Category: top 100 directors
SIDNEY LUMET 12 ANGRY MEN, NETWORK, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, THE PAWNBROKER It’s easy to call Sidney Lumet an “Actor’s Director.” Some of the finest performances in film history can be found in Lumet’s films. However, to label Lumet in this...
DANNY BOYLE SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, TRAINSPOTTING, A LIFE LESS ORDINARY, 127 HOURS Exploring just about every cinematic genre known to man, Danny Boyle is one of the few filmmakers who effectively blurs the line between journeyman and auteur. While his style...
HOWARD HAWKS THE BIG SLEEP, SCARFACE, BRINGING UP BABY, SERGEANT YORK, HIS GIRL FRIDAY It’s easy to overlook director Howard Hawks’ talent as a director given how remarkably unflashy his films are. But for a few carefully chosen instances, Hawks...
ANDREI TARKOVSKY ANDREI RUBLEV, SOLARIS, STALKER When a director like Ingar Bergman says this about you, “Tarkovsky for me is the greatest [director], the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life...
JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE LE SAMOURAI, ARMY OF SHADOWS, LE CERCLE ROUGE, BOB LE FLAMBEUR With something more than ordinary fondness for the iconic American anti-hero, Jean-Pierre Melville’s surname substitution (his given name, though, was Grumbach) is a powerful indication of the...
KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI THE DECALOGUE, THE THREE COLORS TRILOGY, THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE Kieslowski represents European cinema in the proud tradition of Bergman and Tarkovsky. He is most known for the way he explored philosophical ideals and their connection to...
FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT THE 400 BLOWS, JULES AND JIM, SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER, DAY FOR NIGHT Truffaut’s rise to fame as a film critic was forcefully overshadowed by his talent as a film director. One of the foremost voices of the...
CHARLES CHAPLIN THE GOLD RUSH, CITY LIGHTS, MODERN TIMES, THE GREAT DICTATOR If the universe turned inside out and Mel Gibson and Stephen Spielberg could become one person, that person would be Charlie Chaplin. Not only was he an actor/director,...
ROMAN POLANSKI CHINATOWN, ROSEMARY’S BABY, THE PIANIST, REPULSION Many consider an artist’s work to be a window into his soul. This has never been more true than with Roman Polanski. His has been a life of tragedy, paranoia, and regret,...
TERRY GILLIAM BRAZIL, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, TWELVE MONKEYS The characters in Terry Gilliam’s films all have some kind of mental psychosis or affliction. While this may be a reflection on Gilliam...
