I cheerfully acknowledge most of the points you make, but
expect we would wind up in a stalemate, anyway, because I
would continue to argue for the value of the too easily
dismissed. I like to give the benefit of the doubt to
directors whose movies have generally rewarded me and whom I
have come to trust.
I certainly didn't mean to dismiss the importance of those
other contributors you mention. I can't imagine Vertigo
without Bernard Herrmann's score, and since Hitchcock was
incapable of composing a score himself. let alone one of that
excellence, he was of course most fortunate to have Herrmann
on the project (and quite shrewd to have chosen him). But at
the end of the day it's called an Alfred Hitchcock film, not
a Bernard Herrmann film.
Best, Mark
On 11/12/07, Channing <
filmtroll@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> > Losey, Polanski, Bergman, Fassbinder, Coen,
Fellini, Roeg, Huston,
> Welles,
> > Weir
> > -- all of them have tremendous
> > artistic distinction, all control their
projects to a very large
> > extent (certain exceptions of studio
interference easily noted), and
> > I would therefore advance the thesis that none
of them ever made
> > a "bad" film. We need everything they
did.
>
> That's a pretty good theory you got there. If only
Uwe Boll
> and Ed Wood had an indisputable theory that "proved"
that
> they never made a bad film... Sorry, just
kidding.
>
> I'm afraid we're at the turning point of an "auteur
theory" discussion
> that will only end in stalemate. There's no denying
those are truly
> great filmmakers, but there is no way any artist's
work is above
> criticism, especially in a pop-culture medium. To
dismiss weak films
> doesn't diminish the value of the great ones. What
if the director
> was having an off-day? What if the budget didn't
allow for the
> author's true vision? What if the actor was drunk
and gave a lousy
> performance? There are too many variables that go
into filmmaking.
>
> In a medium like film that requires hundreds of
people working
> together, it's difficult to declare the whole
project the work of one
> single man (there are no women on your best
director's list.) That's
> dismissing the creative input of other contributors;
cinematographers,
> screenwriters, editors, composers, producers...
etc.
>
> To bring this back to crime literature, it's much
easier to declare
> the entire body of work as belonging to a singular
vision in writing.
> In that case, Ed Wood never wrote a bad book,
either.
> ----------
>
> --Chan
>
>
>
-- Mark R. Harris 2122 W. Russet Court #8 Appleton WI 54914 (920) 470-9855 brokerharris@gmail.com
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