I've always said to people that auteurism is nice, but it's hypothetical, and gradually you learn how much or how little influence different directors had.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I always argued against the auteur theory; films are a collaborative art form. I've had some fantastically good people help me make the movies.
I do believe that there are auteurs, in the sense that there are filmmakers with very strong voices and their voices are communicated on to the screen without a lot of compromise.
I do like the idea of being an auteur in the sense of writing and being in your own stuff.
My roommate at Yale University introduced me to the auteur theory of filmmaking. I soon became a big fan of the works of John Ford, Kenji Mizoguchi, Ernst Lubitsch, and Stan Brakhage. I then decided to make my own films!
The dean of the American Film Institute has written that I'm one of the very few auteurs in America. I've had freedom for 40 years to create art that is totally personal and is what I believe in.
Every time you work, it's a new film, and generally when you work with auteurs, people that write and direct their films, there's always an originality.
The most nurturing of directors can make you feel too comfortable, and you don't really push for that extra whatever.
There are lots of good directors I would like to work with; I want to be inspired and challenged by them.
I'm better suited to be a director, I think. I see myself as the general author. I hate the word 'auteur,' because it sounds so solitary when filmmaking is anything but solitary.
I got picked for very unique and independent filmmaking experiences with auteurs. And I'm so lucky.