Genre and the Auteur Theory

When I first read about the auteur theory, I honestly wasn't a huge fan. It seems limiting for an artist to make all movies with similar tones and styles. If all of their movies are similar, it could get so old. I think of directors like Wes Anderson and Christopher Nolan, directors who's films we have viewed in class, and I don't want them to feel limited since they have established a certain tone in their films. However, when I kept reading the article on auteur theory, I liked when Wollen zoomed in on the work of Howard Hawks. We have viewed The Big Sleep in class, and little did I know that Hawks has created films not only in the film noir genre, but across all genres. This is especially resonant since we talked about the idea of genre last class. The fact that an artist can create art across all genres, like Hawks has created musicals and comedies and dramas and thrillers, makes me support the auteur theory a little more. However, he still can maintain similar tones and techniques throughout his films.