J.R. Hudson
Spirit Animal
That's the beauty of the 10 List ! It's bad enough me and Cally are always adding honorables !
Favorite Directors...
- Thread starter Palace Films
- Start date
CallaghanFilms
Veteran
Ok...
My criteria in making this (surprisingly difficult) director list was looking at each of their respective body of works overall. In other words...if a filmmaker had one or two grand slams pictures, yet had a career of ho-hum filler otherwise - then they were not included.
Anyway - Here goes nothin'...
The Callaghan Top Ten Directors Of All Time List:
01 Spielberg
02 Hitch
03 Capra
04 Curtiz
05 Huston
06 Ford
07 Welles
08 Wilder
09 Hawks
10 Coppola
Honorable Mentions:
-Wyler
-Lean
-Zinnemann
Also...
The above list is my official & definitive list, but
if yuz would like to see where the modern fellas fall in the old Callaghan book:
I have composed a list of those filmmakers who have directed something recently. Again, keep in mind that (as stated above) this is based on their careers as a whole.
The Callaghan Top Ten List Of Current Directors:
01 Spielberg
02 Gibson
03 Zemeckis
04 Lucas
05 Howard
06 Scott, R.
07 Cameron
08 Scorsese
09 Shyamalan
10 Jackson
(Bracing self for impact for not including Tarantino...I simply could not bring myself to nix any of the names that I mentioned)
My criteria in making this (surprisingly difficult) director list was looking at each of their respective body of works overall. In other words...if a filmmaker had one or two grand slams pictures, yet had a career of ho-hum filler otherwise - then they were not included.
Anyway - Here goes nothin'...
The Callaghan Top Ten Directors Of All Time List:
01 Spielberg
02 Hitch
03 Capra
04 Curtiz
05 Huston
06 Ford
07 Welles
08 Wilder
09 Hawks
10 Coppola
Honorable Mentions:
-Wyler
-Lean
-Zinnemann
Also...
The above list is my official & definitive list, but
if yuz would like to see where the modern fellas fall in the old Callaghan book:
I have composed a list of those filmmakers who have directed something recently. Again, keep in mind that (as stated above) this is based on their careers as a whole.
The Callaghan Top Ten List Of Current Directors:
01 Spielberg
02 Gibson
03 Zemeckis
04 Lucas
05 Howard
06 Scott, R.
07 Cameron
08 Scorsese
09 Shyamalan
10 Jackson
(Bracing self for impact for not including Tarantino...I simply could not bring myself to nix any of the names that I mentioned)
J.R. Hudson
Spirit Animal
Verhoeven would make my Top 20
Mark Harris
Pain in the ass
Policar said:
I dunno, I can't think of a good movie he made since the 4th man...
rogar-BigGrin(DBG)
The Machinist
Respected Member
He deserves serious recognition for RoboCop.
In my humble opinion.
In my humble opinion.
Palace Films
Active member
I'll buy that for a dollar!
E_D_N
Active member
CallaghanFilms said:
!!!
Spielberg over Hitchcock?!?
And where is D.W. Griffith on your list?
And did you mean to say TOP 10 AMERICAN directors, 'cause that's all I'm seeing right now. Where's OZU? ANTONIONI?
Anyway, as far as Spielberg over Hitchock goes:
I see that quite a lot in all-time polls and... well... I don't quite agree on MANY levels.
- First, Hitch was more prolific than Spielberg, having directed over 50 films over time.
- Second, Hitch had a career spanning well, 5 DECADES, and was able, unlike many other filmmakers to not merely adapt to changes in technology and storytelling techniques, but to pioneer and make the innovations work for him.
There are only a select few directors who were able to transition from silent films to sound films as smoothly as Hitch... watch the silent and sound versions of BLACKMAIL (1929) and see what I mean.
- As far as pure directing craft is concerned, Hitch was peerless. From conception (he preconceptualized everything and did his own storyboards) to actual execution, framing of the shots, editing, etc... he had few equals.
The shower sequence in PSYCHO alone is a science.
THE kiss in VERTIGO with the camera sweeping around Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak in the hotel room and transporting them back to the stable... magical...
- And the hits! Hitch's collection of hits is endless! THE 39 STEPS, REBECCA, SUSPICION, VERTIGO, PSYCHO, THE BIRDS, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, DIAL M FOR MURDER, REAR WINDOW.... it goes on and on... a good 30 out of his films are classics... out of 52, it's not bad... not bad at all...
