The term “vulgar auteurism” was coined in the early 2010s to describe the work of low art big-budget filmmakers like Michael Bay.
I’ve always felt it was a silly expression, myself.
“Auteur” is a loaded word for reasons too complicated to get into here, but for me, “auteur” isn’t necessarily synonymous with quality.
It simply refers to a storyteller with a clear set of interests and fixations.In Bay’s case, he worships those who wear badges and uniforms for a living, and his craft involves a form of technical maximalism that’s come to be known as “Bayhem.” As Bay once put it while explaining his love of Robert Wise’s classic 1961 musical “West Side Story,” “It was all about form, style, how they use the medium.
That’s what I try to do with my action.”The opening to Bay’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is a perfect example of what he’s talking about.
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