Auteur or not?

Auteur means a director who influences their film so much that they qualify as its author.

The director that I have been assigned is Alfred Hitchcock. Born in August 1899, Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock grew up to be one of the most recognised, influential, and respected filmmakers of all time. He first entered the industry, however, as a title card designer in 1919. Before this he had trained as a technical clerk and copy writer for a telegraph company. In 1925, Alfred directed his first, debut film, The Pleasure Garden. His first major success came in 1927, in the form of The Lodger, A Tale Of The London Fog. This was soon considered a factor in shaping the thriller genre. Also, two of his 1930’s thrillers are considered some of the greatest British films of the twentieth century. Hitchcock moved to Hollywood by 1939, and by this point in his career he was of international importance and reputation.

Whilst in L.A, he produced an impressive amount of movies, starting at Rebeca in 1940, and a series of films throughout 1940 to 1945. These included Suspicion(1941), Shadow Of A Doubt(1943), and Spellbound(1945). What made Alfred so beloved was probably his signature “Hitchcockian” style of directing. This involved using the cameras movement to follow a characters view, which would immerse and involve the audience in the story. He also often carefully and expertly framed shots, which was used as a method of suspense building. Perhaps it is this iconic style of film making that earned him the nickname “the master of suspense”.

Hitchcock directed his most famous movie in 1960, this being the horror/thriller psycho, which is where the infamous shower scene originates from. Another remarkable achievement of his was displacing citizen Kane(Orson Wells, 1941), as The British Film Institutes choice for the greatest film ever made. Even now Citizen Kane is considered by many film critics as the best movie of all time, but no one can deny the genius and expertise of the master of suspense. Alfred Hitchcock passed away in April 1980, only four months after being knighted. He also won the AFL life achievement award in 1979, and BAFTA fellowship in 1971. He won 6 Oscar’s in his time, 5 of which being best picture awards.

Psycho(Alfred Hitchcock, 1960). The shower scene.

Was Hitchcock an auteur or not then? I think that it is clear from the massive impact that Alfred had on cinema as a whole, let alone his own productions, that he absolutely was an auteur. This as well as his genius and iconic style of filmmaking make it clear that Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was so unique and clever and revered in his craft, that he absolutely became the author of his own movies.