Comparing directors isn’t my thing. I think each director has his style of creating movies. A director’s perspective and opinions highly influence how a movie is made. You can easily identify a movie created by Tarantino and in the same way, distinguish it from some other director like Mr. Nolan. It is because the sole entity that influences and actually makes or breaks the movie is the director. I will admit that I am highly influenced by the director when deciding to watch a movie. So my question is always like ‘Should I watch a Hitchcock movie, a Kurosawa one, or a Tarantino film?’ So you get how important directors are to me.
I have had the privilege to experience many movies from different directors till now. But at the same time, I have still to explore directors like Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky, Satyajit Ray, Woody Allen, and many others.
Akira Kurosawa
As I said, comparing directors isn’t my thing (the same applies for movies). But still, if I just had to select one director as my favourite one, it will be Kurosawa. I really admire him, and his movies. Kurosawa has movies ranging from his famous samurai movies (Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Ran) to life-changing movies (Ikiru). Whatever may be the background and atmosphere of the movie, the one entity that all of his movies are heavily based on is human nature and its behavior. Human emotions are complex and so are the actions he takes in different situations. You cannot tell how you are going to feel if something happens unless it actually happens. A greater challenge is to capture these emotions on screen. There are very few other directors who can capture such things on screen. Kurosawa’s understanding of humans is very deep which helps him to create movies that question our behavior during critical times.
These things give depth to his movies. I am always very careful while tagging a movie as a masterpiece. Nowadays it is being used for every other movie. Kurosawa’s ‘Ikiru’ is a true cinematic masterpiece. A movie that has changed my life. You might not remember a movie exactly, but you always remember how a movie made you feel. That is what Kurosawa’s movies do for me.
He once wrote, explaining that his films seek to answer the question “Why can’t people be happier together?”
Favourite Movies: Ikiru, High and Low, Rashomon
Quentin Tarantino
When I want to enjoy a movie with some good action sequences, good music (Tarantino has great music taste), and memorable dialogues, only one name comes up to my mind – Tarantino. You can see Tarantino’s passion for cinema from his films. ‘Django Unchained’ was my first Tarantino film and then onwards I was hooked. His movies are visually beautiful with striking colours on the screen. One thing I can see he has mastered is the action sequences. They are brutal and yet very enjoyable. From gunshots in Django Unchained to the katana sword fights in Kill Bill, he does it all
Even his work with the camera is very good. The crash zoom technique has become so famous because of him. His movies are just so damn entertaining. From the moment you start one of his films, you just need not worry. You are in good hands.
Favourite Movies: Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, Kill Bill Vol1 and Vol2, Pulp Fiction
Christopher Nolan
I highly respect Mr. Nolan. He has one of the most intellectually challenging movies. The efforts he puts into his plot and storyline are phenomenal and unmatched by anyone in the industry. Many people think that Nolan’s movies are complicated. They aren’t, you just need the right audience. The movies I don’t like are the ones that have complicated concepts and do not explain themselves clearly (like Donnie Darko). But Nolan’s movies are very clearly explained. You just have to give your undue attention while watching it.
The plot and cinematography have got to be the strongest points of a Nolan film. His plots are interesting, really well captured, and filled with twists and turns. Nolan has great execution skills. Memento is an excellent example of how execution changes everything. The unique style in which the movie goes from end to start was so good to connect us with the protagonist having short-term memory loss. Most people don’t talk about it, but his first movie – Following (with a runtime of just 70 minutes) is also so good. You will understand the point of execution I was talking about by just watching his first film.
Favourite Movies: Inception, Memento, Interstellar, The Prestige
Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock does not even need an introduction. If you have extensively read reviews, at least somewhere you must have seen the word ‘Hitchcockian’ – describing the style created by the great director.
Thriller = Hitchcock
That is the basic equation that has been set for me. All his movies are consistently at a level many directors aren’t able to reach in their entire career. His movie ‘Psycho’ is the one I suggest to anyone who wants to start watching movies of the 50s or the 60s. Movies of that time certainly had a different style. But ‘Psycho’ was ahead of its time and that makes it the perfect movie to explore that era of cinema. Along with the great plot twists and thrilling sequences what most people miss is Hitchcock’s sense of humour. The dialogues do have quite a bit of humour even in that tense atmosphere.
Favourite Movies: Psycho, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, North by Northwest
Martin Scorsese
Well, Scorsese is one of the greatest living directors today. Although he is known for his gangster films, he has so many other movies that are very good as well. Scorsese’s Shutter Island is one of the finest films out there. It is one of those movies where you understand something more after every watch. His collaboration with De Niro and Joe Pesci has given us Casino and Goodfellas- the greatest gangster films ever made. Also, the movie no one talks about when we talk about Scorsese is ‘King of Comedy’. He has much more range than we give him credit for. People don’t realise that. ‘The Wolf of Wallstreet’, ‘The Departed’, ‘Hugo’ and the others mentioned above – they all are such different movies.
His ability to tell such varied stories while maintaining his signature style and depth is what makes him one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.
Favourite Movies: Goodfellas, Shutter Island, Casino, The Departed
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder movies are a perfect example of movies that are witty. They are very enjoyable and have one of the most memorable dialogues.
“Walter Neff: Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money – and a woman – and I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?”
“Margie MacDougall: Where will we go, my place or yours?
C.C. Baxter: [pauses to look at his watch] Might as well go to mine. Everybody else does.”
These are just a few of the best dialogues. I don’t think you will get what I am talking about unless you listen to these dialogues in the movie.
Wilders mastery of dialogues and movie-making style made him known for his endings. Almost all of his movies have a memorable ending.
Sure ‘Some Like It Hot’ might be his most famous movie, but there are so many great movies he has created. Picking my favourite one itself becomes so difficult.
Favourite Movies: Some like It Hot, The Apartment, Double Indemnity, Witness for the Prosecution
Hayao Miyazaki
The world Miyazaki has created with Studio Ghibli movies is unforgettable. I am forever grateful for what he has done. His movies will always be those cozy little things I love to watch on a rainy day with hot coffee with me. Ahh.. that’s so soothing just to imagine. Miyazaki’s movies are immersive and have this magic of making you a part of the world he creates. No matter how impossible it might be for it to really happen in the real world, it somehow convinces us that in some small corner of the world things like that exist. I still think that the bathhouse in Spirited Away might just exist somewhere. Isn’t that an exciting thought? Or for that matter, I also like to think that ‘there is a castle in the sky’.
The thing about those movies is that they bring out that child-like innocence that we all have in us that we tend to lose as life starts to work on us. But it is necessary to nurture that child in you. Those innocent thoughts about dreams, ambitions, relationships, and even love are brought out so tenderly by the Ghibli movies. All the plot, beautiful hand-drawn animation and the score by his long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi – Ghibli movies are different and there will never be something like them.
My one favourite Miyazaki film??
It’s Princess Mononoke. Will be adding it to the great movies list soon. Will surely talk about it in detail.