John Sayles the Auteur

An auteur can be defined as a filmmaker who uses certain cinematic elements and a message consistent throughout multiple films in order to make his or her own worldly perspective known. Director John Sayles is said to be an auteur because of his use of certain themes and visions to capture a message in all of his films. This can be proven using an example of three films Sayles directed including: The Brother From Another Planet, Silver City, and Eight Men Out. In these three films Sayles lays across a central theme of people in general being corrupt and a society that goes along with it. This theme includes examples of people taking advantage on one another and prejudiced divisions that unfairly separate individuals. Keeping this idea consistent, Sayles finds a way to link together all of his films using the effects of music and long shots of the camera to add his own unique perspective in the broad message of the film.

In The Brother from Another Planet, the main character, a slave alien who has escaped his own planet to find freedom, arrives in New York and learns the customs of humans. The story continues as the Alien becomes accustomed to society. However, two Men in Black aliens arrive to New York as well to try and capture the escaped slave in order to bring him back home. In the end, other escaped slaves unite with The Brother in order to rise against the Men in Black and stand up for their freedom. Sayles' message can be seen in this film by the Men in Black trying to hunt down the Brother. He is a slave in his former planet that has been used by these men despite his own will. The Brother is not given equal rights and escapes from his home to find a place where he will be treated fairly. Due to the fact that the Brother was a slave, it is apparent that the Men in Black have used him for their own advantage. Although the Brother is of the same species as the Men in Black are, they consider him inferior to them by making him a slave. This can also be seen as a division of races which is apparent throughout the movie by the two opposing forces. The Brother is black, while the Men in Black, the hunters of the brother, are white.

This parallels American history during the period when slaves were legal and kept in the United States. Another instance of racial divide occurs when two university students get lost in Harlem and end up in the bar. At first they are worried for their lives as they walk down the Harlem streets and feel very out of place due to their skin color. After getting to know the people of the city, they become more accustomed to their surroundings and end up liking the people. "If people were to sit around and talk like this all day long…" says one of the students, "communication, that's what it's all about." Also, when the brother is sitting on the steps of the police station, a new police officer to Harlem claims that he does not mind working in the area despite what his peers warn him about. "People are people, right?" He says. During the scene when the Brother is on the subway, a teen with a card trick sits next to the Brother and when they arrive uptown the teens says, "Wanna see all the white people disappear?" Sayles uses these characters as a way of showing the audience that racism is not necessary in our world and that if people were to give one another a chance, they would see that diversity is a good thing for a society.

In the film Silver City, the political campaign of a potential governor, Dickie Pilager, goes awry when a body is discovered during the shooting of one of his campaign commercials. Pilager's campaign manager hires an investigator, Danny O'Brien, to try and figure out who may be behind this conspiracy against Pilager. O'Brien must try to find out who set this case up to see if Pilager has any enemies and to figure out why this person was murdered. Again Sayles' message can be seen through the characters of the film. Unlike the Brother in The Brother from Another Planet, Pilager is high on the social chain and has a great deal of authority due to his family's success in the political arena. However, a more powerful character named Wes Benteen is using Pilager throughout the entire film to further advance his financial success. Another character named Vincent Esparza uses illegal immigrants to work under Benteen. "[He] used blacks and Chicanos to bust the unions and slaughter houses then he fired half of them and bought in immigrants without papers." This again shows Sayles' message of one person using another for power.

The circumstances in this situation are different than the usual case in that both Benteen and Pilager have a vast amount of power when usually only one character has the upper hand and the other is at a great disadvantage. On the same note, although Esparza holds authority over his immigrant workers by trapping them into working for him, he is still under the ultimate rule of Benteen. The three men represent a whole group of authoritative figures who hold control of toxic waste being dumped into a city. This group of people takes advantage of their authority to keep the public ignorant on the dangers that lurk. Racial segregation is also seen in this movie through the plight of the immigrant workers. Esparza, who basically makes his workers indentured servants, keeps them under control with fear. He keeps them ignorant about the process of naturalization and threatens to turn them into immigration police in they do not comply. "I don't know the language, I don't even know their names, its like 'you amigo' and you show them what you want." There is no value for life which can be seen when Esparza tries to just throw away a worker who dies due to a dangerous job.

