Auteur Theory

In contrast to this, Truffaut highlights French filmmakers that acted as scriptwriters and directors at the same time for their films. He named Jean Renoir, Robert Bresson, Jéan Cocteau and others and called them Auteur (Authors in French). This is when the concept of Auteur Theory began.

According to Truffaut, Godard, Rivette, Chabrol, and Rohmer, an auteur is a director that has a specific style and artistic vision that can be recognized throughout their work. They are the main creator in the process of filmmaking and are acknowledged as serious artists, unlike big studio films where directors are only part of a big money-making machine. These values of filmmaking defined what would become new wave cinema and how would directors be perceived. 

This new exciting way of considering cinema was very appreciated by young cinephiles and some filmmakers all the way to Hollywood. However the drastic disconnection from “Tradition of Quality” created tensions with classical French cinema enthusiasts. This led André Bazin and Joseph Lo Duca, two of the founders of Le Cahier, to partially leave the magazine shortly after.