As for SPIELBERG, well, he certainly has a good eye for the commercial and has some great films to his name.... I just don't know if his achievements, B.O. record breaking apart, can put him on par with Hitch....
E_D_N
Active member
In spite of my defense of Hitch above, he's not my favorite director. Or at least, he's not the director whose films I end up watching more than most.
I do recognize however, that his standing in Film history is unique and I think that in light of all his achievements he deserves the #1 spot.
My faves though are:
- STANLEY KUBRICK
What else needs to be said? From THE KILLING to PATHS OF GLORY to BARRY LYNDON, DR. STRANGELOVE, and above all 2001, A SPACE ODYSSEY (my fave film ever) -- he towers above the rest for me.
- FEDERICO FELLINI
Though not as appreciated today, he is for me a genius. LA DOLCE VITA and 8 1/2 are my 2nd and 3rd fave films ever. He was an undeniable master of the cinematic and I always learn something new when watching his movies. Esp. important is movement within the frame and planes within said frames. Each shot is like a tableau vivant. There are layers after layers of details and everything is in movement. Watch his SATYRICON, the production design, the shots, the colors... it's overwhelming... perhaps too much so, something critics never stopped to reproach him for in his later years...
- JOHN CASSAVETES
An original through and through. I admire him as an actor, as a director and as a man. Love all his movies, with HUSBANDS and LOVE STREAMS as personal faves. Love the troupe of actors in his films too: GENA ROWLANDS, BEN GAZZARA, PETER FALK, SEYMOUR CASSEL... my very fave people...
- MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
Formalist. Modernist. The image is key. His style was unique. To make the audience not passive, but active participants in the filmic experience, he used new (at the time) techniques that seemed counterintuitive and certainly went against any established notions of what cinema was at the time and yet coalesced into something not merely tangible, but unthinkable had it been done any other way. Check out these caps from LA NOTTE:
- FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
APOCALYPSE NOW... the GODFATHER movies... enough said.
- SAM PECKINPAH
Violence IS cathartic.... Mr. PECKINPAH proved it in THE WILD BUNCH... a blood-drenched masterpiece for the times... as are his other movies...
- MIKLOS JANCSO & BELA TARR
Films by those two Hungarian masters are must-see material for any aspiring filmmaker. The way they handled the camera, filmspace, and most of all the actors, is unique.
JANCSO in particular, needs to be rediscovered... his Hungarian films of the 60s and 70s are his best known and for good reason. No hero or heroine in the standard sense, the actors in his films are like pawns on a chess board. The camera moves around them (and how! Some of the most gorgeous crane / dolly shots in all cinema) and pushes / pulls them in and out of the frame. And if one ever wondered what Peter Jackson must have gone trhough logistics-wise during his LOTR shoot, then one needs to see a JANCSO movie and he moved the dozens of actors at once across the frame. Mass movement of people across the frame is a trademark of his.
See THE RED AND THE WHITE, THE ROUNDUP, or ELEKTRA MY LOVE to start.
As for BELA TARR, see his epic 7-hour SATANTANGO (if you can find it on DVD)...
- BILLY WILDER
A master.
- AKIRA KUROSAWA
Likewise, can't go on at length here. His record speaks for itself.
