Testing the Auteur Theory

Ever since I began studying filmmaking at the San Francisco State University in the late 1960s, I've been attracted by the auteur theory of filmmaking. I admired such directors as Claude Lelouch who took the Arri 2c on their shoulder and went out shooting cinema verite style in the streets of Paris. But when you're a film student such efforts seem beyond reach. You never believe that you'll be in a position to shoot like that, the way A MAN AND A WOMAN was shot. It seemed impossible for me to shoot a film like that with an MOS camera and then dub it to perfection, that only the best crystal speed, sound-blimped cameras and Nagras could match. Since then three decades have passed and the technology is here now and the experience has been finally attained. All that is left is the courage to try. So here I go again, shooting my way out of another hang-up.