The word ‘auteur’ refers to a strong aesthetic found reoccurring in the work of a single director, in particular it can be found in the visual styles and motifs of his/her films. In Hitchcock’s long 54-year career in the film industry, making 57 films and hosting his own TV show, one thing can be established: his need to exercise control over all aspects of the film production, whilst a typical director would delegate and trust his colleagues in their fields of expertise, Hitchcock would make sure to be involved in all precise decisions to make his vision come to life. An example of this can be seen in the film ‘Vertigo’ (1958) and his interactions with the actress Kim Novak, controlling exactly what she wears, her hairstyle and her acting.
Whilst Hitchcock does display thorough control throughout all of his films, this may not be what equates him to be an auteur, when looking at the range of films Hitchcock has made from romance like ‘Rebecca’ (1940) to thrillers like ‘Frenzy’ (1972). One main idea carried out through many of his projects, and could be an example of an auteurism feature, is the psychological nature of his films, in that main characters can be explored further and many interpretations can be made of their psyche and causes of their behavior. For example, in ‘Vertigo’ inferences can be made about Scotty and his obsession with Madeleine in that with her he feels like a hero and masculine whereas in his reality he feels weak due to his phobia.
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Hitchcock is known as the ‘Master of Suspense’ and gave more or less all his characters ordinary and mundane lives so that he could live up to that title, when he would break the everyday routine of characters with some unexpected plot twist. In Hitchcock’s career he always tried to stay contemporary and up to date with the times and so was always thinking and creating new ideas, this allowed him to maintain the Master of Suspense as his films would shock audiences in ways never thought of before, for example, in ‘Psycho’ (1960) Hitchcock killed the female lead halfway through the film.
The ‘Hitchcock blonde’ is infamous among Hitchcock’s most well-received films, although not used in every film, the Hitchcock blonde was a blonde haired beautiful, poised woman who was intelligent and had sex appeal to the lead male, audience and to Hitchcock himself. It can be argued the Hitchcock blonde was his ideal woman and that he desired them, but at the same time was scared of the blonde as well. As a reoccurring motif in the film, the Hitchcock blonde exemplifies that Hitchcock was an auteur.
In conclusion, it can be argued that an array of factors, motifs, themes and ideas make Hitchcock an auteur and make his work very recognizable to any audience. It can also be suggested that although all the individual elements as discussed above make Hitchcock an auteur in its own right, but in fact, it is actually the collection of some, if not all of his ideas in a single piece of work, which provide the best basis of Alfred Hitchcock being a famous and well-known auteur.
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