Vulgar auteurism

Vulgar auteurism is a movement in latter-day cinephilia[1][2][3][4] and film criticism associated with championing or reappraising filmmakers, mostly those working in the horror and action genres and whose work has supposedly been overlooked or unfairly maligned by the critical mainstream.[4][5] Initially associated with the social network and streaming service Mubi[4] and its online film magazine, The Notebook,[4] vulgar auteurism became a controversial[6] topic in the cinephile community following the publication of an article in the Village Voice in 2013.[4][5] It has been described as "a critical movement committed to assessing the 'unserious' artistry of popcorn cinema with absolute seriousness."[7]

Origin

Vulgar auteurism, introduced by writer Andrew Tracy in an article for CinemaScope,[8] derives its name[5] from the auteur theory, a key component of film criticism which posits that the director is the author ("auteur") of a film and that films should be analyzed in terms of how they fit into a director's larger body of work.[5][9] Also known as "auteurism," the auteur theory was introduced by French critics associated with the film magazine Cahiers du cinéma during the 1950s and popularized in the United States in the 1960s by Andrew Sarris.[3]

Several critics, including Richard Brody of The New Yorker and Scott Foundas of Variety, have drawn parallels between the earliest French and American proponents of the auteur theory and vulgar auteurism.[3][5] However, many commentators on the movement consider vulgar auteurism to be distinct from the classical auteur theory, pointing to its concern with visual style over theme.[4] The question of whether vulgar auteurism is a legitimate separate movement or a subset of the auteur theory remains a source of controversy in the film critic community.[4] According to film critic Peter Labuza, vulgar auteurism "seems to have been an unconscious movement before it ever had a name."[4] The earliest criticism identified as exhibiting "vulgar auteurism" was published in the Canadian film magazine Cinema Scope in 2006 and 2007.[3][4] Cinema Scope writer Andrew Tracy coined the term[3][4] in his 2009 article, "Vulgar Auteurism: The Case of Michael Mann".[4] Initially pejorative,[4] the term was repurposed by MUBI user John Lehtonen.[4] Over the years which followed, Mubi's online film magazine began to publish more and more articles defending genres and directors which were unpopular with the critical mainstream.[4]

Vulgar auteurist ideas gained currency[4] when one of the movement's leading proponents,[7] critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, became the co-host of the television program Ebert Presents: At the Movies, produced by Roger Ebert. However, while "vulgar auteurist" criticism was becoming popular, the term and the movement to which it corresponded remained obscure until the publication of an article by Calum Marsh, "Fast & Furious & Elegant: Justin Lin and the Vulgar Auteurs", in The Village Voice on May 24, 2013.[4][6][10]

Controversy and criticism

Marsh's article was immediately controversial.[4][6] While some took issue with the films and filmmakers being championed by the proponents of vulgar auteurism, others took issue with the idea that vulgar auteurism was a movement distinct from the auteur theory.[4]

One of the most vocal proponents of vulgar auteurism is former Village Voice critic Nick Pinkerton,[3][6][10] who has written essays in praise of directors championed by the movement[3] and whose 2012 article "The Bigger and Better Mousetraps of Paul W.S. Anderson" has been described as vulgar auteurist.[3] Writing in his SundanceNow column following the publication of Marsh's article, Pinkerton described vulgar auteurism as "a shameless attention grab",[11] adding: "Even more galling is the assumed attitude that the VA position stands alone against a vast, unsympathetic critical conspiracy to marginalize and underrate the products of industrial filmmaking. [...] The numbers, meanwhile, do not bear out claims of a highbrow conspiracy: Fast & Furious 6, which we’re assured is scorned by critics the world over, currently stands at 61% at Metacritic, above The Great Gatsby (54%), and within striking distance of arty jazz like Simon Killer and Post Tenebras Lux."[11]