The rest (in no particular order)
- OLIVER STONE
- QUENTIN TARANTINO
- KENJI MIZOGUCHI
- ALFRED HITCHCOCK
- ROBERT ALTMAN
- MICHAEL POWELL
- MARTIN SCORSESE
- DAVID LYNCH
- SERGIO LEONE
- BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI
- RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER
- DAVID LEAN
- CLAUDE SAUTET
- JEAN-LUC GODARD
- FRITZ LANG
- G.W. PABST
- ERNST LUBITSCH
- G.W.F. MURNAU
- PIER PAOLO PASOLINI
- ELIA KAZAN
- INGMAR BERGMAN
- HENRI-GEORGE CLOUZOT
- ROBERT BRESSON
- MARTIN RITT
- ROBERT ROSSEN
- KRZYSTOFF KIESLOWSKI
- DOUGLAS SIRK
- MARCEL L'HERBIER
- LOUIS FEUILLADE
- JEAN RENOIR
- JOHN HOUSTON
- JOHN SAYLES
- NICHOLAS RAY
- HECTOR BABENCO
- ROMAN POLANSKI
- JACQUES DEMY
- PETER GREENAWAY
- PETER WATKINS
- ALAIN RESNAIS
- JAMES CAMERON
- ELLIOTT MORRIS
- PATRICK WISEWAN
- ANTHONY MANN
- MICHAEL MANN
- JOHN BOORMAN
- ROBERT WISE
- JEAN-JACQUES BENEIX
- MILOS FORMAN
- KAREL REISZ
- TONY RICHARDSON
- MARGARETHE VON TROTTA
- JANE CAMPION
- VOLKER SCHLONDORFF
- FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT
- TIM BURTON
- PEDRO ALMODOVAR
- TERRY GILLIAM
- PETER BOGDANOVICH
- THE COEN BROTHERS
- THE TAVIANI BROTHERS
- EDWARD YANG
- CLAUDE CHABROL
- GEORGE CUKOR
- NEIL JORDAN
- SAMUEL FULLER
- ROBERT ALDRICH
- ANDREJZ WAJDA
- AGNES VARDA
- MARGUERITE DURAS
- WOLFGANG PETERSEN
- JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ
- GLAUBER ROCHA
- WILLIAM WYLER
- VITTORIO DE SICA
- CLINT EASTWOOD
- ROBERT REDFORD
- KEVIN COSTNER
I do recognize however, that his standing in Film history is unique and I think that in light of all his achievements he deserves the #1 spot.
My faves though are:
- STANLEY KUBRICK
What else needs to be said? From THE KILLING to PATHS OF GLORY to BARRY LYNDON, DR. STRANGELOVE, and above all 2001, A SPACE ODYSSEY (my fave film ever) -- he towers above the rest for me.
- FEDERICO FELLINI
Though not as appreciated today, he is for me a genius. LA DOLCE VITA and 8 1/2 are my 2nd and 3rd fave films ever. He was an undeniable master of the cinematic and I always learn something new when watching his movies. Esp. important is movement within the frame and planes within said frames. Each shot is like a tableau vivant. There are layers after layers of details and everything is in movement. Watch his SATYRICON, the production design, the shots, the colors... it's overwhelming... perhaps too much so, something critics never stopped to reproach him for in his later years...
- JOHN CASSAVETES
An original through and through. I admire him as an actor, as a director and as a man. Love all his movies, with HUSBANDS and LOVE STREAMS as personal faves. Love the troupe of actors in his films too: GENA ROWLANDS, BEN GAZZARA, PETER FALK, SEYMOUR CASSEL... my very fave people...
- MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
Formalist. Modernist. The image is key. His style was unique. To make the audience not passive, but active participants in the filmic experience, he used new (at the time) techniques that seemed counterintuitive and certainly went against any established notions of what cinema was at the time and yet coalesced into something not merely tangible, but unthinkable had it been done any other way. Check out these caps from LA NOTTE:
- FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
APOCALYPSE NOW... the GODFATHER movies... enough said.
- SAM PECKINPAH
Violence IS cathartic.... Mr. PECKINPAH proved it in THE WILD BUNCH... a blood-drenched masterpiece for the times... as are his other movies...
- MIKLOS JANCSO & BELA TARR
Films by those two Hungarian masters are must-see material for any aspiring filmmaker. The way they handled the camera, filmspace, and most of all the actors, is unique.
JANCSO in particular, needs to be rediscovered... his Hungarian films of the 60s and 70s are his best known and for good reason. No hero or heroine in the standard sense, the actors in his films are like pawns on a chess board. The camera moves around them (and how! Some of the most gorgeous crane / dolly shots in all cinema) and pushes / pulls them in and out of the frame. And if one ever wondered what Peter Jackson must have gone trhough logistics-wise during his LOTR shoot, then one needs to see a JANCSO movie and he moved the dozens of actors at once across the frame. Mass movement of people across the frame is a trademark of his.
See THE RED AND THE WHITE, THE ROUNDUP, or ELEKTRA MY LOVE to start.
As for BELA TARR, see his epic 7-hour SATANTANGO (if you can find it on DVD)...
- BILLY WILDER
A master.
- AKIRA KUROSAWA
Likewise, can't go on at length here. His record speaks for itself.
