How to Watch a Movie

In this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham interviews Richard Brody about auteur theory, exploring its origins with French critics in the late 1940s and 1950s and its transatlantic journey to America. They discuss key figures like Godard, Truffaut, Sarris, and Kael, and examine how auteurism influenced filmmaking, particularly in Hollywood. The conversation touches on the tension between genre conventions and personal vision, using Godard's "Breathless" as an example. They also analyze Spike Lee's "Highest 2 Lowest" in the context of auteurism and the current landscape of filmmaking, considering the roles of studios like A24 and streaming services in supporting directorial vision. The discussion further explores the balance between artistic expression, commercial constraints, and the evolving definition of the auteur in contemporary cinema.