Film Studies

“Auteurism shifted attention from the “what” (story, theme) to the “how” (style, technique), showing that style itself had personal, ideological and even metaphysical reverberations. It facilitated film’s entry into literature departments and played a major role in the academic legitimation of cinema studies.”

So writes Robert Stam in The Cult of the Auteur from his book Film Theory: An Introduction. Should I thus thank Andrew Sarris, who introduced the auteur theory to the US, for the fact that I watch two movies every Monday, in class? Can we attribute the inclusion of a film studies program at universities to one particular person and event? Doubtful. I can still, however, praise the insight and ability of an idea to have an important effect on the life of those interested in film studies, of which there are many. And it would be naïve to think that film would not have attained the status it has. Film itself is no different, it has changed only in how we look at it and certainly with time we would have come to realize its literary and academic legitimacy.
Now, I could sit here all day and argue about why films are better than books, or vice versa if need be. It seems to have become a matter of the esteemed and elite to suggest that the filmic adaptation pales in comparison to the written source. Some people fail to recognize it is not a matter of better or worse but of difference. Literature has its strengths that film cannot match but for each of these there are just as many that film can capture and that the written word cannot even begin to explain. This is mind; it was only a matter of time that film studies be legitimized. Perhaps it has not reached the level of literary interpretation, it would be arrogant to suggest such a young art could do so, but it is getting there. At the same time, however, it is changing day to day as technology runs rampant and the story, as well as how it is told, has changed.
Like it or not, films are here to stay. And if you are reading this, you’ll probably be hearing a lot more about them and about the ideas expressed above.