The rest (in no particular order)
- OLIVER STONE
- QUENTIN TARANTINO
- KENJI MIZOGUCHI
- ALFRED HITCHCOCK
- ROBERT ALTMAN
- MICHAEL POWELL
- MARTIN SCORSESE
- DAVID LYNCH
- SERGIO LEONE
- BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI
- RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER
- DAVID LEAN
- CLAUDE SAUTET
- JEAN-LUC GODARD
- FRITZ LANG
- G.W. PABST
- ERNST LUBITSCH
- G.W.F. MURNAU
- PIER PAOLO PASOLINI
- ELIA KAZAN
- INGMAR BERGMAN
- HENRI-GEORGE CLOUZOT
- ROBERT BRESSON
- MARTIN RITT
- ROBERT ROSSEN
- KRZYSTOFF KIESLOWSKI
- DOUGLAS SIRK
- MARCEL L'HERBIER
- LOUIS FEUILLADE
- JEAN RENOIR
- JOHN HOUSTON
- JOHN SAYLES
- NICHOLAS RAY
- HECTOR BABENCO
- ROMAN POLANSKI
- JACQUES DEMY
- PETER GREENAWAY
- PETER WATKINS
- ALAIN RESNAIS
- JAMES CAMERON
- ELLIOTT MORRIS
- PATRICK WISEWAN
- ANTHONY MANN
- MICHAEL MANN
- JOHN BOORMAN
- ROBERT WISE
- JEAN-JACQUES BENEIX
- MILOS FORMAN
- KAREL REISZ
- TONY RICHARDSON
- MARGARETHE VON TROTTA
- JANE CAMPION
- VOLKER SCHLONDORFF
- FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT
- TIM BURTON
- PEDRO ALMODOVAR
- TERRY GILLIAM
- PETER BOGDANOVICH
- THE COEN BROTHERS
- THE TAVIANI BROTHERS
- EDWARD YANG
- CLAUDE CHABROL
- GEORGE CUKOR
- NEIL JORDAN
- SAMUEL FULLER
- ROBERT ALDRICH
- ANDREJZ WAJDA
- AGNES VARDA
- MARGUERITE DURAS
- WOLFGANG PETERSEN
- JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ
- GLAUBER ROCHA
- WILLIAM WYLER
- VITTORIO DE SICA
- CLINT EASTWOOD
- ROBERT REDFORD
- KEVIN COSTNER
Rookie Filmmaker
Member
In no particular order.
STANLEY KUBRICK
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
AKIRA KUROSAWA
OLIVER STONE
QUENTIN TARANTINO
ALFRED HITCHCOCK
JAMES CAMERON
JIM JARMUSH
TIM BURTON
THE COEN BROTHERS
STEVEN SPEILBERG
SPIKE LEE
WACHOSKI BROS.
M NIGHT SHYMALAN
MEL GIBSON
WES CRAVEN
I guess this list depends on what kind of movies you like.
STANLEY KUBRICK
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
AKIRA KUROSAWA
OLIVER STONE
QUENTIN TARANTINO
ALFRED HITCHCOCK
JAMES CAMERON
JIM JARMUSH
TIM BURTON
THE COEN BROTHERS
STEVEN SPEILBERG
SPIKE LEE
WACHOSKI BROS.
M NIGHT SHYMALAN
MEL GIBSON
WES CRAVEN
I guess this list depends on what kind of movies you like.
CallaghanFilms
Veteran
:huh: Ahhhh, No...there's nothing wrong with your eyes. I meant just what I said, "The Callaghan Top Ten Directors Of All Time List".E_D_N said:
But, since you asked...
Yes, American filmmakers (...as well as actors & actresses & so on and so on) are the best in the world, like it or not.
First off, the cream of the crop talent-wise always make there way to the U.S. eventually. This is true more or less for the brightest and best in every field & not just in filmmaking...but let's focus on filmmaking.
I suggest you look again at my list...
02 Hitch (immigrated from the UK to the USA)
03 Capra (immigrated from Sicily to the USA)
04 Curtiz (immigrated from Hungary to the USA)
05 Huston (the son of Canadian immigrants to the USA)
06 Ford (the son of Irish immigrants to the USA)
08 Wilder (immigrated from Hungary to the USA)
Honorable Mentions:
-Wyler (immigrated from France to the USA)
-Zinnemann (immigrated from Austria to the USA)
You are the one who should be answering questions...questions like:
"Why do you penalize someone because they do come to America from ports all over the globe?"
