift in film. Couple this with the dissolving of the Hays code and you can see how content in films was able to change so drastically.
The Hays code was a set of guidelines that goverend the production of films in America. It entailed three basic prinicples, as followed, cited by wikipedia.
1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.
2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.
3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.
Basically, the Hays code spelled out what was and what was not morally acceptable in films for the public. Murder, nudity, and vulgarity are some of the things restricted in this moral thirsty society, but other restricted aspects were downright ridiculous. Suggestive dances were prohibited, drug use was forbidden, ministers of religion could not be villains or comic characters, homosexual references or ones thought to be were expelled, the sanctity of marriage had to be upheld, any offensive language had to be filtered, depictions of childbirth and lustfull kissing was to be avoided, and the United States’ flag must always be treated respectfully whereas the history and people of other nations were to be depicted “fairly” (screenonline).
There were an incredible amount of restrictions and anything that violated these conditions was cut out of the picture. The production code essentially stiffled creativity in film dating back to 1930. This all started to change around the late 1950’s.
Around the late 1950’s the Hollywood studio system was sitting in peril. The advent of television enabled consumers to view entertainment from their homes. People were no longer required to go to the theatres to see a movie and this provided stiff competition for the film industry. Hollywood desperately needed something to offer to people that they wouldn’t be able to find on their television sets. The production code had faded and racier content hit the big screens to better compete with television. The 60’s were a time of change. American civil rights, gay rights and youth movements forced a reevaluation of depicted themes such as race, gender, class and sexuality which were heavily restricted by the Hays code. The Hays code was officially abandonded in 1967 in favor of the MPAA film rating system that’s still employed today (Gianetti). The fall of the Hays code combined with the prevailing auteur school of thought really opened the doors for the artistic filmmakers to come.
Martin Scorsese is one of the filmmakers who really benefited from the changes taking place in Hollywood. He was part of the new school of directors that stormed onto the scene and made their presence felt in the late 1960’s, early 1970’s. Around this time, film schools such as USC, UCLA, and NYU institutionalized the auteur theory as a staple in the curriculum. Studios actively recruited this generation of directors, writers, and producers in an attempt to reach out to the youth market, whom they desperately needed to tap into (Cook).
Martin Scorsese was one of the most successful new filmmakers of this time. A graduate at NYU, in some instances, he was ahead of his young peers. Scorsese had an amazing understanding and comprehension of film history, as he could recite films word for word and shot for shot. His artistic sensibility is in the forefront of his films as he had no trouble expressing his thoughts and feelings, and his style is quite recognizable. We can see his life in his work as Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, Italian American identity, machismo, and violence are clearly visible.
Scorsese was brought up in a Roman Catholic, Sicilian immigrant home. Many of his films’ themes actively engange in these realms. Martin grew up a boy in seclusion. He had very serious health problems and was unattached from the typical childhood experience. He stayed inside and watched movies, which is where his love for them originated. Scorsese studied to become a priest and took schooling upon graduating highschool but dropped out because it just wasn’t for him. Scorsese had a lot of anger bottled up as a result of his lost youth and environmental factors. Said Scorsese, “I lived in a Sicilian village most of my life.” “There was Us, and there was the world. You could feel palpable tension, always on the verge of violence” (Biskind 227). Martin Scorsese, or better known as Marty, made what he knew, and that was central to the idea of the film auteur.
As a boy, he sat still for most of his youth. As a filmmaker, he was anything but still as he completely mastered camera movement. Marty became known for his masterful use of movement, long and very complex tracking shots, and films in the gangster genre. “Scorcese is known for creating his films on paper. He draws them like sketches in a storyboard, and time and again he shows that images are his true language” (Muller 200). He grew up with many aspiring gangsters and for one of his friends to be carrying a gun would be a common occurance. These are the types of things that were instilled in Scorcese and made him the director he is.
Growing up in this time period was beneficial to Marty, as he had opportunities those before him had not. He once said “Sarris and the ‘politique des auteurs’ was like some fresh air”(Cook 71).
Marty had a film professor at NYU who would often hammer into his students’ heads to make films that say something and to not make mainstream Hollywood pictures that have no heart. This lesson obviously stayed with Marty. He took full advantage of the newfound opportunity to express himself in film. Actress Margot Kidder had this to say about Marty: “Marty seemed wildly dedicated to creating a new kind of film, a film of substance, to putting his personal vision on film, to marrying his confusion at being a Catholic boy and the intensity of his own spirit with film itself. He loved people trying new things, he loved bravery of personal expression, and he talked about it a lot, very eloquently, albeit very quickly. I don’t remember many silly talks with Marty about nothing” (Biskind 233).
Clearly, Scorsese was greatly impacted by shifts in Hollywood at this time. He describes this period as followed; “When the movie factories were blown apart by television in the ‘50’s, there weren’t a bunch of people who said, ‘This is where we go now’. People had no idea. You pushed here, and if it gave there, you slipped in. And as all that pushing and shoving was going on, the equipment was changing, getting smaller and easier to use. Then the Europeans emerged. Combine all those elements together, and suddenly by the mid-‘60’s, you had a major explosion” (Biskind 21-22).
A director simply couldn’t have made the types of films Scorsese made during the Hays code years. One can disect all of his films and compile long laundry lists of aspects that wouldn’t fly under the code for each of his films, or any director really, but I’ll narrow in on just a couple of his films. Taxi Driver violently portrays a man’s descent into insanity, feautres an underage prostitute, and an assasination attempt on a U.S. senator. The King of Comedy is essentially about an obsessed man who kidnaps a famous night show host in hopes of gaining fame and friendship. Goodfellas glorified criminal activity and the protagonist who is himself a criminal, gets away at the end and finds himself a clean slate. One couldn’t show criminal activity in a positive light under the Hays code. It couldn’t be justified. The criminals in film under the Hays code always had to get it in the end. A classic example of this is the ending of the 1931 film The Public Enemy in which the protagonist gangster dies, proving that crime doesn’t pay.
Bad guys weren’t allowed to get away at the end of films, and especially not scot-free (Goodfellas). They always had pay hard for their actions.
The new school of directors were able to take advantage of opportunites unavailable to previous generations of filmmakers. The abandoment of the Hays code allowed for more stimulating content, and the fall of Hollywood helped contribute to fresher filmmaking. Directors were given the reins to express themselves how they saw fit, and the auteur theory was their guiding light. One of the most succesful filmmakers of our time, Martin Scorsese, is just one example of a director who was greatly impacted by the shifts and changes in Hollywood.
works cited
Brooke, Michael. "The Hays Code". Screenonline. 2003-07. 20 Oct 2007.
Biskind, Peter. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1998.
Cook, David A. Lost Illusions: American Cinema in the Shadow of Watergate and Vietnam. 1970-1979 ed. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2000.
Giannetti, Louis. Understanding Movies. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc. , 2000.
Jerry. "Hollywood Censors Its Animated Cartoons". Cartoon Brew. 5 mar 2007. 28 Oct 2007.
Mullen, Jurgen. Best Movies of the 70s. Los Angeles: Taschen GmbH, 2006.
"Production Code". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 2007-10. 20 Oct 2007.
Screen-grabs:
The Public Enemy.
Goodfellas.
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