Notable directors

Notable films

8mm (1999)[19]
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)[18]
Ali (2001)[18]
The A-Team (2010)[18]
AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)[19]
Basic Instinct (1992)[19]
The Black Dahlia (2006)[18]
The Blackout (1997)[18]
Blue Steel (1990)[18]
Changeling (2008)[18]
Che (2008)[18]
Christine (1983)[19]
Cloverfield (2008)[18]
Crank (2006)[18][38]
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)[18]
Dangerous Game (1993)[18]
Deja Vu (2006)[18][39]
Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)[18]
Domino (2005)[18]
Escape From L.A. (1996)[18]
The Expendables (2010)[18]
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)[40]
Fast & Furious 6 (2013)[41]
Fast Five (2011)[42]
Flags of Our Fathers (2005)[18]
The Game (1997)[18]
Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)[18]
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)[18]
Go Go Tales (2007)[18]
Gran Torino (2008)[18]
The Happening (2008)[18]
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)[18]
Lady in the Water (2004)[18]
Last Action Hero (1993)[18]
Man on Fire (2004)[18]
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)[19]
Me, Myself and Irene (2000)[18]
Miami Vice (2006)[19][43]
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)[18]
Million Dollar Baby (2004)[18]
Mission to Mars (2000)[19]
Mystic River (2003)[18]
Near Dark (1987)[18]
New Rose Hotel (1998)[18]
Ocean's 12 (2004)[18]
Ocean's 13 (2007)[18]
Pain & Gain (2013)[19]
Point Break (1991)[19]
Predator (1987)[44]
Public Enemies (2009)[18]
Redacted (2007)[18]
Resident Evil (2002)[18]
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)[45][18]
Rocky Balboa (2006)[18]
The Rock (1996)[18]
Shallow Hal (2001)[18]
Showgirls (1995)[18]
Snake Eyes (1998)[18]
Solaris (2002)[18]
Southland Tales (2006)[18]
Spider-Man 2 (2004)[18]
Spider-Man 3 (2007)[18]
Starship Troopers (1997)[18]
Stuck on You (2003)[19]
Sudden Impact (1983)[18]
Taken (2009)[18]
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)[19]
Total Recall (1990)[18]
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)[18]
Two Lovers (2008)[18]
Unbreakable (2000)[18]
Unstoppable (2010)[18][34]
The Village (2004)[18]
War of the Worlds (2005)[18]
We Own the Night (2007)[18]
The Yards (2000)[18]