-and-
"When exactly did these great men cease to be uber-talented...was it while in transit to America...or only after they had landed on US shores...or was it when they first make the decision to leave their country of birth? Or did their importance just gradually fade over time spent here?
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Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
Here's my list:
1. Robert Rodriguez
2. Chris Nolan
3. Rob Reiner
4. Ron Howard
5. Steven Spielberg
6. Mel Gibson
7. M. Night Shymalan
8. Bryan Singer
9. Steven Sonderberg
10. Doug Liman
1. Robert Rodriguez
2. Chris Nolan
3. Rob Reiner
4. Ron Howard
5. Steven Spielberg
6. Mel Gibson
7. M. Night Shymalan
8. Bryan Singer
9. Steven Sonderberg
10. Doug Liman
organism
Member
my (read difinitive) list
my (read difinitive) list
we'll start out with some safe ones:
1) Tim Burton
[it helps that almost every film features danny elfman and johnny depp] also, big fish wasn't his fault.
2) Quentin Tarantino
throw in a few slightly more obscure ones:
3) Christopher Nolan
4) Luc Besson
justify myself with some older ones:
5) Stanley Kubrick
6) Orson Welles
7) Fritz Lang
who am i forgetting?
8) Coen brothers -duh
9) Robert Rodriguez
[though it must be said that sin city really is the genius of frank miller and come on... spy kids?! So probably more for what he means to film - and HD.
10) ME - just give me a few years.
Who didn't make the cut:
Tony Scott - needs more than man on fire and a bmw short film to make it
Shayamalan - really nice shots but a bit esoteric for me..
darren aronofsky - either brilliant or crazy
david fincher - anyone actually see Panic room?
david o russel - don't understand how someone who makes 3 kings also makes frikken huckabees..
zack braff - just give him time..
my (read difinitive) list
we'll start out with some safe ones:
1) Tim Burton
[it helps that almost every film features danny elfman and johnny depp] also, big fish wasn't his fault.
2) Quentin Tarantino
throw in a few slightly more obscure ones:
3) Christopher Nolan
4) Luc Besson
justify myself with some older ones:
5) Stanley Kubrick
6) Orson Welles
7) Fritz Lang
who am i forgetting?
8) Coen brothers -duh
9) Robert Rodriguez
[though it must be said that sin city really is the genius of frank miller and come on... spy kids?! So probably more for what he means to film - and HD.
10) ME - just give me a few years.
Who didn't make the cut:
Tony Scott - needs more than man on fire and a bmw short film to make it
Shayamalan - really nice shots but a bit esoteric for me..
darren aronofsky - either brilliant or crazy
david fincher - anyone actually see Panic room?
david o russel - don't understand how someone who makes 3 kings also makes frikken huckabees..
zack braff - just give him time..
Favorite directors are one thing, but saying Americans are the 'best' filmmakers in the world is like offering a list of the greatest composers of all time that consists only of boy bands.
So that we don't choke on all the Freedom Fries, I'll answer the question with 10 favorite French filmmakers
Robert Bresson
Henri-Georges Clouzot
Jean Renoir
Jean-Pierre Melville
Alain Resnais
Jacques Becker
Bertrand Blier
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean Rollin
Bruno Dumont
(edit: I replaced Chabrol with Godard. The latter is so quintessential, I tend to leave him off lists - it's like saying 2+2=4)
So that we don't choke on all the Freedom Fries, I'll answer the question with 10 favorite French filmmakers
Robert Bresson
Henri-Georges Clouzot
Jean Renoir
Jean-Pierre Melville
Alain Resnais
Jacques Becker
Bertrand Blier
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean Rollin
Bruno Dumont
(edit: I replaced Chabrol with Godard. The latter is so quintessential, I tend to leave him off lists - it's like saying 2+2=4)
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E_D_N
Active member
CallaghanFilms said:
No need to argue with someone so obviously biased.
Interesting though that seven of the people on your list came from abroad.
But memo to you: there IS life outside the beautiful US of A.
If you chose to disregard all the contributions to cinema history from international filmmakers who chose to remain in their country and make a name for themselves there, more power to you.
And before you spit on the rest of the world, I suggest you take a look at the U.S. Box Office Top 10.... where stuff like
THE BENCHWARMERS,
RV,
SCARY MOVIE 4,
STICK IT,
SILENT HILL,
FAILURE TO LAUNCH,
BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE 2,
DATE MOVIE, etc...
