A Study Of Shunji Iwai’s Films From The Perspective Of The Auteur Theory

The “Auteur Theory” was originated from France in the 1950 s.Soon afterwards,it developed into an important theoretical weapon during the French New Wave Film Movement,which had a profound impact on the film creation in other countries around the world.The“Auteur Theory” emphasized that the leading role of the directors in the film practice.It advocated the artistic innovation and personalized expression of the director and also further affirmed the artistic attribute of the film.The “Auteur Theory” played a positive role in the development of film art during the specific period.Shunji Iwai is a cutting-edge director who emerged from the Japanese New Film Movement.He is well known for his poetic aesthetic images and delicate lyrical style.His masterpieces like love letter and Swallowtail Butterfly are popular among the Asian countries.Thus,he is hailed as the standard-bearer of the New Film Movement for this reason.In addition,Iwai is also a film writer with a distinct personal style.Firstly,he has a high right of speech in the creation process of film.He persists that the unity of writing and directing from the beginning to the end.He participates actively in each aspect of the film,such as photography,music,editing and so on,which achieves full control of the film works.He has a relatively regular production team,including actors,photographers,deputy directors,etc.He set up his own studio in the mid-1990 s to produce his own films independently.Secondly,his film shows the characteristics of easy recognition and personality in the continuity of theme,the similarity of characters and the uniqueness of lens language.Finally,he integrates his personal life experience into the film creation.His works map and portray social style,regional culture and personal experience,which reflects his concern and thinking about human nature.Therefore,this thesis is investigated from the perspective of the “Auteur Theory” and explores the “author” characteristics of his films in the aspects of theme implication,narrative characteristics and audio-visual language,combined with the eight most representative film texts of Shunji Iwai.The thesis is mainly divided into four parts.The introduction part introduces Shunji Iwai’s creative experience and the research status at home and abroad,as well as the research significance,methods and innovation points.The second chapter elaborates the development and critical principles of the “Auteur Theory” and determine the authorship of Shunji Iwai on this basis.The third chapter deeply analyzes the three universal and consistent themes in Shunji Iwai’s films and excavates the author’s characteristics in the presentation of the themes.The fourth chapter discusses Shunji Iwai’s individualized expression in the form and style of the film from two aspects of narrative characteristics and audio-visual language.Among them,the fragmented narrative technique,the open ending and the stereotypical character setting are the three major characteristics in the narrative of Shunji Iwai’s films.At the same time,he also shows a strong tendency of subjectivism in the treatment and application of audio-visual elements such as light and shadow,color and music.All these factors promote Iwai’s films highly recognizable,and become the important evidences to recognize his authorship.As one of the most internationally influential contemporary Japanese directors,Shunji Iwai continues to impress the public with his unique personal style.To study his films from the perspective of the “Auteur Theory”,analyze the external environment and inner thoughts that influenced his film creation is helpful for understanding and grasping the reasons why his films are both artistic and commercial,which has a certain reference value and significance for the current domestic film creation.