Andrew Sarris is a film critic and a leading proponent of the Auteur theory of criticism. He is generally credited with popularising this theory in America. He wrote the highly influential book The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929-1968, published in 1968, an opinionated assessment of films of the sound era, organized by director. The book was influential on other critics and helped raise an awareness of the role of the film director among the general public. Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films. ... The Auteur Theory is a way of reading and appraising films through the imprint of an auteur, usually meant to be the director. ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...
For many years he wrote for The Village Voice, and it was during this part of his career that he was often seen as something of a rival to Pauline Kael. He continues to write film criticism today for The New York Observer, and is a professor at Columbia University. Sarris was a co-founder of the National Society of Film Critics. The Village Voice is a New York City-based weekly newspaper featuring investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts reviews and events listings for New York City. ... Pauline Kael (June 19, 1919 - September 3, 2001) was a well-known film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine. ... The New York Observer is a weekly newspaper first published in New York City on September 22, 1987 by Arthur L. Carter, a very successful former investment banker with publishing interests. ... Columbia University is a private university in New York City. ...
Sarris became the leading voice for the auteur theory—the idea that some film directors are the authors of their works.
Sarris was recently recognized for his outstanding contributions as a teacher and critic by the graduate film students of Columbia, who awarded him the first inaugural AndrewSarris Award.
Sarris, who currently writes a column for the New York Observer, said, "My job is to communicate to people what I see in film." He was one of the first to analyze films by identifying their visual language and style.
Sarris and Kael belong to a small group of intellectuals who have shaped American culture, entering the lives of cinephiles as representatives of a new way of life, one dominated by movies.
Sarris had little to do with Busby Berkeley's outrageous metaphor for Hollywood directors enslaved by the studio system but he was still praised for his sense of humor.
Sarris and Kael were eager to show their rapport with the New Hollywood, a trend that became clear when Bob Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces won the 1970 Best Picture from the New York Film Critics Circle.
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