-- all obviously M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E-S by American filmmakers -- "THE BEST IN THE WORLD"-- consistently land in the top spot. What does that say about American filmmakers and the audience that gobbles that crap up?
POSEIDON, JUST MY LUCK, AMERICAN DREAMZ anyone?
Okay, go wave that flag now...
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E_D_N
Active member
oldenarm said:Favorite directors are one thing, but saying Americans are the 'best' filmmakers in the world is like offering a list of the greatest composers of all time that consists only of boy bands.
So that we don't choke on all the Freedom Fries, I'll answer the question with 10 favorite French filmmakers
Robert Bresson
Henri-Georges Clouzot
Jean Renoir
Jean-Pierre Melville
Alain Resnais
Jacques Becker
Bertrand Blier
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean Rollin
Bruno Dumont
(edit: I replaced Chabrol with Godard. The latter is so quintessential, I tend to leave him off lists - it's like saying 2+2=4)
Great list.
I was fortunate enough to catch an entire retro of ROBERT BRESSON's films at the Museum of Modern Art here and discover his masterpieces with LANCELOT DU LAC, PICKPOCKET, A MAN ESCAPED, and FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER being my favorites. Most people find his work too austere, but there's a formalist beauty to them that can't be denied.
Agree on CLOUZOT too... THE WAGES OF FEAR, LES DIABOLIQUES, QUAI DES ORFEVRES, LE CORBEAU... superb films...
JEAN RENOIR -- the man whose career I envy most. The man has directed great movies on virtually every continent -- from BOUDU SAUVE DES EAUX to LA GRAND ILLUSION and THE RULES OF THE GAME to a Film Noir like WOMAN ON THE BEACH and other films like THE RIVER and THE GOLDEN COACH... he sure was a prolific man...
MELVILLE, like CLOUZOT and BECKER suffered by the fact that they didn't belong to the French New Wave, but his policiers have regained favor among critics, among them LE CERCLE ROUGE and LE SAMOURAI, BOB LE FLAMBEUR, LE DOULOS, etc...
I love ALAIN RESNAIS. HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR is in my top 20 films of all time. The beauty of his films, the garden and precise geometry of framing of LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD... the counterintuitive editing in JE T'AIME JE TAIME and MURIEL, LE TEMPS D'UN REGRET... def. one of the greats...
Kudos for incl. post-war director JACQUES BECKER, virtually forgotten today. Only saw FALBALAS, CASQUE D'OR and TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI.
Love him or hate him, GODARD is undeniably one of the most influential figures in all of cinema... what I like about him is he always experiments in his films and does so in a playful manner. In later years, Form took over Function as his main preoccupation but he had always been one to push the boundaries of the image / sound relationship... and I always admired him for that even if sometimes the didacticism on display just didn't seem to belong in a commercial (for him) narrative feature film. But those shots of his! That 10-minute long dolly shot along the highway littered with burning cars in WEEKEND or the slowmo in SAUVE QUI PEUT LA VIE... gorgeous stuff!
BERTRAND BLIER... Just got myself the DVD of LES VALSEUSES... I'm a big fan of PATRICK DEWAERE's, so all those films -- BEAU PERE, PREPAREZ VOS MOUCHOIRS, are a must for me.... then we have BUFFET FROID, TROP BELLE POUR TOI, and TENUE DE SOIREE -- all French classics of the 70s and 80s.... I also like more recent fare like MON HOMME, MERCI LA VIE, UN DEUX TROIS SOLEIL feauturing his gorgeous wife ANOUK GRINBERG...
Never seen a single JEAN ROLLIN or BRUNO DUMONT film. Any recommendations? For the latter I guess, THE LIFE OF JESUS?
The problem with CLAUDE CHABROL is that he has been TOO prolific and has dabbled in every possible genre... something that critics frown upon. Early career best are seminal French New Wave works like LES BONNES FEMMES, LE BEAU SERGE, etc... but his thrillers are what he's best known for -- LE BOUCHER, LA CEREMONIE, etc... I like his films with ISABELLE HUPPERT (STORY OF WOMEN, MADAME BOVARY, etc...) but couldn't stand recent fare like LES FLEURS DU MAL and MERCI POUR LE CHOCOLAT... found them colorless.
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