The Five: Unique Directors
November 24, 2005
Teresa Walters
Sophia Coppolla
Mostly known for her role in the third Godfather film and for her famous father Francis Ford Coppolla, Sophia doesn’t let her legendary family take all the credit. She brought us the serious, compelling, and soundtrack laden Virgin Suicides, a dark movie about fear, family and fantasy that leaves you with an inescapable feeling. More importantly, though, she won an Oscar for her screenwriting on the critically acclaimed Lost in Translation, a comedy-drama about two confused Americans dealing with their separate dilemmas together, and set in the surreal surroundings of downtown Tokyo.
My recommendation: Lost in Translation
Michel Gondry
French director Michael Gondry has much experience not only in directing film, but music videos, as well. He has done music videos for Bjork, Massive Attack, and many other artists. More importantly, his films are quirky, complex, and ingenious. Human Nature was an offbeat original comedy written by none other then the brilliant Charlie Kaufman. Gondry’s most recent film is cult favourite Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as a troubled couple who use unusual means to deal with their breakup. Eternal Sunshine has Gondry whisking you away into his mayhem and letting you watch this difficult script from his imaginative mind. Flashbacks, dream sequences, and overlapping story structures don’t faze this one-of-a-kind director from making it a masterpiece.
My recommendation: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson is the type of director who strings a series of profound moments together to bring you an overall moving film. It’s like looking at a photo album with only the best moments captured. Anderson, a master of deadpan comedy, brought us such power-actor-packed films as The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic. Featuring stars from Bill Murray to Ben Stiller, Anderson’s style focuses on multifaceted wit and heart-warming humour. Rushmore, like any good middle child, is the most carefree of his films, attaining cult status while selling us a poignant story and still being a compelling coming-of-age film. Anderson not only captures audiences with his winning casts, dialogue, and filming, but uses his artistic side with powerfully colorful sets and perfect locations to bring it all alive.
My recommendation: Rushmore
Chris Nolan
Christopher Nolan’s resume may not be long, but man what great references. He brought us the black and white thriller Following, a movie that jumps in and out of its time line more than a Tarantino. Films with un-synched sequences seems to be his strong point; Nolan effectively used this technique in Memento, a story about a man who has short term memory loss and his quest to defend his dead wife’s honour. This intricate film is breathtaking to watch, and lead actor Guy Pierce takes you off the edge of your seat all the way to the floor as you follow him in this fast-paced thriller. Besides the unusual action drama Insomnia, shot here in British Columbia, Nolan brought us his more publicly Batman Begins. This film brings us Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, and the multi-talented Gary Oldman. Going where previous Batman films haven’t, Nolan’s film goes back to Batman’s origins, and the director captures the depths of the dark Gotham to a tee.
My recommendation: Memento
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe fits music into the flow of his films like no other director can. I’ve been a big fan since Almost Famous, the rock-jangle-filled film about love, life, and relationships set to an eight-track of Crowe’s favourite artists. It was actually almost a film about himself, considering he wrote for Rolling Stone when he was younger. His recent release, Elizabethtown, is one long American road trip set to mix tapes and metaphors. The soundtrack and the screen are filled with folk stars, yet Crowe isn’t exploiting music to sell his ideas. Instead, he brings a lump to the viewer’s throat with the perfect lyric at the perfect moment, not to mention the perfect actors. His movies bring us everyone from Kirsten Dunst (Elizabethtown) to Tom Cruise (Vanilla Sky). When I first watched Vanilla Sky, it didn’t really click in. Once I sat down with it again, though, I saw its fast-paced Aldous Huxley-an style of social commentary as edgy and fantastic cinema.
My recommendation: Vanilla Sky
Now you go...
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