Who are your favourite Directors?

[Swithun]

As a relative newbie to proper film I'd like your opinions, as you have better taste than the masses considering your on a Welles forum, on whose films are worth seeing. In particluar is the French New Wave stuff, Bergman and Fellini any good? Also are there any current directors work I should see?
Currently my three favourite directors are Welles, obviously, Hitchcock and David Lean.

[Christopher Good]

If you like Welles' style, you might want to check out the great Polish director Wojciech Has, in particular his wonderful film The Saragossa Manuscript/Rekopis znaleziony w Saragossie. It's rather Don Quixote-esque, and gives an idea perhaps of what Welles' own Quixote could have been like, had it been properly edited.
Another great (yet little-known) director is Donald Cammell. Like Welles, he was a "maverick", a former painter (though in his case, a professional), and his reputation was made by his first film, Performance (which he co-directed with Nicolas Roeg). The few films he was able to make in later years are largely ignored.
In the US, you can find Performance and Demon Seed (which was taken out of his control by the studio), and in Europe, White of the Eye and Wild Side are on DVD. Though the subjects of his films (excepting Performance) are fairly standard Hollywood stuff, his handling of the material, as well as his work with the actors is quite good.

[Roger Ryan]

Since tastes can differ dramatically, the only way to find out whether you would like the work of Fellini, Bergman or the French New Wave would be to rent some of those films. If you enjoy some of Welles' less commercial projects (say "The Trial" or "The Immortal Story"), you will probably find something to love in the categories you mentioned.

With Hitchcock and Lean listed among your current favorite directors, I take it you favor relatively mainstream, classic Hollywood films. In that case, I would recommend viewing some John Ford and Howard Hawks movies if you haven't already. I tend to love American comedies from the 20s - 40s with Buster Keaton's silent films, the mid-30s work of W.C. Fields and the 40s output of Preston Sturges high on my list (Sturges was as innovative as Welles in subverting the standard Hollywood formula and was a brilliant writer of comic dialogue).

For slightly less mainstream fare, Kubrick and Lynch are favorites of mine (the characterizations in "The Lady From Shanghai", "Touch Of Evil" and "The Trial" seem to have had an influence on Lynch). Lately, I've been watching a lot more non-English speaking films ("The Saragossa Manuscript" is indeed an enjoyable surrealist romp) and I've been quite taken with the work of Andrei Tarkovsky; his "Andrei Rublev" is probably the first film I've viewed in twenty years that immediately jumped into my top ten. Recently I've been rediscovering the Kurosawa canon and absolutely adored his "Throne Of Blood", a samarai version of "Macbeth".

As far as "current" directors go, I like the work of Paul Thomas Anderson ("Boogie Nights", "Magnolia") and the Coen Brothers. Alexander Payne's work is good as well. I'm a fan of Terry Gilliam, but truth be told, only "Brazil" is an out-and-out masterwork (but "you only need one" as Welles once said). Richard Linklater has built an excellent career bouncing from idiosyncratic personal films to more commercial projects. Oh, and how could I forget: almost everything Pedro Almodovar has done is wonderful.

I would recommend checking out the Criterion Forum (there's a link on the homepage of this site) for some very insightful talk on all movies new and old.

[chipm]

When Roger Ryan said: ""Andrei Rublev" is probably the first film I've viewed in twenty years that immediately jumped into my top ten." he couldn't have taken the words right out of my mouth faster. What a film.

Of course, I am waiting for them to hire Roger to finish Magnificent Ambersons...!

Chip

[Swithun]

Thanks for that. For the record my favourite Welles film is the Trial- it combines the three main things for a great film- astonishing images, clever editing and thought provoking ideas.

[mido505]

A few favorite directors:

F. W. Murnau and Fritz Lang, the two aknowledged masters of German Expressionist Cinema. For Murnau, look at FAUST, NOSFERATU, and SUNRISE. For Lang, try METROPOLIS, and the two part DIE NIBELUNGEN.

Sergei Eisenstein: one the giants of cinema history. Known for his theories and practice of montage, but his absolutely unique compositional sense is a joy to behold. A big influence on Welles' style from OTHELLO onwards. Look at ALEXANDER NEVSKY and IVAN THE TERRIBLE PARTS I & II.

