One of the obligatory tasks for every cinephile is to watch some of the films of the best film directors in the history of celluloid.
Let’s remember that this industry is more than a century old, so there are many names that figure in the Olympus of geniuses. Let’s review those who for us are the best celluloid directors , both anachronistic and contemporary. And advanced apologies, because surely there will be more than one conspicuous absence.
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32 best directors in the history of cinema that you should know
The following are, for us, the best directors in the history of cinema, how many of them do you know?
32. Francis Ford Coppola
Coppola recorded his name in the history of cinema already in the 70 , when he shot his magnificent The Godfather I and II (1972 and 1974), in addition to the colossal Apocalypse Now (1979).
However, he also highlights other later works, such as Law of the Street (1983) or Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).
31. Krzysztof KieA›lowski
An eternal genius of the seventh art known for his trilogy Three Colors: Red (1993), Three Colors: White (1994), Three Colors: Blue (1994).
30. Howard Hawks
From Western movies (Rio Bravo, 1959) to comedies (La Fiera de mi nina, 1938), including musicals and adventure films ; Howard Hawks is one of the best film directors of the 20th century.
29. John Carpenter
Unbeatable master of terror, John Carpenter has been directing true classics since the 70s, some of which are considered cult titles. He reached his heyday in the 80s, which makes him one of the best directors of the genre.
You can’t miss Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980) or The Thing (1982) , possibly three of his best films.
28. Carl Theodor Dreyer
This director of Danish origin is one of thegreatest exponents of the history of celluloid at the beginning of the 20th century , thanks to its intimate style. He is the author of masterpieces such as Vampyr, the vampire witch (1932), Ordet (The word) (1955) or Gertrud (1964).
27. Jean Renoir
Son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Jean Renoir was an essential piece in the morphology of French cinema between the 1930s and 1950s, although he would not be recognized until several years later.
From his filmography, it is worth recovering The Rule of the Game (1939), This Land is Mine (1943) or The River (1951).
26. Giuseppe Tornatore
Italian cinema has one of its most iconic emblems in recent decades, Giuseppe Tornatore, who touched the sky in 1988 with Cinema Paradiso, which would be followed by other interesting proposals, such as Malena (2000) or The Unknown (2006).
25. Ridley Scott
Father of one of the most terrifying and legendary creatures on celluloid (the voracious xenomorph of the Alien saga , which began in 1979), Ridley Scott is also the visionary director of Blade Runner (1982), another science fiction icon .
Although he also has bumps in the road (what director doesn’t happen to that
), other more recent works are worthy of mention, such as Black Hawk Down (2001) or American Gangster (2007).
24. Hayao Miyazaki
Japanese animation in recent decades has moved all audiences , thanks to the good hand of the best film director in this field, Hayao Miyazaki, an authority on the subject. Attest to this: Porco Rosso (1974), My Neighbor Totoro (1988) Spirited Away (2001), to name a few representative films.
23. Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino is not only considered one of the best current film directors, but he is also one of the most beloved. His films gather millions of fans around the world , attracted by his particular style when telling his stories.
Pulp Fiction (1994), Kill Bill vols.1 & 2 (2003 – 2004) or Inglourious Basterds (2009) are the best valued by critics and the public.
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22. Steven Spielberg
Although lately it seems that he doesn’t quite choose the projects he embarks on , Steven Spielberg is one of the best directors of the last decades.
He has been dubbed “King Midas of Hollywood”, as he is the author of some of the most successful blockbusters in the industry: El diablo sobre estrellas (1972), Jaws (1975) or Jurassic Park (1993) are some of his most successful films. representative.
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The 10 best examples of cinema.
21. Martin Scorsese
New York director with some of the best gangster films of the second half of the 20th century, who has a prolific career behind him that began in the early 70s.
Taxi driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), One of ours (1990) or Casino (1995) , are mandatory viewing.
20. Brian De Palma
Despite having successes and failures in equal parts, Brian de Palma deserves to be considered one of the best film directors of our time, since we cannot ignore his Carrie (1976), Scarface: the price of power (1980) , The Untouchables of Elliot Ness (1987) or the mythical Mission: Impossible (1996).
19. Ken Loach
Veteran British director with a long career, marked by his socialist ideology and his desire to stir consciences through his films, usually starring working-class characters facing a system that has turned its back on them.
Glances and Smiles (1981), Hidden Agenda (1990) or Land and Freedom (1995), clearly demonstrate that Ken Loach’s cinema serves as a denunciation of the problems of European society .
18. David Fincher
Se7en (1995), Zodiac (2007) or The Social Network (2010) are probably the best works of David Fincher, a talented director with a very defined technique and style when shooting the shots for his movies.
He has also directed chapters for recently famous series, such as House of Cards or Mindhunter.
