Peter Weir

TOPIC: Combine an auteurist approach with a generic approach to discuss the films of a particular director in social, cultural, and ideological context. Briefly outline how this auteur uses genre in the films, and critically appraise the ways the auteur uses these generic elements to comment upon American society, culture, and ideology at particular periods in 20th century American history. Peter Weir is an Australia born film director working in the United States and has …

…in Hollywood, but at the same time not be ‘controlled’ or compromised by the American film industry. He is an auteur who speaks with the voice of an individual, from the outside looking in. Peter Weir invites his audience to be like his character Truman Burbank, who conquered his fear and exited from the contrived stage at the conclusion of The Truman Show; he invites us to join him on the outside of the fishbowl.