Monday, December 1, 2014
The Auteur Theory
The director I chose for this assignment is David O. Russell and the three films I watched that he directed are The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle. I had not seen any of his work previously but from these three films I can tell they are all made by the same hand. They all share similar themes, characters, and visual style.
All three of his films, in my opinion, are character pieces. David O. Russell makes the center focus of each film the deep and diverse cast of characters in particular the relationships in American families. Some of his "heroes" can be quite awful human beings and yet there wasn't one character I didn't at one point feel sympathy for and eventually come to care about. Dicky from The Fighter and Pat from Silver Linings Playbook are examples of such characters. Both characters have serious demons but I ended up rooting for them anyway which speaks volumes for David's ability to write such compelling and complex characters. This quality of character I found in all three films, and all the main cast of characters I found meaningful and interesting.
It is also important to note that David O. Russell cast many of the same actors in his films. Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, and Robert De Niro just to name a few, are recurring actors found in his films. While researching for this assignment I found an interview with him on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He discussed how he specifically writes the characters for each actor to compliment their personality. I found this evident in each of these films and critically it seems to work very well.
Thematically I found these films similar as well. They focus around dysfunctional families, love, the American dream, outcasts, and redemption. They made me think about what is ethically and morally right, how far can someone fall before they are irredeemable or is there such a thing? Again Dicky's story from The Fighter and Pat's from Silver Linings Playbook are similar in this respect.
In addition to themes I found that the music David uses is signature of his work. Music plays an important part in these films, reflecting the time period, location and character of the film. Again relating to the characters in the film, each character usually has a song they listen to and it ties to their personality and thematically to the film.
I do think David O. Russell is an example of authorship in these three films. They all comprise of similar themes, a character driven narrative, a recurring cast of actors, and a sense of unity.
All three of his films, in my opinion, are character pieces. David O. Russell makes the center focus of each film the deep and diverse cast of characters in particular the relationships in American families. Some of his "heroes" can be quite awful human beings and yet there wasn't one character I didn't at one point feel sympathy for and eventually come to care about. Dicky from The Fighter and Pat from Silver Linings Playbook are examples of such characters. Both characters have serious demons but I ended up rooting for them anyway which speaks volumes for David's ability to write such compelling and complex characters. This quality of character I found in all three films, and all the main cast of characters I found meaningful and interesting.
It is also important to note that David O. Russell cast many of the same actors in his films. Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, and Robert De Niro just to name a few, are recurring actors found in his films. While researching for this assignment I found an interview with him on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He discussed how he specifically writes the characters for each actor to compliment their personality. I found this evident in each of these films and critically it seems to work very well.
Thematically I found these films similar as well. They focus around dysfunctional families, love, the American dream, outcasts, and redemption. They made me think about what is ethically and morally right, how far can someone fall before they are irredeemable or is there such a thing? Again Dicky's story from The Fighter and Pat's from Silver Linings Playbook are similar in this respect.
In addition to themes I found that the music David uses is signature of his work. Music plays an important part in these films, reflecting the time period, location and character of the film. Again relating to the characters in the film, each character usually has a song they listen to and it ties to their personality and thematically to the film.
I do think David O. Russell is an example of authorship in these three films. They all comprise of similar themes, a character driven narrative, a recurring cast of actors, and a sense of unity.
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