17. John Huston
During the more than 40 years behind the camera (and many others, in front of it), John Huston directed and wrote the vast majority of his works About him. His 37 films attest that he is one of the best classic film directors of the mid-20th century.
Although all of his work deserves recognition, we are left with The Maltese Falcon (1941), The African Queen (1951) or The Prizzi Honor (1980).
16. Akira Kurosawa
Without a doubt, the best Japanese film director and also the most recognized is Akira Kurosawa. For many, Kurosawa was “the most western eastern director”,a genius of the seventh art to whom we owe The Seven Samurai (1954) , Dersu Uzala (1975) or Ran (1985).
15. Terrence Malick
Terrence Malick usually takes it easy to shoot his films (20 years have passed between two of his works), but that is not an obstacle for us to consider him one of the best directors in history.
The images in his films are authentic visual poetry, often devoid of unnecessary dialogue , something that we see perfectly in Bad Lands (1973), The Thin Red Line (1998) or in his controversial The Tree of Life (2011)
14. Jean -Luc Godard
Bad temper and bad manners with his workers, were a constant during Godard’s career, whose reputation for being shy and intractable still haunts him.
Gold member of the current that the press called Nouvelle vague, he is remembered for his debut Numero dos (1975), Comment ca va
(1978) or For Ever Mozart (1996).
13. Roman Polanski
Scandals aside, Roman Polanski is and will continue to be one of the best directors of the second half of the 20th century.
Repulsion (1968), Rosemary’s baby (1968), Chinatown (1974) or The Pianist (2002) are films that every cinephile should see.
12. Sidney Lumet
Prolific director with more than 50 titles to his credit, who is remembered for magnum opuses such as 12 Angry Men (1957), Serpico (1973) or Dog Afternoon (1975).
11. Luis Bunuel
The most important director of Spanish cinema, Luis Bunuel, was a misunderstood genius in his time, thanks to his controversial works, such as An Andalusian Dog (1929), The Golden Age (1930) or The Forgotten (1950) .
10. Sergio Leone
Flag bearer of an entire genre (the spaghetti western) , Leone should not be missing from this list of the best film directors.
His dollar trilogy has remained for posterity (For a handful of dollars, Death had a price and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly), as well as his foray into gangster cinema with Once Upon a Time in America (1984) .
9.Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
One of the greatest exponents of German expressionism is FW Murnau, a director straddling two eras, when the cinema was silent and began to speak for the first time, along with colleagues from the same profession such as Fritz Lang.
His most famous film was Nosferatu, the Vampire (1922), but his work in Breaking Dawn (1927) should not be forgotten either.
8. Fritz Lang
As well as one of the best directors of the turn of the century, Fritz Lang is also one of the main key names in German expressionist cinema.
Based in Hollywood since the 1930s, this director is ahead of his time as he is the creator of jewels such as Metropolis (1927) or M, the vampire of Dusseldorf (1931) .
7. Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was the king of comedy, satire and irony . His films, belonging to the Hollywood of the golden age, are gems that have transcended the era, such as Sabrina (1954), The Temptation Lives Upstairs (1955), Some Like It Hot (1959) or The Apartment (1960).
6. Francois Truffaut
Promoter of the Nouvelle Vague movement (like Godard and others) , Truffaut is remembered for titles such as Fahrenheit 451 (1966), The American Night (1973) or Hard Skin (1976), among others.
5. Orson Welles
debuted at just 25 years old with Citizen Kane (1941)For many, the best movie ever shot. Later, other successes would come, such as The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Othello (1952) or Thirst for Evil (1958); making Orson Welles one of the best film directors that have ever existed and also one of the best paid.
4. Federico Fellini
A name that cannot be missing from this list of best film directors is that of Federico Fellini, an Italian icon of great world recognition , thanks to the mark he has left on our current cinema.
La dolce vita (1960), Fellini 8 y medio (1963) or Roma (1972), help us understand why Fellini deserves this position.
3. Ingmar Bergman Influential
Swedish film director, with some films considered to be an essential part of the history of celluloid, for example: The Seventh Seal (1957), Fanny and Alexander (1972) or Saraband (2003), his last work.
2. Stanley Kubrick
One of the talented and visionary of cinema, without a doubt, is Stanley Kubrick. Controversial, demanding and obsessive with every shot he shot, his filmography deserves to be reviewed over and over again. The one who for us is one of the best film directors, he was one of the great ignored in the great Oscars .
Among his works, we highlight: Lolita (1962), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971) or his last work, Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
1. Alfred Hitchcock
“The Master of Suspense” is how he has been known worldwide. Alfred Hitchcock has a filmography of more than 50 titles, among which are films that are a benchmark in the genre: Sabotage (1940), Vertigo (1959), Psycho (1960) or Los pajaros (1963), among others. .
Despite being the best film director of our time, he has never won an Oscar (except for an honorary title).
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