In the film Eight Men Out, the White Sox are paid to throw out the World Series in a famous scandal that shocked the world of sports in 1919. Unlike many other baseball films about the same topic, this movie explores the darker side of the situation and examines the character's motives as to why they would throw out the game. Although it is not similar in genre or storyline to both The Brother From Another Planet and Silver City, its message is similar in some aspects. Again individuals use others to their own advantage. In this case, more than one individual has an advantage to gain and more than one person is used to get there. The gamblers and big money men hold the upper hand in this situation, paying off baseball players to win bets. Although in the end, the gamblers end up making the most profit off the situation, the baseball players also use something else to their own advantage. Because the White Sox are known as a great baseball team and hold prestige, the players are valued by sports fans and critics.

The baseball players themselves end up taking advantage of their own name and rank in order to cash out. In this film a double layer is created as the gamblers take advantage of baseball players and baseball players take advantage of their name and integrity. Although a racial divide is not seen in the film, there is a prejudice apparent between the classes. Comiskey, the owner of the White Sox, is a very wealthy man who does not pay his players what they deserve. This leads them to accept a payment to throw the World Series. In the train scene of the movie, some of the players are trying to convince their teammates to join them in the bet. The players reply that if Shoeless Joe Jackson does not participate in it, then neither will they. A discussion is held between a player who is trying to convince Joe and Joe himself, who is illiterate. The player makes Joe feel inferior to the others because of his lack of education thereby creating a divide between the haves and the have nots. In a later part of the film, most assume Joe is not capable of making wise decisions due to the fact that he cannot read. This creates another kind of divide among the people which leads to prejudice.

In all three films, the music Sayles uses creates two sorts of feelings for the audience. The music used seems to set a mood for the audience to infer what is going on in the film. During the beginning of The Brother from Another Planet, as the Brother walks down Harlem, an upbeat style of music is played that seems to indicate an upbeat feeling of diversity within the city. As the Brother walks down the street, he encounters various people from all walks of life which coincides with the music playing in the background. Similarly, in Eight Men Out, during most of the baseball games, the music played represents the feeling of being at a baseball game during this time. It is exciting and upbeat which is the mood of the people watching the game as they cheer for the White Sox. Music is also used sarcastically.

With the same example of the baseball game, as the Sox are actually in the process of throwing out the World Series, this upbeat music is being played. The players doing something so dishonest creates a dark mood, yet the music contradictorily creates a happy feeling. The fan's delight over the deceitful actions of the players is highlighted by the cheerful music in the background. In Silver City, as both Benteen and Pilager ride horses in the hills, very honorary, proud music is being played. With the great picture on the screen of two well-distinguished Americans riding and the honorary score, one would think these two men are great heroes of the nation. However, this is very far from the truth. Both of the men are in fact very corrupt leaders who are responsible for endangering the lives of people and destroying the environment. Therefore, the music being played seems to be a satire to what these characters actually stand for.

Sayles also uses many long shots to show off the settings of the films. In Silver City, during the beginning of the movie, a long shot is used to shoot the hills and mountains of Silver City. There is also a long shot used during the example mentioned above in which Benteen and Pilager ride horseback and have a conversation. Throughout the film, many of the scenes take place in a natural outdoors setting from a backyard to the mines of Silver City. In The Brother from Another Planet, also during the beginning of the movie, a long shot is used to show the New York skyline where the story takes place. Many shots of this movie include a look into the urban setting of New York City as the Brother wonders about and hides from the Men in Black. Since it is a baseball movie, Eight Men Out shows many long shots of the baseball park and the people who attend the games.

From the point portrayed in all three films, it is clear to see that John Sayles is an auteur. He uses this theme of corrupted individuals in our society taking advantage of race and one another consistently. Commonly, the ones taking advantage hold the greatest amount of power while the weaker ones end up at a disadvantage. The use of certain cinematic elements such as long shots of the movie setting and music to set the mood further emphasize his work as an auteur and go to show that his vision is strong in creating a universal message no matter what genre of films is represented.