Auteur theory was a key factor in the emergence of New Hollywood, a movement that began in the late 1960s and lasted until the early 1980s. In order to understand New Hollywood, we need to take a look at “Old Hollywood”, even if we previously established it as an era of cinematic maturation and prosperity, as it’s also dubbed ‘the Golden Age of Hollywood’, Old Hollywood’s final years were not that bright, and this quietus was caused by two major elements: (1) antitrust actions, more specifically the Paramount Case of 1948, broke the control of film studios over production, distribution, and exhibition of their movies, because the studios’ dominance allowed for certain undeserved privileges, so the verdict stated that they had to give something up, and studios ended up sacrificing their chains of film theaters that only screened their own productions, as a result, a major dip in popularity, revenue, and means of distribution ensued; (2) television competition, because by the time the 50’s came, many American houses had television and thus didn’t need to seek similar entertainment value outside the comfort of their houses, and even though they managed to gain money through selling broadcasting rights to television, it somewhat died down when television had enough films to broadcast, so studios tried to expand their scope and spectacle through the invention of Technicolor, stereo sound, widescreen, and 3D, but this ultimately failed, because for every one successful movie like ‘Sound of Music’ (1965), there were too many unsuccessful ventures like ‘Hello, Dolly!’ (1969) and other commercial flops, which grew alarming year by year, and even films that did well in the box office were considered massive gambles because they were too expensive to make, notably ‘Cleopatra’ (1963).
Studios eventually realized that the solution was just around the corner because people grow, and the Baby Boomer generation started coming of age in the 60’s, they had to adhere to the switch in key demographic, and this generation wasn’t unfamiliar only because of age, it was also more educated and affluent than its predecessors, which triggered deeper scrutiny of films and a critical view of cinema, essentially via auteur theory, and it led to a huge market of unsatisfied youth who sought substance and artistic meaning and found it in avant-garde local circles such as Cinema 16, who exhibited the likes of Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, Bruce Conner, etc., and also in foreign cinema, that of the Commedia all’italiana, Spaghetti Western, Japanese Cinema, and of course, The French New Wave. It is no coincidence that ‘Cahiers du Cinéma’ started around the same time when these youngsters were developing their cinematic philosophy, and thus shaped the way they think of films, even their local American films that Cahiers held in high regard.
As studios’ hopes kept getting lower and lower, they reached the point of hopelessness, and after a constant stream of flops, they started hiring younger directors and granted them creative freedom, with little studio control, something that indirectly caused the loosening of the Hays Code restrictions that began in 1966, until its abolishment in 1968, owing to the influence of belligerent European cinema and the rise in daring directors, so it was about time that we’d have a true New Hollywood genesis, it had to be subversive and bold, and that’s exactly what ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ (1967) is, directed by Arthur Penn and originally offered to Truffaut and Godard, it’s a fresh look at graphic violence and slapstick in American cinema, heavily influenced by La Nouvelle Vague, it featured many techniques that were new to western audiences at the time, and it garnered a mixed critical reaction at first, but it was a financial hit nonetheless, that’s when studios realized that something is finally working after years of trial and error, and a movement of young, free, and eager directors was in full motion, this movement was characterized by a shift away from the traditional studio system, and towards a more personal, auteur-driven style of filmmaking, but it wasn’t an indie movement per se.
After ‘Bonny and Clyde’, we saw the release of the two other pillars of New Hollywood, ‘The Graduate’ (1967): a deconstruction of young adult absurdities and ‘Easy Rider’ (1969): a renovation of the biker genre through the lens of hippie culture, from then on, studios started giving almost complete control to filmmakers, under the influence of auteurism, it’s the farthest Hollywood has ever been from formulaic narrative form to this day, as they rejected straightforward narrative devices in favor of innovative stylistic devices, just like the ‘cinéma vérité’ aspect of the French new wave, which resulted in many great films from the era, in his book ‘Hollywood Incoherent: Narration in Seventies Cinema’, Todd Berliner singles out five characteristic narrative elements in 70’s Hollywood: (1) a tendency to use components that are additional to the plot, that went against general conventions of narrative storytelling; (2) a large repertoire of European and Asian arthouse film inspiration; (3) provoking uncertain and discomforting responses for the audience, as opposed to typical Hollywood, directors rejected clean-cut endings, which often sparked debate; (4) generating suspense through suspension of narrative linearity, often using visual methods, stories became intriguing and mysterious; (5) dealing with sociopolitical and masculine crises, as it is known that the late 60’s and 70’s were an era of major political instability in the States, characterized by Vietnam war, Black Power, Watergate scandal, and the rise of counterculture. Directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Steven Spielberg embraced the principles of auteur theory and fit right in with what the young audiences wanted, as they were young cinephiles too, they used all their film knowledge to create films that were more personal and expressive, using the experience they gained through their pre-New Hollywood lives, as some were already in film school, some were working on TV productions, while others were already making B-movie schlock under the mentorship of Roger Corman, this variety of upbringings was mainly due to the fact that film gear became more accessible at the time, which made it easy to work on location with no need for traditional film sets, and by that point, directors’ experimentation with editing, music, and camera movement became commonplace, due to the emergence of subgenres that were adjacent to New Hollywood, like slashers, blaxploitation, and structural cinema.
