See if you agree with this: a panel of experts–Peter Bradshaw, Xan Brooks, Molly Haskell, Derek Malcolm, Andrew Pulver, B Ruby Rich and Steve Rose–convened on the Guardian’s behalf to select the “40 best directors.” Using a 20-point scale, with 20 the best, they graded each artist’s substance, look, craft, orginality, and intelligence. While Walker film audiences should recognize plenty of names, there are some surprises: no Coppola, Kurosawa, Kubrick, or Hitchcock (hmm, while it doesn’t say so, this appears to be a list of living directors.)
And the winners are (in suspense-enhancing order):
40. Gus Van Sant
39. David Fincher
38. Takashi Miike
37. Lars von Trier
35. Larry and Andy Wachowski
34. David O. Russell
33. Pavel Pawlikowski
32. Gaspar Noe
31. Richard Linklater
30. Takeshi Kitano
29. Wes Anderson
28. Michael Moore
27. Ang Lee
25. Spike Jonze
24. Alexander Payne
23. Walter Salles
22. Michael Haneke
21. Paul Thomas Anderson
20. Michael Winterbottom
19. Aki Kaurismaki
18. Tsai Ming Liang
17. Quentin Tarantino
16. Todd Haynes
15. Pedro Almodovar
14. Wong Kar-wai
13. Bela Tarr
12. Lynne Ramsay
11. Lukas Moodysson
10. Terence Davies
8. Hayao Miyazaki
5. Terrence Malick
4. Steven Soderbergh
3. Joel and Ethan Coen
2. Martin Scorsese
1. David Lynch
[…] • Oh, reallly? Two more lists to weigh in on: “50 artworks to see before you die” and “40 best directors.” What best-of list would you like to see? […]
Pingback by Off Center » Centerpoints 4.4 — 12/8/2006 @ 11:12 am
what about Akira Kurosawa?
Comment by willy schwartz — 12/10/2006 @ 1:36 pm
[…] • Oh, really? Two more lists to weigh in on: “50 artworks to see before you die” and “40 best directors.” What best-of list would you like to see? […]
Pingback by Centerpoints 4.4 — 1/26/2007 @ 9:56 am
AND WHAT ABOUT KIESLOWSKI ??? !!!
Comment by medo — 12/2/2007 @ 3:47 pm
AND WHAT ABOUT KIM KI-DUK??? !!!
Comment by medo — 12/2/2007 @ 3:49 pm
You’ve got to be kidding with this list!
Okay, not to be disrespectful toward any of these makers but, come on, you’ve excluded so many critically important filmmakers who had an infinitely more important role in shaping the future of cinema. I am truly baffled that a greater exception has not been made to this list — I guess we are a more culturally illiterate people here that I could ever have imagined.
Andrei Tarkovsky
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Stanley Kubrick
Alfred Hitchcock
Ingmar Bergman
Roberto Rossolini
Bernardo Bertolucci
Lois Bunuel
Seigi Eisenstein
Orson Welles
Federico Fellini
John Ford
Jean-Luc Godard
Howard Hawks
Akira Kurosawa
Sidney Lumet
Hayao Miyazaki
Otto Preminger
Satyajit Ray
Jean Renoir
Francois Truffaut
Michelangelo Antonioni
Milos Forman
Costa-Gavras
Pier Paulo Pasolini
Mike Leigh
Yasujiro Ozu
Abbas Kiarostami
Shohei Imamura
Just to name a few who clearly should be listed before many of those on this list. I haven’t even begun to talk about Eastern European, German, Iranian, and certainly contemporary American filmmakers who would quickly move over half of these 40 from the list.
Comment by Robb Mitchell — 4/15/2008 @ 4:10 pm
And in the category of documentary filmmakers you must add:
Errol Morris
Far and away, Morris is not only an important director/producer if film documentaries, he is also one of the most important minds of our day. He makes Michael Moore seem like a piker. And I like MM.
Comment by Robb Mitchell — 4/16/2008 @ 10:32 am
Robb: The Guardian’s guest critics created the list. Maybe send them your thoughts?
Comment by bt — 4/16/2008 @ 11:30 am
bt has it right, Robb. I think that when Paul posted this back in ought-six he too was flabbergasted by those that were included and excluded by The Guardian. It’s a bizarre list to say the least. You should be pleased to note though that they did indeed agree with you on Mr. Morris. He’s listed at number 7. I can’t agree more about Errol Morris, especially after the screening of Standard Operating Procedure last night and the amazing discussion that followed.
Comment by Joe Beres — 4/16/2008 @ 1:23 pm
Joe:
Couldn’t agree more — Morris’ visit to the Walker last night was amazing. The film is incredible and the Q&A was probably the best I’ve ever attended in the Twin Cities.
Thanks for the effort all of you made to put this on. I know it was not easy and these types of pre-release films always come together at the last minute with strange requests from the releasing company. Excellent evening though and Morris’s film should be well received by the public.
Robb
Comment by Robb Mitchell — 4/16/2008 @ 1:43 pm