Guardian—The World’s 40 Best Directors
http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/page/0,11456,1082823,00.html
1. David Lynch
2. Martin Scorsese
3. Joel and Ethan Coen
4. Steven Soderbergh
5. Terrence Malick
6. Abbas Kiarostami
7. Errol Morris
8. Hayao Miyazaki
9. David Cronenberg
10. Terence Davies
11. Lukas Moodysson
12. Lynne Ramsay
13. Bela Tarr
14. Wong Kar-wai
15. Pedro Almodovar
16. Todd Haynes
17. Quentin Tarantino
18. Tsai Ming-Liang
19. Aki Kaurismaki
20. Michael Winterbottom
21. Paul Thomas Anderson
22. Michael Haneke
23. Walter Salles
24. Alexander Payne
25. Spike Jonze
26. Aleksandr Sokurov
27. Ang Lee
28. Michael Moore
29. Wes Anderson
30. Takeshi Kitano
31. Richard Linklater
32. Gaspar Noé
33. Pavel Pawlikowski
34. David O Russell
35. Larry and Andy Wachowski
36. Samira Makhmalbaf
37. Lars von Trier
38. Takashi Miike
39. David Fincher
40. Gus Van Sant
My thoughts? Let’s start from the bottom.
If I am compiling my own list, Van Sant is a little higher than #40 based in part on the strength of his latest, the Kurt Cobain-inspired Last Days, which is in many ways a continuation of many of the cinematic concerns of his two previous films, Elephant and Gerry.
David Fincher hasn’t directed a film since 2002’s Panic Room, and he’s on this list, I assume, based largely on two films: Seven and Fight Club. Those are good films, and certainly provocative films, but are they “great?” In my opinion, no.
Lars von Trier is an interesting filmmaker, and an excellent polemicist, yet his movies are so mannered, and to me, too mired in formal concerns to really be totally engaging (Breaking the Waves is perhaps the exception).
Takashi Miike’s output is so prolific and erratic that it’s difficult to assess.
Larry and Andy Wachowski are on this list for one reason only: The Matrix. Can one film make you one of the world’s best director? No.
Paul Thomas Anderson is another interesting case with out a great deal of supporting evidence for inclusion on this list, just an interesting debut—Hard Eight—followed by three impressive films—Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch-Drunk Love. That’s basically matches the output (in terms of number of films) of Terrence Malick, who clearly does belong on this list. Also see Quentin Tarantino.
I’m not sure that you can rank non-fiction filmmakers (Michael Moore and Erroll Morris) on the same list with fiction filmmakers. What are the criteria for comparison?
(to be continued)
3 comments:
big problem, where's woody allen? or eric rohmer? godard? lesser problem, where's tran ahn hung? or how about chen kaige or zhang yimou? julio medem? you got the wachowski brothers and not spieldberg? pretty strange list.
This list is a few years old now, and I'm guessing that it would look a little different were it compiled more recently. In retrospect, the Wachowski Brothers are clearly the list's must dubious pick--having directed only Bound and The Matrix films at the time the list was put together.As of today, I'm not convinced Lukas Moodysson, Lynne Ramsay, Quentin Tarantino, or Aki Kaurismaki have really earned spots on my list either. Personally, while Kaige would be high on my list, I'd have trouble including Woody Allen or Steven Spielberg on my own theoretical list.
Sidney Lumet
Post a Comment