Josef Von Sternberg: before Welles, perhaps the greatest visual stylist in cinema. The films with Dietrich are still astonishing pictorial triumphs. Try BLOND VENUS and SCARLET EMPRESS. Dietrich's performance as Tanya in TOUCH OF EVIL completes what Von Sternberg began.

James Whale: masterfully transmitted the silent German expressionist style into the Hollywood sound era, combining it with a wicked black humor. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE OLD DARK HOUSE, and INVISIBLE MAN are essential viewing.

Roger Corman: yes, Roger Corman. His Edgar Alan Poe series for AIP is visually stunning and fascinating to watch. Most were shot by Floyd Crosby, who was DP for Norman Foster on the MY FRIEND BONITO segment of Welles' IT'S ALL TRUE. Try HOUSE OF USHER and MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.

Mario Bava: a great DP and a great director, Bava managed to create a flamboyantly expressionist color visual style that has been hugely influential on many of today's best directors. A great pity that Welles, who seems to have been creatively stymied by color, never worked with Bava.

Terence Fisher: his beautifully controlled, understated style, combined with Bernard Robinson's incredible production design and Jack Ashers's outstanding experimental color cinematography, revolutionized fantastic cinema at Britain's Hammer Studios in the late 50's, early 60's. BRIDES OF DRACULA and HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES demonstrate that unique look at its best.

Dario Argento: Mario Bava's successor. His films are very violent, but push the envelope with visual experimentation. Try SUSPIRIA and INFERNO.

Nicholas Roeg: DP on Corman's MASQUE, and co-director with Cammell of PERFORMANCE. Interestingly, admired less for his photography, than for his one-of-a-kind editing style. Try DON'T LOOK NOW and THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH.

Ken Russell: the wild man of 70's cinema. The only director who could conceivably do a life of Welles on film. Try THE DEVILS and WOMEN IN LOVE.

Federico Fellini: another giant who needs little introduction. Try 8 1/2, which looks like nothing else in the movies, and SATYRICON, which does the same in color instead of B&W. Fellini's segment of the multi part film SPIRITS OF THE DEAD, is, in part, an homage to Bava. Welles was supposed to contribute a segment to SPIRITS, and wrote the script with Oja Kodar, but ultimately did not participate.

I must confess a lack of affection for, and interest in, the French New Wave. Those films never did anything for me. I much prefer Italian Cinema - Fellini, De Sica, Visconti, Rossellini, Leone, etc. There is a visual richness there that I find completely lacking in the Nouvelle Vague.

P.S. THE TRIAL, along with TOUCH OF EVIL, is my favorite Welles film, too.

[Cyberstrike]

James Whale: masterfully transmitted the silent German expressionist style into the Hollywood sound era, combining it with a wicked black humor. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE OLD DARK HOUSE, and INVISIBLE MAN are essential viewing.

Roger Corman: yes, Roger Corman. His Edgar Alan Poe series for AIP is visually stunning and fascinating to watch. Most were shot by Floyd Crosby, who was DP for Norman Foster on the MY FRIEND BONITO segment of Welles' IT'S ALL TRUE. Try HOUSE OF USHER and MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.

Terence Fisher: his beautifully controlled, understated style, combined with Bernard Robinson's incredible production design and Jack Ashers's outstanding experimental color cinematography, revolutionized fantastic cinema at Britain's Hammer Studios in the late 50's, early 60's. BRIDES OF DRACULA and HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES demonstrate that unique look at its best.

My Dad who's a big classic horror movie buff has just about watched and
has a ton of those movies on VHS and DVD and if he doesn't I usally have them myself.

A few of my favorite directors:

John Ford: A true master of the cinema and a major influence on directors
like Kurosawa and Wells, Ford's films are classics in every since of the word, The Grapes of Wrath (with DP Greg Tolland the same DP on a film called Citizen Kane), The Searchers, Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Quiet
Man, and many more.

Micheal Curtiz: If Ford was best known for his westerns, then Curtiz would be known for his variety. The Adventures of Robin Hood, Casablanca, Doctor X, Mystery of the Wax Museum, and The War Wagon.

Howard Hawks: Rio Bravo, El Dorado (my personal favorite), Rio Lobo, and Scarface.

[Skylark]

Curtiz I find excellent for what he does - there's a nice, efficient esthetic to what he does - maybe not the most artistically ambitious, but there's an unpretentious, entertaining quality with a craftsmanship that allows him to be quite successful in a variety of genres...