auteur theory

Auteur theory holds that a film's director is its primary creative author, imprinting a personal vision and distinctive style across their body of work, much as a novelist might.

The theory emerged from French film criticism in the 1950s and transformed how critics and audiences think about cinema, elevating directors like Hitchcock and Kubrick to the status of artists rather than mere technicians.

Her thesis examined auteur theory through the lens of Wes Anderson's visual motifs.