Notes on Auteurism

A detailed Summary of Notes on Auteurism

The traditional model of an Auteur could be seen as a director that takes the script, and "transforms it into an original piece of work ". This may seem a rather ambiguous definition, but all that is needed to make clear what the practice of auteurism is, is one piece of work that fits the definition perfectly. Robert Altman's Popeye is just that. Altman took an institution, that of Popeye, a classic American icon, and wrote it to fit it to his traditional thematic concerns. It has been Altman's style to take a treasured and American figure whether it be "the Western" genre or Popeye, and turn the focus from the traditional action based narrative, to a more personal exploration.

From the opening sequence it becomes obvious this is an Altman movie with the self-reflexive opening in which Popeye addresses the camera claiming "I'm in the wrong movie". Like in Brewster McCloud, where the MGM Lion asks for his line, it is Altman's way of letting the viewer think about the film in a personal way making sure the audience realizes they are watching a movie. There is no third wall for Altman, as he constantly reminds the viewer of the fact that they are not viewing a reality, but a construct of media by placing various symbols throug

Popeye sets out to be a deconstructive musical, which stays in congruence with the rest of Altman's anti-Hollywood films (Brewster McCloud, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, The Long Goodbye, and The Player). Altman deconstructs the musical through the songs themselves as they are sung by the two leads without any ability to sing (Shelley Duvall as Olive Oil and Robin Williams as Popeye). On top of this is apparent that some of Shelley Duvall's songs are purposely sung off key to emphasize the insecurities of her character as well as bring attention to her lyrics.

While in preparation for this paper the only available print that I could find of Popeye was not in the original aspect ratio, which poses a considerable problem since the film was shot in the traditional Altman ultra-widescreen format. Never the less, obvious Altman style characteristics can be seen throughout. For one, the film contains constant zoom into characters, which is a favorite of Altman as it brings each respective character to the focus of the frame. Two, a number of frames are shot from doorways and seen through windows, a self-reflexive mode that causes the audience to see the characters within their own context and help to make create a distance between the audience and the characters.

hout, such as a megaphone in the horse race scene and paintings of beautiful places everywhere (while the town, Sweet Haven itself is a complete dump).

Altman's films tend to genera

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 977
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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