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Best Foreign Director

Best Foreign Director

  • Francois Truffaut

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Jean-Luc Godard

    Votes: 3 14.3%

  • Ingmar Bergman

    Votes: 1 4.8%

  • David Cronenberg

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Federico Fellini

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Akira Kurosawa

    Votes: 2 9.5%

  • Werner Herzog

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Alfred Hitchcock

    Votes: 12 57.1%

  • Luis Bunuel

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 3 14.3%
  • Total voters
    21
I'll borrow a tactic from Townie and list three great films (i.e. my three favorites) from these directors that make their place on this list deserved.

Truffaut

The 400 Blows
Shoot the Piano Player
The Last Metro

Godard

Vivre Sa Vie
Pierrot le Fou
Masculin Feminin

Bergman

The Seventh Seal
Persona
Fanny and Alexander

Cronenberg

Videodrome
Dead Ringers
Crash

Fellini

Nights of Cabiria
8 1/2
Juliet of the Spirits

Kurosawa

Ikiru
Yojimbo
High and Low

Herzog

Aguirre: The Wrath of God
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
Lessons of Darkness
Special 4th board specific selection: Even Dwarfs Started Small

Hitchcock

The 39 Steps
Rebecca
Notorious

Bunuel

The Exterminating Angel (one of my favorite movies OAT)
Diary of a Chambermaid
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
 
God damnit I thought this was "Best Foreign Dictator" and I was about to post some Kim-Jong Il "Looking At Things" photos.
 
Wong Kar Wai
Jean Renoir

Two of my favorites not listed.
 
I love Kurosawa, but I don't know how you can vote for anyone but Hitchcock here.
 
Not sure there are 3 directors with more of an influence on the film industry than Hitchcock.
 
Other: Nolan

Film nerds will scoff I'm sure, but I don't care. Nolan's films mean more to me than anything produced by anyone on this hipster list.
 
Doubt it, Phillies. Nolan is incredibly well respected.
 
TownieDeac said:
Doubt it, Phillies. Nolan is incredibly well respected.
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Agreed. I love the guy, but the talent on display in his films is writing more than direction. Hitchcock saw the world in a way no one really had before.
 
I have to confess to only seeing work from less than half of these guys: Kurosawa, Cronenberg and of course Hitchcock. I don't recall if I've actually seen "The Seventh Seal" or if I've just seen enough parodies of the chess with Death scene that I think I've seen it. Of those 3, out of the combined pool of their movies that I've seen, 90% would be from Hitchcock, so I have to vote for him for familiarity, if for no other reason.

I can't compare to the other 3 movies listed, but I think if you want a representative movie, you have to mention "Seven Samurai" for Kurosawa.

My nomination for "who should have been included" would be Frank Capra. Maybe he's more of a populist than an artist, but "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", "It's a Wonderful Life" (If you haven't seen it yet, I think it just might be on tv sometime over the next few days. Maybe) and "Arsenic and Old Lace" are all classics. Hard to think of him as a foreign director though since he's made the most all-American movies imaginable.

Also Fritz Lang, whose "M" is perhaps the most disturbing movie I've ever seen and "Metropolis" is one of the most iconic movies made.

I do feel inspired now to check out some of these. I'll have to see what's on Netflix streaming from the guys I haven't seen.
 
Also Rossellini, Antonioni, and Bertolucci are tremendous Italian filmmakers.

For those interested in French New Wave (Godard, Truffaut, etc), essential viewing is 400 Blows and A bout de souffle.

Godard's King Lear is unreal good.

Hitchcock is a close second for me behind Godard on this list. Very, very different aesthetics.
 
Best? Hitchcock.

But I'm going to put in a few words for my favorite: Jean-Pierre Melville

I took a class on the French New Wave and came away with the most respect for Melville. I was totally stunned by Le Samourai - Tarantino referred to it as the most perfect film ever made. Depends on how you define that, of course, but the direction is flawless. It's a case-study in visual storytelling, to say nothing of the fact that it's just a bad-ass flick. Before that, the first film we studied was Bob Le Flambleur, which by itself got me interested in American film noir. And then there's Le Cercle Rouge with the greatest heist scene ever filmed.
 
PhilliesDeacs said:
Other: Nolan

Film nerds will scoff I'm sure, but I don't care. Nolan's films mean more to me than anything produced by anyone on this hipster list.
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Explain.

And all the names mentioned so far I had on my list. Except for Ridley Scott. Incredibly up-and-down career.
 
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KickballDeac said:
Best? Hitchcock.

But I'm going to put in a few words for my favorite: Jean-Pierre Melville

I took a class on the French New Wave and came away with the most respect for Melville. I was totally stunned by Le Samourai - Tarantino referred to it as the most perfect film ever made. Depends on how you define that, of course, but the direction is flawless. It's a case-study in visual storytelling, to say nothing of the fact that it's just a bad-ass flick. Before that, the first film we studied was Bob Le Flambleur, which by itself got me interested in American film noir. And then there's Le Cercle Rouge with the greatest heist scene ever filmed.
Click to expand...
Have you seen Army of Shadows? Perhaps my favorite Melville.
 
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