Exploring what makes Tim Burton an Auteur Filmmaker
Updated: Dec 15, 2023
Film directors have the ability to make their ideas come to life through visual storytelling. Although each director has their own artistic input on how they want their film to look, some directors have more control over their films than others. Many theorists, including Andrew Sarris and Timothy Corrigan, believe that some directors are auteurs based on how their films are received by audiences. The auteur theory proposes that film directors are the authors of their work, similar to an author of a book, by having the main artistic vision and using a signature
style for the film. The outlandish director, Tim Burton, has been considered an auteur filmmaker by critics because of the types of films he creates. For instance, Beetlejuice (1988), which was one of Burton’s first feature-length films, follows a deceased husband and wife named Adam and Barbara, played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis. After many failed attempts at scaring away the family that recently moved into their house, the couple resort to asking the supernatural evil being, Beetlejuice, for help. Additionally, Burton directed a remake of the classic story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), based off of the book by Roald Dahl. The story follows five children, who after winning a ticket to see the inside of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, must endure the mysterious world they have entered and learn valuable lessons along the way. By comparing Burton’s early career in the film industry to a film he made once becoming an established director, it is clear that his distinct approach and consistent style to moviemaking
makes him an auteur. His use of gothic tropes and aesthetics appears in both Beetlejuice and Charlie through Burton’s use of German Expressionism, set design and lighting, and plot.
Auteur cinema, an idea researched by Andrew Sarris, started to come into effect in Hollywood in the late 1960s. This decade changed the way movies were made as the Production Code, which censored directors from making certain types of films, slowly evaporated. This drastic change gave up-and-coming film directors the ability to “ente[r] Hollywood via paths other than those internal to the system [...] [and] us[e] personal style to declare their new authority” (Menne 37). Now, studio production companies like MGM, Warner Bros and Paramount could no longer control what movies would be released, giving full creative charge to directors. Sarris argues that “auteur theory is the distinguishable personality of the director [...][and] the way a film looks and moves should have some relationship to the way a director thinks and feels” (Sarris 452). In the case of Burton, his unique filmmaking, which is evident in both Beetlejuice and Charlie, is explored through his ‘distinguishable personality’ and has helped him become a household name in cinema. Sarris also writes that “over a group of films, a director must exhibit certain recurrent characteristics of style, which serve as his signature” (Sarris 452). These ‘recurrent characteristics of style’ are what Burton has achieved over his decades long career.
However, Timothy Corrigan argues that auteur filmmakers are seen as a brand because of commercialism and the pressures of making a profit, which causes the audience to only view the director as a product. Audiences expect the director’s films to follow the mold of their brand and continue making films this way throughout their career. Corrigan writes that “auteurism has been
bound up with changes in industrial desires, technological opportunities, and marketing strategies” (Corrigan 418). This is true for some filmmakers, including Burton, whose strong artistic vision and particular style helped influence and establish a brand early on in his career. A prominent example of this occurring in Burton’s career is through the marketing of the stopmotion animated film, Tim Burton’s the Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), which contains Burton’s name in the title. It is interesting that Burton’s name is in the title, as it was directed by
Henry Selick, while Burton only created the story and produced it. This animated film is an example of how Burton’s filmmaking career quickly became a brand only five years after Beetlejuice. Even though he was not the director of the film, audiences still assume Burton is the auteur of Nightmare, because his style is very much incorporated into it.
Furthermore, Burton’s career as a filmmaker took off during a unique time in film
history. Since a lot of 1980s films consisted of “high-paced action films and family-oriented blockbusters, [...] Tim Burton offered a humorous and inventive take on mainstream fare [...] combining clever comedy, ground breaking animation techniques, and a unique, expressionistic vision” (Borden et al., 308). Burton’s ‘expressionistic vision’ consists of his favoured use of gothic elements that disorient viewers from what they believe American suburbia should look like onscreen. By juxtaposing horror elements like darkness, creepy characters and death into
comedic storylines, Burton challenges the horror and comedy genre by incorporating them together. He also achieves this by putting misplaced, oddball characters into everyday life, “using familiar conventions in a drastically new way, awing audiences and creating a new form of film culture” (Borden et al., 308). When fans of his films begin to engage in “the auteur habit of collecting random films in a directorial bundle” (Sarris 454), Burton’s vision becomes even more noticeable. By looking at the same stylized techniques used in Beetlejuice and Charlie,
audiences quickly viewed Burton as a creator of distinct gothic looking films. Burton’s unique approach to filmmaking has spanned into the 21st century and it is this pattern that has set him apart from other filmmakers in his generation.
