The Profitable Purity of Robert Redford: Authenticity, Auteur Capital, and the Sundance Film Festival
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The Profitable Purity of Robert Redford: Authenticity, Auteur Capital, and the Sundance Film Festival Matthew King A Thesis in The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Film Studies) at Concordia University Montréal, Quebec, Canada March 2018 Ó Matthew King, 2018 ii CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Matthew King Entitled: The Profitable Purity of Robert Redford: Authenticity, Auteur Capital, and the Sundance Film Festival and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Film Studies) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final Examining Committee: Chair Marc Steinberg Examiner Masha Salazkina Examiner Liz Czach Supervisor Kay Dickinson Approved by Chair of Department or Graduate Program Director Dean of Faculty Date: iii ABSTRACT The Profitable Purity of Robert Redford: Authenticity, Auteur Capital, and the Sundance Film Festival Matthew King This thesis, through the relationship between actor-director Robert Redford and the Sundance Film Festival, examines the dynamic between filmmakers and film festivals, and the effect the former can have on the latter’s public perception. Scholarship on the ties between festivals and filmmakers has been limited, often using Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital, and habitus to focus on the festival’s ability to imbue a director with legitimacy and capital. While this study also uses Bourdieu’s theories as a foundation for understanding film festivals, it ultimately filters these concepts through a lens of star and auteur studies to look at the relationship the other way around: that is, how an auteur-star like Redford might affect a festival like Sundance, both economically and culturally. Through closely examining the constructed images of both Redford and Sundance, this study posits that the actor-director brings his prestige and legitimacy—that is, his auteur capital—to bear on the Festival, and therefore affects its public understanding, as well as its values, norms, and practices. Sundance is a bundle of contradictions, each of which points to a habitus of paradoxical beliefs in Redford, which, in turn, reflects and reinforces a dominant society built out of oppositional forces. By comprehending how the public vision of festivals like Sundance can be affected by the popular perception of auteur-stars like Redford, this thesis will further bring light to the economic, political, and cultural relationships and hierarchies at work in such events. iv Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without the supervision of Kay Dickinson, whose invaluable support, diligent editing, insightful feedback, and thoughtful encouragement helped me complete this thesis. I also wish to thank Ezra Winton, whose class on film festivals was foundational for my research. Some of my fellow MA students also heard me present the seeds of this thesis in that class, as well as at the Rough Cuts // Short Takes Graduate Film Studies Student Symposium at Concordia. While the project has changed somewhat since then, I appreciate the feedback I received then and the discussions had, all of which contributed to the initial stages of this research. Furthermore, I would like to thank my family, whose encouragement spurred me on even as I somewhat clumsily fell into my studies. We have been separated by land and sea over the past few years, but I have always been tremendously grateful for the love that has been afforded me from them all in this time. Finally, and most of all, I would like to thank my patient partner and greatest friend, Blythe. She has heard me talk about this project—every development, every rough first draft, every uncertainty and triumph—for over a year now, and has always been there to offer unyielding support and generous, astute questions. For that, and so much more, I am forever grateful. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter 1: Film Festivals, Capital, and the Auteur-Brand……………………………… 6 Bourdieu at the Movies: Field, Capital, and Habitus…………………………….. 8 The Auteur Stays in the Picture………………………………………………….. 18 Stars, Images, and Brands………………………………………………………... 21 The Special Relationship: Branding Film Festivals with Auteur Capital………... 23 Chapter 2: The Authentic Myth of Ordinary Bob……………………………………….. 26 A History of the Rise of Authenticity……………………………………………. 27 Authenticity, Masculinity and the American West………………………………. 30 Commodifying an Authentic Wilderness………………………………………... 36 The Extraordinary Biography of Ordinary Bob………………………………….. 39 Robert Redford as Actor, Star, and Author……………………………………… 43 Redford as Confessor, Author, and Habitus……………………………………... 