Six Directors I Like and Why

Hello again, I'm here with another post. I could start playing catch up and talk about everything that's happened since I last wrote, but I'll save that for another time.

This time I'm going to talk about, as you may have guess from the title, directors.

As I was formulating this post in my head last night when I couldn't sleep, I started with three directors, then moved to four, then five, then decided to round it up to six partly because six is my favorite number, and partly because I thought of someone else.

A note of clarification before we begin: this is not a "best of" list, nor is it a list of my favorite directors. This is a list of six (current) directors who I like and feel like talking about. They're not the only directors to display the traits I discuss, they're just the ones I decided on. They're in no particular order, other than the order in which I thought of them and an order which flows well one into the next.
That said, let's begin.


An Overview

When I tell people what my major is was (omg wtf past tense), they often ask me what's my favorite movie. This is a really hard question for me to answer. Maybe I'm taking the easy route, but mostly I can't answer because I like way too many movies. I enjoy almost every movie I see. That's why I love cinema, that's why I became a Cinema Studies major, that's why I've seen six movies in the three weeks since I graduated.

Similarly, people ask who my favorite director is. Here's what I usually tell them:


1. Michel Gondry

What I love about Michel Gondry, and what sets him apart from many other directors, is his limitless creativity. Most directors have an idea, then work with the tools and resources available to them to achieve it. Gondry has an idea, then creates a new method of achieving it. James Cameron did it by inventing a new camera / 3D motion capture technology. Gondry does it using cardboard and string. It's very kid-in-his-parent's-basement cinema.

Sometimes his ideas are the processes themselves, leading him to film something just to try out his new method-- as in tying strings to Bjork's fingers which were connected to bottles of paint suspended over a piece of paper, so that as she played piano, the camera (set to turn with the spin art turntable below) captured a painting in progress, timed perfectly to the music because it was created by the music.

Gondry's work is always whimsical and fantastical, but at the same time real and accessible. He makes me want to try a certain shot or effect, and gives me the confidence that I can figure out a way to do it. If I write more about Gondry than the other directors, it's only because I've written papers on him before and I absolutely love him.

Must-see Gondry: (movies) Be Kind Rewind, The Science of Sleep; (commercials) Smirnoff - Smarienberg (pre-Matrix era bullet time), Levi's - Mermaid, Diet Coke - Tingle & Bounce; (music videos) Oui Oui - Les Cailloux, Lucas - Lucas With the Lid Off, Cibo Matto - Sugar Water, The Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar, The White Stripes - Hardest Button to Button, Steriogram - Walkie Talkie Man, Kanye West - Heard 'Em Say


2. Guy Ritchie

Ritchie's work is impeccable. What I like most about him is his pacing. His writing, editing, and execution are flawless and compelling. He's only made 10 movies, but they're 10 fantastic movies. He's a perfectionist, and makes me want to be one too.

I don't have much to say about Guy Ritchie, other than I really like his movies.

Must-see Ritchie: Snatch, Rocknrolla, Sherlock Holmes


3. Tarsem (aka Tarsem Singh)

Tarsem is first a storyteller, second an artist, and third a director. His movies take on a scale that sweeps the globe and gives you the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. Where some directors would rely on special effects and CGI, you know Tarsem actually went to some far off country, constructed a 50-foot tall set, bought 80 yards of fabric, and got 100 people running, spinning, and dancing (numbers made up, and I'm talking of no one scene in particular).

Like Ritchie, Tarsem hasn't made many movies (a grand total of two, with a third filming), but he honed his craft in commercials. Unfortunately, this makes it really hard to track down a full list of his works. I met him last summer while I was interning at Radical (see July 21st of last year), and I highly recommend you check out his Radical site to see more of his work.

Must-see Tarsem: (movies) The Fall, The Cell; (music videos) REM - Losing My Religion; (commercials) Gatorade - The Quest for G, Nike - Good vs. Evil


4. Julie Taymor

No, I'm not including Julie Taymor just because she's an Oberlin alumna and she spoke at my graduation, or because she's a woman and the feminist in me needed a woman on the list. I'm including her because, like Tarsem, she's a storyteller who goes to great lengths to share an experience with the viewer. Taymor flawlessly blends Shakespearean tradition; Indonesian tradition; and her modern, liberal, Obie perspective to create one-of-a-kind, unrepeatable projects. I never got the chance to see her production of Lion King and boy, do I regret it.

Must-see Taymor: Titus, Across the Universe
I'm also looking forward to The Tempest and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (there, I said it).


5. Takashi Miike

Where Tarsem takes years planning and Ritchie takes years perfecting, Takashi Miike just makes and makes and makes. He's one of the most prolific directors I've ever heard of: over 70 titles to his name, 15 in the years 2001-2002 alone. He doesn't pidgeon-hole himself, either. He is a master of horror, action, and not quite family-friendly fantasy, while maintaining in all of his films a bizarre dramaticism.

Must-see Miike: out of all his work, I've only seen Audition and Yatterman, but on my own personal must-see list there's Ichi the Killer, Zebraman, Crows Zero, and Crows Zero 2.


6. Jon Favreau

To be honest, I know way more about Jon Favreau as an actor as I do a director, but what I like about him is that he can do both (and do both well) without carrying around the cliché "actor/director" label. He's also very accessible, updating fans on his films' progress via twitter and responding directly to fan feedback (notably during last summer's Comic Con where he asked what people thought of the cut screened there).

Also, he "credits Dungeons & Dragons with giving him '...a really strong background in imagination, storytelling, understanding how to create tone and a sense of balance.'" (via Wikipedia). He's a geek and that's great.

Must-see Favreau: (as actor) PCU, Swingers (which he also wrote), Friends; (as director) Elf, Zathura, Iron Man, Iron Man 2





So, there you have it. Six directors I like and why. There are a lot of other people I could have included, but I'm happy with these six.

Chris out.