When I first started writing this post the first part of this list had only two views. And I know one of them was my mom. So as for the other, thank you. But this raises a question about this list. Why the heck would anyone care what directors/movies I think I need to see? This list is essentially pointing out my own flaws as a movie-watcher-person and does not reflect my taste in movies particularly well. So that is why I add the two movie by the director that I need to see. For me, one of the great things about lists is that they offer recommendations to movies I may not have heard of. So for a reader, seeing a list of movies I think I need to see may be good movie recommendations for him or her. Other than that, I can't really see a reason why someone, other than my mom, would want to look at this list. So, here we go!
10. F.W Murnau
Even though his name may not be well known to "mainstream" viewers, with the help of pop culture relics, such as
Spongebob, his film
Nosferatu is instantly recognizable. The look of his films are striking, with a reference worthy use of
expressionism. This week his film,
Sunrise, was ranked by critics as the 5th greatest movie ever made. I've seen that film twice now and, although, I may not completely agree with that ranking, I don't necessarily disagree.
What I Need to See:
Faust,
The Last Laugh
9. Yasujirō Ozu
To celebrate his film Tokyo Story for being ranked 3rd on
Sight and Sound's critics poll and number 1 on its directors poll, I decided to watch it for the first time this past Wednesday. To put it simply, the movie is incredible. Ozu refrains from camera movement and according to Roger Ebert, the camera moves only once during the 136 minute run time. Tokyo Story's plot and characters are real in a way that I have rarely seen in a movie.
What I Need to See:
Late Spring,
Early Summer
8. Lars Von Trier
This Danish fellow may be one of the best living directors. He is/was part of the avant-garde filmmaking movement called
Dogme 95, where filmmakers try to make their movies more "pure". I have seen one of Lars Von Trier's films,
Antichrist, and boy is it... something else. It may be a little too extreme for most people but to anyone who thinks they can handle it, I highly recommend a viewing. That film alone makes me want to see more of his work. The exciting part for me is that Antichrist is not even supposed to be one of his best films.
What I Need to See:
Dancer in the Dark,
Europa
7. Werner Herzog
The man who can
narrate a blank, white wall and somehow make it seem like the most interesting thing in the universe, Werner Herzog. I have only seen his documentary
Grizzly Man, where he chronicles the life of Timothy Treadwell and his eventual death at the hands of grizzly bears. Although he is highly regarded for his documentaries, it is his narrative films that I am really craving to watch.
What I Need to See:
Aguirre: The Wrath of God,
Fitzcarraldo
6. Krzysztof Kieślowski
There is a class at my school solely devoted to this bro here. I'm pretty sure that if
Annette Insdorf had the chance, she would marry the man. She was the one who first told me about Kieślowski and recommended that I see The Three Colors Trilogy. As of now, I have seen the first part,
Three Colors: Blue, and I really enjoyed it. From further reading I found that his work, The Decalogue, is considered by Kubrick to be the only masterpiece made in his lifetime.
What I Need to See:
The Decalogue,
The Three Colors Trilogy
5. Alfred Hitchcock
I have seen three of his movies:
Psycho,
Rear Window, and
North by Northwest. The first two I absolutely love and North by Northwest I need to give another shot. It's Vertigo, though, that makes this chubby British man so highly ranked on my list. Apparently, according to that
list I have constantly been referring to, Vertigo is the greatest movie ever made. Even greater than the greatest movie ever made, Citizen Kane. And even greater than the greatest movie ever made, The Godfather. Yeah, that great.
What I Need to See:
Vertigo,
Notorious
4. Orson Welles
I wish my nickname was "The Man." This is the dude who directed what was formally known as the greatest movie ever made,
Citizen Kane. Oh, and it was the first movie he ever directed... He did not go down hill from there, and in fact, some consider some of his later films to be his greatest. He himself said, with regarding Chimes at Midnight, "If I wanted to get into heaven on the basis of one movie, that's the one I'd offer up."
What I Need to See:
Chimes at Midnight,
The Magnificent Ambersons
3. Federico Fellini
I really don't know why, of all of Fellini's films, I have only seen
8½. That's not to say that 8½ is bad, on the contrary, it is usually said to be his best. But Fellini was a director who made only one masterpiece, or two for that matter, and they are often times on Netflix streaming. I admit, these are strange words to say (or write, I guess) considering I have only seen one of his movies but from what I read, this seems to be the case. Fellini did, after all, win five Academy Awards in his lifetime and his films are constantly highly ranked on major lists.
What I Need to See:
La Strada,
La Dolce Vita
2. Andrei Tarkovsky
I have seen two film's by Tarkovsky,
Solaris and
Stalker, and immediately after watching each, I knew I needed to watch them at least one more time to truly understand/appreciate them. Andrei Tarkovsky's films are known for their slow pace and long takes. Stalker contains 142 shots in 163 minutes, with an average shot length of more
than one minute and many shots lasting for more than four minutes. The pace of his films add a certain element to their aesthetic. They demand patience from the viewer and a certain level of thought that is almost impossible to come by when watching contemporary movies. And to further explain why he is number 2 on the list, here is a quote, "Tarkovsky for me is the greatest [director], the one who invented a new
language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a
reflection, life as a dream." - Ingmar Bergman
What I Need to See:
The Mirror,
Andrei Rublev
1. Robert Bresson
I will not lie; I had not even heard of this man until last weekend. My goodness, did I feel silly when I read about him on wikipedia. Here are some excerpts: "Jean-Luc Godard said, 'Robert Bresson is French cinema, as Dostoevsky is the Russian novel and Mozart is the German music,'" and
"Bresson is often referred to as a patron saint of cinema, not only for the strong Catholic themes found throughout his oeuvre, but also for his notable contributions to the art of film." Those are some pretty bold statements to make about a man. Statements like those make me wonder why I had never heard of him before. Two of Bresson's films appear on Tarkovsky's list of his top 10 favorite movies. He is number 1 on my list because I have for so long not even known his name and also because not until this past weekend had I even seen one of his films.
What I Need to See:
Au Hasard Balthazar,
Diary of a Country Priest
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