Auteurist Film Critic Andrew Sarris Dies

Andrew Sarris

Andrew Sarris, one of the most influential American film critics of the 20th century and the man who brought French auteur theory to American criticism, died Wednesday at the age of 83. 

The New York-based Sarris wrote for the Village Voice and the New York Observer, first gaining prominence in the 1960s. He helped popularize the French New Wave in the U.S. and his hugely influential 1968 book, “The American Cinema,” provided an assessment and ranking of directors.

Sarris was also known for his decades-long rivalry with the late critic Pauline Kael.

 The website CriticWire has a sampling of what critics are saying about Sarris’ passing.