One of Burton’s established techniques is his use of German expressionism, which is a common style used in gothic filmmaking. Originally developed in Germany in the early 20th century, “the movement was characterized by extreme stylization of sets, acting, lighting, and camera angles” (Bergan 259). Through the use of darkness, over the top sets, and exaggerated theatricality, Burton uses German expressionism in both Beetlejuice and Charlie. From the outrageous character of Beetlejuice, played by Michael Keaton, to the strange character of Willy
Wonka, played by Johnny Depp, it is evident that Burton’s films feature characters that one would never see in everyday life. Both Keaton and Depp “are theatrical in their style of acting, [and] blocking [...], [which they] perfor[m] on expressively designed stagelike sets” (Lewis 129). Their outcast characters manage to be evil and punish children while also maintaining a comedic persona, which contributes to this ‘extreme stylization.’ Additionally, Burton’s “neoexpressionist style [...] features childhood images spliced into adult themes” (Borden et al., 364), which Beetlejuice achieves through the incorporation of curiosity towards the afterlife and
Charlie explores through the consequences of giving into temptation. For instance, in Beetlejuice, Lydia, played by Winona Ryder, who moved into Barbara and Adam’s home with her parents, realizes that she is the only one that can see their spirits, and this causes her to romanticize death and consider dying to be with them. Additionally, in Charlie, the children are repeatedly placed in tempting situations with chocolate, but then punished when they succumb to their desires. Wonka puts the children into these situations to help him decide which one deserves to run the factory, but this is unbeknownst to them. In many of Burton’s films, children are put in conflicting and weird situations that they ultimately must overcome by the end of the film.
Moreover, the use of the gothic aesthetic in the set design of Beetlejuice creates a feeling of claustrophobia and entrapment for the characters Barbara and Adam. Although their house does not look physically haunted, Burton challenges the elements of the gothic by making the normal suburban house a prison for the couple. Additionally, Burton uses Sigmund Freud’s concept of The Uncanny, which is frequently used in gothic texts and films, and creates an
uneasiness regarding the “tense relationship between the familiar and the unfamiliar” (Hughes 177). Once Barbara and Adam have died, they soon realize that they are trapped in their house and unable to go outside to the world of the living. Even though their house looks and feels the same as to when they were alive, this doubling of the ‘familiar and the unfamiliar,’ “suggests that the self is haunted by repressed feelings which threaten to disrupt commonplace notions of
everyday reality” (Smith 6). In Barbara and Adam’s case, they do not want to accept the fact that they have died and do not own their home anymore. In one scene, Adam suggests to Barbara that they retrace their steps after forgetting how they arrived back home after their car crashed. As Adam walks out the porch steps, the camera angle changes to a birds-eye-view, and he finds himself in a strange desert surrounded by oddly shaped trees and a worm-like creature about to
devour him. Just in time, Barbara pulls him out of the distorted world, while standing safely on the porch steps. The juxtaposition of these two vastly different sets adds to the concept of The Uncanny, with two completely different worlds intertwined together. The inside of their home offers them a sense of safety and normalcy from the afterlife outside world, yet because they are dead, they are ultimately trapped. In one of his early films, Burton incorporates elements of the gothic to create memorable set designs to achieve this effect.
Additionally, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Burton uses a similar set design to Beetlejuice with the first chocolate room that the children explore. This scene also includes elements of The Uncanny in the appearance of the room. In the scene, Willy Wonka unlocks a tiny door in the factory, where the children leave behind their dreary suburban life and enter a colourful, magical world. Through a long shot, Burton reveals a giant room with a green meadow, chocolate waterfall, edible shaped trees, which are similar looking to the ones in the desert scenes in Beetlejuice, and giant chocolate mushrooms. However, although the room
appears friendly, Burton’s contrast of lighting highlights the gothic overtone in the scene. Burton uses spotlights to illuminate some colourful parts of the meadow, while keeping some parts hidden beneath dark shadows. One of Burton’s distinct filmmaking techniques is his “heavy reliance on key lights. Fill lights are used sparingly, and backlights, used to obliterate shadows, are also not used much. The films have an ominous look, a look that fits horror perfectly” (Lewis 129). Although this land of chocolate looks like a child’s dream at the surface, there is a sense of eeriness created through Burton’s use of set design and lighting that adds to a feeling of uneasiness to the viewer and to the main character, Charlie Bucket.
