Auteur

The libretto was a piece of hack work from a Parisian scenario factory run by an enterprising auteur of sorts named Eugene Scribe.

Since Mr Luhrmann first tackled the opera, he has entered the select circle of celebrity directors on the basis of only three films, including “Moulin Rouge”. And his “La Bohème”—designed by Mrs Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, a double Oscar-winner for “Moulin Rouge”—is avowedly the work of an auteur.

Ginette Vincendeau describes the cinéma du look as a typical example of ‘mainstream co-optation’ of ‘avant-garde, artisanal, or auteur’ cinema (1996: 14).

If a widely respected auteur such as Martin Scorsese, Allen or Malick has given you the stamp of approval, you might not live fast or die young, but you'll leave a good-looking legacy.

As a film-maker, [Quentin] Dupieux has elicited varying responses: in the US he is often dismissed as a dilettante, whereas in France he has been acclaimed a real-deal auteur, not least in revered cinephile journal Cahiers du Cinéma, which raved about his 2007 debut feature, Steak (“leaves us slack-jawed and wide-eyed”), and devoted a whole section to his latest French release, Mandibules (2020).

The cult of the auteur has weakened, as symbolised by the reconsideration of rock star Bertrand Cantat, frontman of the band Noir Désir, who was convicted in 2004 of beating his girlfriend to death.

That all of these screen luminaries apparently just popped to Anderson’s set for a day to film a tiny scene is indicative of where the auteur stands at this point in his 31-year career.

At the same time, the round-faced, soft-spoken Mr. Wilson — who didn’t surf — became one of pop’s most gifted and idiosyncratic studio auteurs, crafting complex and innovative productions that awed his peers.