As we progressed throughout the movement, it noticeably grew to be a mainstay in American cinema, it became the norm rather than the novelty, and it gave birth to many of what is considered to be the cinematic canon, we’re talking about: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968), ‘The Godfather’ (1972), ‘The Exorcist’ (1973), ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976), ‘Eraserhead’ (1977), ‘Alien’ (1979), ‘Raging Bull’ (1980), ‘Blade Runner’ (1982). Still, studios still dabbled with the large scope musicals and historical epics that were still not able to generate success, but a simple New Hollywood twist was able to change that, by making stories in similar scale but set in the current day, or in galaxies far far away, that shift in perspective, and this noticeable pattern of monetary gain, resulted in the birth of the blockbuster, originated by ‘The Godfather’ (1972) which opened wide in U.S. theaters instead of the traditional method of opening in New York and L.A. before expanding, that led to an unprecedented profit in its first 6 months, as a result, studios started spending more on advertising, kickstarted by the success of ‘Jaws’ (1975), which is considered to be the first true blockbuster, as it eventually became the highest grossing movie ever, studios were really enthusiastic about this, so they enhanced it by producing more films in that fashion like ‘Rocky’ (1976), ‘Star Wars’ (1977), ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979), in effect, Hollywood has split into two different compartments, one of the artistic American New Wave and the other market-pandering blockbuster cinema, but this artistic and commercial balance in the mid-to-late 70’s was inevitably disrupted by studios’ hunger for more, as they practically killed New Hollywood due to two main reasons: (1) on the market driven side of things, studios stuck to the working formulas, as family audiences redeveloped their sense of attachment to film theaters again, they loved the feel-good films with happy endings, and Hollywood complied, repeating the same schtick through sequels, prequels, spin-offs, something that still runs to this day; (2) due to the success of the ambitious films of the decade and the remnants of auteurism, studios started giving directors too much creative freedom which often led to self-indulgent passion projects, as the late 70’s had a surge in financial flops by esteemed directors of that time like Scorsese and Coppola, but the death of New Hollywood was mainly attributed to Michael Cimino, who after the critical and commercial success of his 1978 film ‘The Deer Hunter’, was given a blank check to make whatever he wanted, he eventually made ‘Heaven’s Gate’ (1980), it was one of the biggest failures at the time and was plagued with many issues on-set, and while I don’t think that it’s as bad as originally conceived, it was enough to nearly bankrupt its studio and give an end to New Hollywood.
To wrap up, the New Hollywood movement of the 1960s and 1970s was a direct result of the French New Wave and its emphasis on auteur theory. The new generation of filmmakers in Hollywood were inspired by the daring and innovative techniques used by the French New Wave directors, and sought to bring a similar level of personal vision and artistic expression to their own work. This led to a revolution in American cinema, characterized by a new wave of groundbreaking and genre-defying films that pushed the boundaries of what was possible in the medium. The legacy of the French New Wave and its emphasis on the director as the driving creative force can still be felt in contemporary cinema, making it an enduring influence on the art of film-making, and although both movements were over by the time the 80’s arrived, and as the current landscape of mainstream filmmaking is in favor of more second-screen content and more franchise than artwork, with Godard even claiming in 2005 that “cinema is over”, the echoes of these canonical film concepts are still here, and I’m doubtful that they’ll cease to have their mark on the cinematic climate.
Taha Louafi
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