Favourite Director?

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Kyle F

New member
I was reading David Thomson's Biographical Dictionary of Film yesterday in which he suggests that if he could only save the work of one director for posterity, everything else being lost, he would choose that of Howard Hawks. Me, I love Hawks but I'd choose Kubrick -- the man never made a bad film, covered so many genres and frequently his films are some of the best examples of their genre. The only problem is that there are so few of them... Anyone else?

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Yeah, I thought about Scorsese -- KING OF COMEDY just cracks me up, and who could live without TAXI DRIVER, GOODFELLAS or MEAN STREETS? However, as with Coppola, I rejected him due to the presence of a number of stinkers -- Scorsese's directed many of my favourites, but you'd also have to take along CAPE FEAR, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, AGE OF INNOCENCE etc..

One of the things I like about Kubrick is his consistency across so many genres -- even his lesser films are still near the top of the pack (THE KILLING and FULL METAL JACKET imho -- I really like EYES WIDE SHUT... just give it, like 2001, ten years and everyone'll agree with me!). Oh, and I forgive him AI 'cause it was the ending that killed it and surely we've got to blame Spielberg for that.:D I like to think that Stanley would have left him gazing at the Blue Fairy forever...

Bergman maybe, also Greenaway, though with both I reckon I'd soon start pining for something a little less... y'know :) Kurosawa I *love* but he's only really at his best when directing period dramas (tho' his early crime films are ace..hmm, I may change my mind...) And Nolan!?! He's only directed three films hasn't he (tho' MEMENTO was great on first viewing, the impact and interest kinda lessens for me with each viewing)? Hmm, who else? Corman maybe, for a bit of fun? Billy Wilder (so we've got two Marilyn Monroe flicks to lust over)?

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There are a number of great directors...

I'll pick a few i'd like to mention.

I like Martin Scorsese, Raging Bull is a masterpiece.

Charles Laughton's classic the Night of the Hunter is a classic, and the only film he directed. It crashed at the box office and he never made another film again, now it is seen as a film years ahead of its time and certainly a fore runner for modern thrillers.

Clint Eastwood directed some very good films early in his career, which revived the western (if you like that kind of thing).

Alfred Hitchcock - Genuis at work.

John Ford another skillful director, captured the scenery of the lanRABcape of the west.
 
Kinji Fukasaku
Stanley Kubrick (He didn't write the end of AI. His version ended under the water !!)
David Fincher (visually, tho his only two turkeys are Panic Room and Alien3)
 
Scorsese first and foremost, others tend to be for specific films (ie. Sam Mendes for 'American Beauty' and Mike Figgis for 'Leaving Las Vegas' etc.)
 
Yeah, Fincher is cool. FIGHT CLUB is one of my favourites and I didn't think PANIC ROOM was that bad; not genius, but very watchable. As for ALIEN 3, as I understand it the studio messed with the final cut and there's going to be a DVD released later this year with a restored version which is almost twice as long...

Doh, Hitch! Def a worthy contender (tho' again with a few duRAB). What about Jeunet? DELI, CITY OF LOST CHILDREN and AMELIE are all beautiful to look at, tho' ALIEN 4 was a disappointment. Or Terry Gilliam? TIME BANDITS, BRAZIL, 12 MONKEYS all deserve to be saved :) Or Jean Renoir? Not only did he make some of the greats (RULES OF THE GAME, GRAND ILLUSION, BETE HUMAINE) but he was a massive influence on the French New Wave (anyone for Godard, tho' only up to WEEKEND imho?).

Hmm.. Laughton certainly is consistently good :D So too is Jean Vigo (ZERO DE CONDUITE), whose career was cut off by an early death with only 2 proper films made... Then again, what about Chris Marker, whose short LA JETEE would make my top 50 (prob my top 25) and inspired 12 MONKEYS, but who never made a proper feature film...

Once you start thinking about it, the choice is almost impossible.... I'm still sticking with Kubrick tho' just because of the range -- a costume drama, two war films, two sci-fi movies (counting CLOCKWORK as a sci-fi dystopia; three with AI), a film noir (two if we count KILLER'S KISS as a true Kubrick rather than a short), a horror film, a black comedy, a roman epic, and 2 studies of sex etc (LOLITA & EWS).:D

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I'm not quite so arty-f@rty as you lot - I like something a little more downmarket, so for me it'd have to be either:

a) John Hughes (only his films prior to 1992)
b) Kevin Smith
 
FERRIS BUELLER is a work of genius, no question :) So too is CLERKS, but what about JAY AND SILENT BOB or MALLRATS?

Hmm, non-arty-farty directors... (is Terry Gilliam arty-farty?) Well, how about one of my all-time favourites, Luc Besson? NIKITA and LEON are pure genius; THE FIFTH ELEMENT is grossly under-rated IMHO, as is THE BIG BLUE; and THE LAST BATTLE is arguably a superior post-apocolypse tale to MAD MAX.

Or Peter Jackson? You get the magnificent LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy (assuming ROTK is as good and the need to save the work of only one director occurs after Christmas 2003...), the wonderful HEAVENLY CREATURES, and some of the finest comedy-horror movies ever made...(rat-monkeys, anyone?)

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