Wollen and Auteur Theory

The Wollen article was interesting to me because it was over motifs. Motifs in my opinion are the formal element that I have enjoyed learning about the most in class. Wollen uses the article to talk about how directors use motifs in films do define and give way to particular things. I thought it was interesting to see Wollen’s Auteur Theory. Before I really didn’t have much knowledge about Auteur theory was. I figured that it was through the vision of the director and the director only, and I was also interested to find out that Auteur theory also involves the viewers as well. I thought that the entire creativeness and all the unique things that go into a film were all involved in Auteur theory. One thing that I found interesting and caught my eye was the debate between the auteur theory and metteur en scene. I didn’t really come away with a clear understanding as to what Wollen was trying to discuss. I understood that there was some discrepancy between the two, but never came across a clear and definite answer.
Like many others I also enjoyed reading Hawks example of auteur. I don’t have much knowledge or background of any of Hawks films besides the film The Big Sleep that we watched in class. There were many different motifs that went along with the movie. I did some further reading and learned about a technique called the “MacGuffin”, a type of plot device that Alfred Hitchcock made famous. In The Big Sleep Hawk used a technique similar by creating the character of Shawn Regan. Regan has suddenly disappeared after spending a long time working for General Sternwood. Although the General is concerned about Regan, he is more concerned about stopping the renewed blackmail