Film genres
By style	Action Arthouse Heroic bloodshed Hong Kong action Adventure Survival Art Biographical Christian Comedy Black Commedia all'italiana Commedia sexy all'italiana Bromantic Dramedy Gross out Horror Parody Mo lei tau Thriller Remarriage Romantic Sex Screwball Silent Slapstick Cyberpunk Japanese Documentary Animated Docudrama Mockumentary Mondo Pseudo Semi Travel Drama Calligrafismo Dramedy Historical Legal Melodrama Korean Erotic Commedia sexy all'italiana Pink Sexploitation Thriller Educational Social guidance Epic Sword-and-sandal Experimental Exploitation see Exploitation film template Fantasy Comedy Contemporary Fairy tale Fantastique High Historical Magic realism Science Film noir Neo-noir Pulp noir Tech noir Gothic Romance Southern Space Suburban Urban Horror Body Cannibal Chinese horror Comedy Eco Fantastique Found footage German underground Ghost Giallo Holiday Japanese horror Korean horror Lovecraftian Mumblegore Natural New French Extremity Psycho-biddy Psychological Religious Science fiction Slasher Splatter Satanic Mumblecore Mumblegore Musical Backstage Jukebox Musicarello Operetta Sceneggiata Mystery Giallo Occult detective Pop culture fiction Pornographic Hardcore pornography Softcore pornography Propaganda Reality Romantic Comedy Bromantic Fantasy Gothic Paranormal Thriller Science fiction Comedy Fantastique Fantasy Gothic Horror Military New Wave Parallel universe Planetary romance Space opera Steampunk Tokusatsu Western Slice of life Thriller Comedy Conspiracy Erotic Financial Giallo Legal New French Extremity Political Psychological Romantic Techno Transgressive Cinema of Transgression Extreme cinema New French Extremity Trick
By theme	Animals Beach party Body swap Buddy Buddy cop Female Cannibal Chicano Colonial Coming-of-age Concert Crime Gangster Gentleman thief Gokudō Gong'an Heist Heroic bloodshed Hood Mafia Mafia comedy Mumbai underworld Poliziotteschi Yakuza Dance Disaster Apocalyptic Drug Psychedelic Stoner Dystopian Ecchi Economic Ethnographic Exploitation Blaxploitation Mexploitation Turksploitation Extraterrestrial Food and drink Funny animal Gendai-geki Ghost Goona-goona epic Gothic Romance Southern Space Suburban Urban Girls with guns Harem Hentai Lolicon Shotacon Tentacle erotica Homeland Isekai Jidaigeki Samurai Kaitō LGBT Yaoi Yuri Luchador Magical girl Martial arts Bruceploitation Chopsocky Gun fu Kung fu Ninja Wuxia Mecha Anime Monster Giant monster Jiangshi Kaiju Mummy Vampire Werewolf Zombie Zombie comedy Mountain Mouth of Garbage Muslim social Nature Environmental issues Opera Outlaw biker Ozploitation Partisan film Pirate Prison Women Race Rape and revenge Road Rubble Rumberas Sexploitation Bavarian porn Commedia sexy all'italiana Mexican sex comedy Nazi exploitation Pornochanchada Nunsploitation Sex report Shomin-geki Slavery Slice of life Snuff South Seas Sports Spy Eurospy Superhero Surfing Swashbuckler Sword-and-sandal Sword and sorcery Travel Trial Vigilante War Anti-war Euro War Submarine Western Acid Florida Meat pie Northern Ostern Revisionist Space Spaghetti Weird
By movement or period	Absolute American Eccentric Cinema New Objectivity Australian New Wave Auteur films Berlin School Bourekas Brighton School British New Wave Kitchen sink realism Budapest school Calligrafismo Cannibal boom Cinéma du look Cinema Novo Cinema of Transgression Cinéma pur Commedia all'italiana Czechoslovak New Wave Documentary Film Movement Dogme 95 Erra Cinema European art cinema Film gris Free Cinema French New Wave German Expressionist German underground horror Nigerian Golden Age Grupo Cine Liberación Heimatfilm Hollywood on the Tiber Hong Kong New Wave Iranian New Wave Italian futurist Italian neorealist Japanese New Wave Kammerspielfilm L.A. Rebellion Lettrist Mumblecore Neorealist New French Extremity New German New Generation New Hollywood New Nollywood New Queer No wave Nuevo Cine Mexicano Parallel cinema Persian Film Poetic realist Polish Film School Poliziotteschi Praška filmska škola Prussian film Pure Film Movement Remodernist Romanian New Wave Spaghetti Western Socialist realist Social realist Kitchen sink realism Soviet Parallel Structural Surrealist Sword-and-sandal Telefoni Bianchi Third Cinema Toronto New Wave Vulgar auteurism Yugoslav Black Wave
By demographic	Adult Black Children and family Anime Men Seinen Stag Teen Shōnen Shōjo Women Chick flick Josei
By format, technique, approach, or production	3D Actuality Animation Anime Cartoon Computer Stop-motion Traditional Anthology Art B movie Black-and-white Blockbuster Bollywood Masala Cinéma vérité Classical Hollywood cinema Collage Color Compilation Composite Computer screen Cult midnight movie Database cinema Docufiction Ethnofiction Experimental Abstract Feature Featurette Film à clef Film-poem Found footage Grindhouse Hyperlink cinema Independent Guerrilla filmmaking Interstitial art Live action animation Lollywood Low-budget Major studio Making-of Message picture Meta-film Mockbuster Musical short Mythopoeia Neorealist No-budget One-shot Paracinema Participatory Poetry Postmodernist Reverse motion Satire Sceneggiata Semidocumentary Serial Shinpa Short Silent Socialist realist Sound Underground Video nasty Vulgar auteurism Z movie

Vulgar auteurism

Origin

Controversy and criticism

Notable directors

Notable films

References

See also