If you had to choose exactly 10 film directors, who you consider among the greatest (non-SW directors), who would it be?
I’ve given it lots of thoughts on several occasions, and based on thousands of films, this is finally what I came up with:
Andrej Tarkovskij (1932-1986)
Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)
Carl Th. Dreyer (1889-1968)
Krzysztof Kieślowski (1941-1996)
Luis Buñuel (1900-1983)
Peter Greenaway (1942-)
Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975)
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945-1982)
Robert Bresson (1901-1999)
Satyajit Ray (1921-1992)
This is naturally a very restrictive choice, but it’s easier than mentioning dozens of names.
If you have any thoughts, then I’ll be delighted to hear them!
[quote=“scherpschutter, post:2, topic:2038”]Sergio Leone
Sergio Corbucci
Raoul Walsh
Jean-Pierre Melville
Jacques Tati
Louis Malle
Charles Chaplin
Federico Fellini
Chang Cheh
Paul Verhoeven[/quote]
[b](non-SW directors)[/b]
Very nice list though! Charles Chaplin and Raoul Walsh can one never forget, but Jacques Tati and Louis Malle are also some of my favorites, along with others from La Nouvelle Vague such as: Alain Resnais, Claude Chabrol, Georges Franju, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Demy and especially François Truffaut!
I still have a lot to watch from Chang Cheh, so I haven’t really any thoughts there. Verhoeven has some essential cult-films, but I’ll still stick to other popular cult directors such as John Carpenter, if I had to choose between then and Verhoeven!
is a tough question as most of the time when I like certain non-SW directors, I usally love a couple films but don’t particularly care for the rest of their work. At the moment, the only non-SW director I can think of that I’ve liked everthing I’ve seen from is Lucio Fulci
There are some like Akira Kurosawa, who seemed to make excellent films every time, but that feels like more of a forced choice to me, and I have not even viewed many of the Kurosawa films yet
good thread and I’ll provide examples of my favorite movies from each as well…
Terence Fisher (1904-1980): Horror Of Dracula, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, The Devil Rides Out Sergio Leone (1929-1989): For A Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Once Upon A Time in the West Quentin Tarantino (1963- ): Inglourious Basterds, Kill Bill, Jackie Brown, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction Guillermo Del Toro (1964- ): Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy II, Hellboy, Devil’s Backbone George Romero (1940- ): Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Land of the Dead Sergio Corbucci (1926-1990): Django, Navajo Joe, Hellbenders, The Mercenary, The Great Silence Chang Cheh (1923-2002): Crippled Avengers, 5 Deadly Venoms, Shaolin Temple, Flag of Iron, Shaolin Daredevils, Kid With The Golden Arm, Ten Tigers of Kwangtung John Carpenter (1948- ): The Thing, Halloween, Escape from New York, Christine, They Live Mario Bava (1914-1980): Bay of Blood, Blood and Black Lace, Danger: Diabolik, Black Sabbath Freddie Francis (1917-2007) / Roy Ward Baker (1916- ) (tie): Tales From The Crypt, The Skull, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, Legend of the Werewolf / Vampire Lovers, Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, Asylum, Quatermass and the Pit
Keeping to non-SW directors, and keeping in mind what I said previously, here’s an attempt at names that come to mind… Trying to go by stuff that I actually like, and not just appreciate
Lucio Fulci
Dario Argento
Takashi Miike
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Quentin Tarantino
Robert Rodriguez
John Waters
Luc Besson
Richard Linklater
Well, you can start with his samurai-films, which is also naturally also what he’s known for, even though many of his best films (in my opinion) are other genres.
I assume you, as a SW fan, already have watched “Yojimbo”? His well-known and popular samurai films: “Kagemusha”, “Kakushi-toride no san-akunin”, “Kumonosu-jou”, “Ran”, “Rashômon”, “Shichinin no samurai” and “Tsubaki Sanjûrô” are all cinematic masterpieces, if you ask me!
I’ve seen Yojimbo and Seven Samurai. I’ve had several others sitting in my to-watch pile for ages… I will probably watch Ikiru next, also have Sanjuro and Dreams waiting and probably some others I can’t think of. I thought I had seen more of his films, but can’t think of any others I’ve watched at the moment
[quote=“Bill san Antonio, post:9, topic:2038”]Werner Herzog
David Lynch[/quote]
These two are definitely among the greatest living directors! Lynch’s latest feature, “Inland Empire”, is his finest cinematic achivement, if you ask me! The other being “Eraserhead”, which is funny enough his debut feature.
Woody Allen has somehow lost his quality though… :-\
yeah, i kinda agree. I think he just makes too many movies, instead of making a film per year he should consentrate and spend more time to make something really good. He haven’t really lost it though, Match Point was pretty damn good for example.
Both of these names came to my mind, but have not seen enough films of either to really make the claim… Have read more about their films than actually watched
Have you watched all, or at least most, of his films? He’s sometimes only known for “Citizen Kane” and “Touch of Evil”, and that’s a shame, since many of his less-known films like “Chimes at Midnight”, “F for Fake”, “Le procès”, “Othello” etc. are just as mesmerizing!
[quote=“Stanton, post:14, topic:2038”]I don’t think that Woody has lost his quality. There were in every decade weaker films amongst his output, but never a bad one.
Melinda & Melinda, Match Point and Vicky, Christina, Barcelona can compete with every of his best films of the 3 decades before.[/quote]
I disagree. Thet are by no means weak films, but they can in no way be compared to his films from the 80s (and some from the 70s). “Crimes and Misdemeanors” was the last Allen-film that really hit me, and that I view as a masterpiece.
[quote=“Antlion, post:3, topic:2038”]Very nice list though! Charles Chaplin and Raoul Walsh can one never forget, but Jacques Tati and Louis Malle are also some of my favorites, along with others from La Nouvelle Vague such as: Alain Resnais, Claude Chabrol, Georges Franju, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Demy and especially François Truffaut!
I still have a lot to watch from Chang Cheh, so I haven’t really any thoughts there. Verhoeven has some essential cult-films, but I’ll still stick to other popular cult directors such as John Carpenter, if I had to choose between then and Verhoeven![/quote]
Non-SW: didn’t notice the limitation; makes room for two more names, let’s say Luis Buñuel and Anthony Mann
The directors I chose aren’t necessarily the best, otherwise some other names would be on the list (Welles for example), but they are the bunch I love most, for some reason or another we’re on the same wavelength.
I also like Woody, Carpenter, Peckinpah, Antonioni, Chabrol, Kubrick and several others mentioned (or not) here, but probably not as much as the ones I picked. Dominik Graf is of course one to discover (nice interview, btw)
