In praise of Mad Men

In The Guardian, Guild member David Hare examines the brilliance of Mad Men (created by Matthew Weiner)

In all this, it scarcely needs saying, it has been the writing which has been the star. This autumn Bafta is offering a series of lectures in London by screenwriters which also seems poignantly timed. They come at a moment when the English-language publication of François Truffaut's last interview finds him regretting the dismal consequences of trying to turn regular film directors into auteurs. The intention of the nouvelle vague, he said, had been "more personal films", but the results were films which were, in fact, "more than personal: they became narcissistic". Gradually, Truffaut said, he had himself returned "to a narrative tradition based more on observation and synthesis than subjectivity and self-exploration". The lessons painfully learned by Truffaut in 20 years still haven't been absorbed by the Anglo-American cinema in 60. Mad Men has auteurs, all right. They're the boys and girls who write it.