ABSTRACT
How do movies and politics relate? What can we learn about politics from movies—or about movies from politics? We can search for answers to these questions in many ways, and the appropriateness of any one method depends on such factors as the kind of film under study, the era in which it was made, the extent to which it draws on conventions of genre, the availability of archival material related to its production, and so on. One method of exploring the relationship between movies and politics limits itself to the examination of films made by a particularly talented filmmaker—what Francois Truffaut called an “auteur.” This essay will explore the question of what the auteur approach to film study can contribute to an examination of the relationship between politics and movies.