48 Chapter 3: The Sundance Trail……………………………………………………………. 60 Scholars on Sundance……………………………………………………………. 60 The Public History of the Sundance Film Festival………………………………. 66 Sundance on Sundance…………………………………………………………... 71 James Spader and Mr. Pink Walk Into a Ski Chalet……………………………... 76 What is the Sundance Film Festival? ……………………………………………. 80 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………... 81 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………. 85 Filmography…………………………………………………………………………………. 92 1 Introduction How does one begin to understand a film festival? How can we comprehend the kind of power dynamics, economics, and culture at play in a festival’s relationship to its filmmakers? How do these ubiquitous events survive, thrive, and set themselves apart from the pack? What happens when a filmmaker of some repute—the kind critics, scholars, and film fanatics might call an auteur—becomes publicly involved in a film festival? This thesis tackles these questions, analyzing the relationship between filmmakers and film festivals, and the effect the former can have on the latter’s public perception. To examine this dynamic, I will use the relationship between actor-director Robert Redford and the Sundance Film Festival as a case study, arguing that Redford brings his prestige and reputation to bear on the Festival, and therefore affects the public understanding of Sundance, its values, norms, and practices. In late January 2018, the Sundance Film Festival celebrates its fortieth anniversary since its inception in 1978 by Sterling Van Wagenen. However, there is likely to be very little fanfare over the date. This, after all, would detract from the Festival’s public image, tied as it is to the multi-hyphenate filmmaker and star, the president and co-founder of the Sundance Institute, Robert Redford. In a Hollywood Reporter profile by Stephen Galloway, Redford is described as having created the Sundance Film Festival. While this is factually incorrect, it might as well be true, given the deep connections the filmmaker and festival share in the public eye. In addition to the questions above, this thesis asks, what does this relationship, between Redford and Sundance, do to how we understand the Festival? As I argue, Robert Redford’s persona as a filmmaker and performer has been constructed around several interconnected themes: America, masculinity, wilderness, and authenticity. Knowing this, how then does this manifest in the Festival itself? How is Redford’s persona—as an entity with his own values and beliefs—present in the Festival? In the press release announcing the 2018 competition lineup, Redford is quoted as saying, “The work of independent storytellers can challenge and possibly change culture, illuminating our world’s imperfections and possibilities.” Here, in a nutshell, we find the publicly acknowledged motivation for the Festival, built as it is around notions of independence, counterculture, changing the world, and even Robert Redford. It is a Romantic vision, one 2 steeped in American history. Every January, filmmakers march into the woods of Utah to take part in a festival of purity—that autonomous independence of which Redford speaks. In the programming for the Festival’s 2018 competition, you will find stories of KKK members learning to love, a post-apocalyptic story of friendship, a kindergarten teacher helping a gifted student, and even the story of not-so-family-friendly killer Lizzie Borden. Ethan Hawke reveals his directorial debut, meanwhile, and other films draw stars to the Festival, with Jon Hamm, Rosamund Pike, Paul Rudd, Jeff Daniels, Paul Giamatti, Keira Knightley, Robert Pattinson, Jack Black, Colin Firth, and numerous other A-listers filling the films’ rosters. Smaller movies in the NEXT category premiere alongside showcase pieces from mega-producers Scott Rudin and Judd Apatow. The Festival this year is sure to deliver independent cinema—that is, films without the official production backing of studios, whose subjects are perhaps not always the stuff of franchises or other well-known intellectual properties. However, it is also sure to deliver the hits that, while they may not be about superheroes and they perhaps even subvert certain expectations, are not abandoning commercial potential, narrative, and the names that bring box office possibility. This dynamic has long been the case with Sundance. At the Festival, you can expect a mix of science-fiction/fantasy—films such as Shane Carruth’s Primer (2004) and Charlie McDowell’s The One I Love (2014)—that tell otherworldly stories that bend the mind and twist viewers’ expectations. The Festival also, however, delivers a smattering of social