Furthermore, beyond gothic visual elements, Burton also incorporates gothic tropes in both films’ plots. As Sarris suggests, the interior meaning of a film should showcase “the tension between a director’s personality and his material” (Sarris 453). Through the repeated exploration of the gothic themes in the plots, Burton’s filmmaking “pattern is established” (Sarris 453). For example, Burton uses the Fear of the Other, which is “a central concern of Gothic literature” (Khair 4) in his films, and this Other, whether a deceased being like Beetlejuice or an eccentric chocolate inventor like Willy Wonka, causes the children in his stories to be placed in
challenging situations. The Other character is shown early on as different from the rest of the characters and as someone that needs to be ‘fixed’ or destroyed by the end of the film. They are “seen as a Self waiting to be assimilated [...] or poised as inferior or secondary to the European Self” (Khair 4) and if they rebel against the societal norms, they are ultimately punished. For example, Beetlejuice’s appearance compared to Adam and Barbara, even though they are also ghosts, is more dirty, sick and diseased looking. By presenting him as less human-like, he is
represented as the Other. Near the end of the film, Beetlejuice tries to trick teenage Lydia into marrying him and entering the afterlife together. The scene plays out with the other characters scrambling to prevent the wedding from taking place and to stop the Other, which in this case is Beetlejuice, from having control. Through his magical powers, Beetlejuice forces Lydia to recite her vows, while her parents and Barbara and Adam, face obstacles to prevent the marriage from
occurring. The scene ends with Barbara riding the worm-like creature from the desert into the ceremony, which then swallows Beetlejuice and takes him back to the afterlife, moments before the marriage is declared. Since Beetlejuice is viewed as the Other he must be removed from existence. This is a common end in most gothic stories, unless the Other successfully converts into the ideal ‘European self.’
Unlike in Beetlejuice, in Charlie, the Other manages to conform to society's values and Willy Wonka becomes incorporated and accepted as a member of the Bucket family. When he was still cast as the Other, his lifestyle and appearance from the rest of the people in the village is quite prominent. For example, Wonka lives inside the factory without a family and his appearance consists of neatly trimmed hair, a polished face and clean, colourful suits, compared to the gray outfits the villagers wear. Even though the Bucket family successfully “civilis[es] the
‘Other’” (Khair 29), Wonka’s appearance and mannerisms stay the same; his adoption into the family shows that he is no longer an outcast and now part of a family, which he has always longed for. Now that Wonka is ‘fixed,’ he is no longer seen as the Other, who society “unsuccessfully [attempted] to exclude” (Khair 11). Burton achieves this, by giving Wonka qualities that audiences can relate to and feel empathy towards, which is not the case with a character like Beetlejuice. Even though Wonka is portrayed as an Other, he is “not [...] evil, but as one in need of ‘love, tolerance and understanding’” (Smith 139). Although different from how Beetlejuice ends, both films represent the gothic trope of the Other, but through different
approaches.
Another famous gothic trope that Burton includes in his films is the conservative ending. After a strange or supernatural event occurs, gothic stories eventually “retur[n] to traditional, conservative values,” (Durant np) where life is back to normal and the Other is removed or ‘assimilated’ into society. In Beetlejuice, Adam and Barbara manage to live harmoniously with Lydia and her family. They also are able to have the daughter they never had through Lydia, who has completely changed and now makes friends easily and works hard in school. Similarly, Charlie ends with Willy Wonka being welcomed inside the Bucket’s home and invited in for dinner. Everyone is smiling around the table, while the fireplace is warming their home and a turkey is being carved, which signifies a sense of home and belonging. Both films follow this trope and the “conclusion [...] [is] a happy and restorative ending rather than [a] bleak tragedy” (Hughes 69). These conservative endings prove Sarris’ argument around a director as an auteur who establishes a ‘pattern,’ such as Burton’s use of consistent gothic themes in his films.
Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are noticeable examples of Burton being an auteur filmmaker. While in some ways his status as an auteur is tied to a brand, like Corrigan suggests, Burton more importantly has stayed consistent to the way he visually creates and approaches his films since the 1980s. By exploring different features in these films, Burton relies on the use of German Expressionism, visual gothic elements in set design and lighting, and finally gothic tropes in his plots like the Other and the conservative ending. Following Sarris’ theory, Burton’s ‘directorial bundle’ reveals that his technical skills, style and
themes situate him as an auteur filmmaker.
Works Cited
Beetlejuice. Directed by Tim Burton, performances by Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, and Winona Ryder, Warner Bros., 1988.
Bergan, Ronald. The Film Book: A Complete Guide to the Word of Cinema, London, DK, 2011.
Borden, Daniel, et al. Film a World History, New York, Hardie Grant Books, 2008.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Directed by Tim Burton, performances by Johnny Depp, Warner Bros., 2005.
Corrigan, Timothy. “The Commerce of Auteurism.” American Movie Critics: From the Silents Until Now. Philip Lopate Ed. The Library of America, 2008, pp. 416-429.
Hughes, William. Key Concepts in the Gothic, Edinburgh, EUP, 2018.
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Khair, Tabish. The Gothic, Postcolonialism and Otherness: Ghosts from Everywhere. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2009.
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kwantlen-ebooks/detail.action? docID=578883#
Lewis, Jon. American Film: A History. 2nd ed., New York, W.W. Norton and Company, 2019.
Menne, Jeff. “The Cinema of Defection: Auteur Theory and Institutional Life.” Representations, vol. 114, no. 1, 2011, pp. 36-64.
Sarris, Andrew. “Notes on the Auteur Theory,” American Movie Critics: From the Silents
Until Now. Philip Lopate Ed. The Library of America, 2008, pp. 400-403.
Smith, Andrew. Gothic Literature. Edinburgh University Press, 2013.
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