That brief movie talk in the Nadal-vs.-Safin thread got me thinking about who would make my honor roll of the greatest living filmmakers, and while this is a preliminary attempt that will likely remain a never-ending work in progress I still hope you'll find it useful when deciding what to watch in the many frustrating days ahead. To make it especially worthwhile I've embedded links to my old pontifications where available/appropriate.
Here goes, in rough order of merit (or preference/reputation for the not-so-sure categories) with the total number of candidates in parentheses (duos are counted as one apiece unless each partner has a significant individual filmography of his/her/their own):
The Legends (2)
Godard, Lean-Luc
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
These two seem to me the only ones alive who can stand alongside the grandmasters of yesteryear without yielding an inch. I understand it's hard to get a hand on Hou's major works online, so I'm thrilled to report that last year's 4K restoration of
Flowers of Shanghai, one of
my '90s faves, has been hitting the (virtual) film festival circuit recently (including the
AFI's Taiwanese Cinema Rediscovered):
Availability will vary based on your region (FYI the AFI slot ended just a couple days ago), so keep your radar sharp.
Of course that isn't to say Godard and Hou are the only living film directors who command our attention. Let's move on to our next round:
The Majors (42)
Polanski, Roman
Jia Zhangke
Scorsese, Martin
Jarmusch, Jim
Eastwood, Clint
Miyazaki, Hayao
Dardenne, Jean-Pierre and Luc
Gilliam, Terry
Spielberg, Steven
Herzog, Werner
Zhang Yimou
Cronenberg, David
Linklater, Richard
Denis, Claire
Coppola, Francis Ford
Wong Kar-wai
Lynch, David
May, Elaine
Kore-eda, Hirokazu
Wenders, Wim
Haynes, Todd
Morris, Errol
Kaurismäki, Aki
Malick, Terrence
Verhoeven, Paul
Pawlikowski, Paweł
Cuarón, Alfonso
Anderson, Wes
Chazelle, Damien
Anderson, Paul Thomas
Scott, Ridley
Brooks, Albert
Lee, Spike
Van Sant, Gus
Brooks, James L.
Lelio, Sebastián
James, Steve
Del Toro, Guillermo
Erice, Víctor*
Campion, Jane
Payne, Alexander
Straub, Jean-Marie**
*Erice has produced all of three features and nothing at all since 2007, but if you've seen
The Spirit of the Beehive/
El espíritu de la colmena you'll know why he belongs up here. His second feature
El sur (
The South) is almost as magical, and while his documentary
Dream of Light/
El sol del membrillo isn't the equal of its predecessors it remains a highlight of his slender yet rich filmography.
**Straub is virtually impossible to treat separately from his late wife Danièle Huillet, the other half of the redoubtable Straub-Huillet duo. Hence his inclusion only.
There are several names here like Scott and Van Sant that haven't done anything for me in eons, but I'm still including them for their earlier works which can be said to have changed our perception of the world.
And just so there aren't any serious omissions:
The TBDs (22)
Tarr, Béla
Burnett, Charles
Maddin, Guy
Davies, Terence
Costa, Pedro
Petzold, Christian
Kwan, Stanley
Tian Zhuangzhuang
Téchiné, André (see the footnote for the Barry Jenkins entry below)
Tsai Ming-liang
Wiseman, Frederick
Reichardt, Kelly
Lee Chang-dong
Panahi, Jafar
Carax, Leos
Snow, Michael
Weerasethakul, Apichatpong
Rappaport, Mark
Kurosawa, Kiyoshi
Aïnouz, Karim
Potter, Sally
Klein, William
Just the ones whose oeuvre I need to explore more but who I feel belong with the best.
