Your Favorite Film of EVERY Director

[KilgoreTrout]

A list of my choices for the career zenith of every major director who came to mind. If I haven't seen any or nearly enough to judge, then I list them as N/A. A blank space means I've seen most or all of their work and don't think any are great.

In order to qualify for the list (and so it's not absolutely endless), a director must have made at least five feature films (sorry Charles Laughton) and have at least one fairly widely considered great (sorry Michael Bay). In order to have a film listed, the director has to have made a movie I'd give an 8/10 or higher, with the possible exception of Spies Like Us which isn't especially good, but I'd take with me to a desert island.
 

CHANTAL AKERMAN: Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
FATIH AKIN: N/A
ROBERT ALDRICH: Ulzana’s Raid
TOMAS GUITIERREZ ALEA: Memories of Underdevelopment
WOODY ALLEN: Manhattan
PEDRO ALMODOVAR: Talk to Her
ROBERT ALTMAN: Nashville
ALEJANDRO AMENABAR: Abre Los Ojos
LINDSAY ANDERSON: If...
PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON: Magnolia
WES ANDERSON: Rushmore
ROY ANDERSSON: Songs from the Second Floor
THEO ANGELOPOULOS: The Traveling Players
MICHAELANGELO ANTONIONI: Blow-Up

JUDD APATOW:
MICHAEL APTED: 28 Up
DENYS ARCAND: The Barbarian Invasions
DARIO ARGENTO: N/A
GILLIAN ARMSTRONG: My Brilliant Career
DARREN ARONOFSKY: Requiem for a Dream
HAL ASHBY: Being There
OLIVIER ASSAYAS: Carlos
ANTHONY ASQUITH: The Browning Version
RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH: Gandhi
JACQUES AUDIARD: A Prophet
BILLE AUGUST: Pelle The Conqueror
ALFONSO AURA: Like Water for Chocolate
HECTOR BABENCO: Pixote
JOHN BADHAM: Saturday Night Fever
MAROUN BAGDADI: Out of Life
RAMIN BAHRANI: Chop Shop
RALPH BASHKI: Heavy Traffic
NOAH BAUMBACH: Mistress America
MARIO BAVA: Black Sunday
HAROLD BECKER: The Onion Field
JACQUES BECKER: Touchez Pas au Grisbi
JAMES BENNING: Stemple Pass
ROBERT BENTON: The Late Show
BRUCE BERESFORD: Breaker Morant
LUIS GARCIA BERLANDA: The Executioner
JOE BERLINGER (& sometimes BRUCE SINOFSKY): Brother's Keeper
INGMAR BERGMAN: Persona
BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI: Last Tango in Paris
LUC BESSON:
SANJAY LEE BHANSALI: Black
KATHRYN BIGELOW: The Hurt Locker
LES BLANK: Burden of Dreams
BERTRAND BLIER: Too Beautiful for You
BUDD BOETTICHER: Seven Men from Now
PETER BOGDANOVICH: The Last Picture Show
SERGEY BONDARCHUK: Fate of a Man
JOHN BOORMAN: The General
FRANK BORZAGE: Street Angel
DANNY BOYLE: Trainspotting
STAN BRAKHAGE: Dog Star Man
KENNETH BRANAGH: Hamlet
CATHERINE BREILLAT:
ROBERT BRESSON: Au Hasard Balthazar
LINO BROCKA:
ALBERT BROOKS: Modern Romance
JAMES L. BROOKS: Broadcast News
MEL BROOKS: Young Frankenstein
RICHARD BROOKS: In Cold Blood
TOD BROWNING: Freaks
ZBYNEK BRYNYCH: The Fifth Horseman is Fear
RYSZARD BUGAJSKI: Interrogation

ANDREW BUJALSKI:
LUIS BUNUEL: The Exterminating Angel
CHARLES BURNETT: Killer of Sheep
TIM BURTON: Ed Wood
JAMES CAMERON:
JANE CAMPION: An Angel at My Table

MARCEL CAMUS: Black Orpheus
LAURENT CANTET: Time Out
FRANK CAPRA: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
LEOS CARAX: Holy Motors
MARCEL CARNE: Children of Paradise
JOHN CARPENTER: Assault on Precinct 13
JOHN CASSAVETTES: Love Streams
LILIANA CAVANI: Ripley's Game
NURI BILGE CEYLAN: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
CLAUDE CHABROL: Le Boucher
PARK CHAN-WOOK: Oldboy
LEE CHANG-DONG: N/A
CHARLIE CHAPLIN: City Lights
PATRICE CHEREAU:
VERA CHITYLOVA:
MICHAEL CIMINO: The Deer Hunter
SOULEYMANE CISSE: Yeelen
RENE CLAIR: A Nous la Liberte
LARRY CLARK: Bully
RENE CLEMENT: Purple Noon
HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT: Wages of Fear
JEAN COCTEAU: Blood of a Poet
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN: Fargo
BILL CONDON: Kinsey
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA: Apocalypse Now
SOFIA COPPOLA: Lost in Translation
ROGER CORMAN: The Masque of the Red Death
PEDRO COSTA: Ne Change Rien
ALEX COX: Sid & Nancy
WES CRAVEN:
CHARLES CRICHTON: A Fish Called Wanda
DAVID CRONENBERG: Eastern Promises
CAMERON CROWE: Almost Famous
ALFONSO CUARON: Children of Men
GEORGE CUKOR: The Philadelphia Story

ADAM CURTIS: It Felt Like a Kiss
MICHAEL CURTIZ: Casablanca
JOHN DAHL: The Last Seduction
JOE DANTE: Matinee
JEAN-PIERRE AND LUC DARDENNE: Le Fils
JULES DASSIN: Rififi
DELMER DAVES: 3:10 to Yuma (1957)
TERENCE DAVIES: Distant Voices, Still Lives
CECIL B. DE MILLE: The Ten Commandments
MANOEL DE OLIVEIRA: Aniki Bobo
BRIAN DE PALMA: Blow Out
VITTORIO DE SICA: Umberto D
GUILLERMO DEL TORO:
ANDRE DE TOTH: Crime Wave
JONATHAN DEMME: Stop Making Sense
JACQUES DEMY: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
CLAIRE DENIS:
ARNAUD DESPLECHIN: A Christmas Tale
MICHEL DEVILLE: Dossier 51
LAV DIAZ: N/A
EDWARD DMYTRYK: Murder, My Sweet
ROGER DONALDSON: No Way Out
STANLEY DONEN: Singin' in the Rain
RICHARD DONNER: Superman
ALEKSANDR DOVZHENKO: Earth
CARL THEODOR DREYER: The Passion of Joan of Arc
JULIEN DUVIVIER: Pepe Le Moko
CLINT EASTWOOD: Letters from Iwo Jima
ATOM EGOYAN: The Sweet Hereafter
MAURICE ELVEY: Hindle Wakes
MORRIS ENGEL: Little Fugitive
SERGEI EISENSTEIN: Alexander Nevsky

ASGHAR FARHADI: A Separation
RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER: Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
MU FEI: Spring in a Small Town
PAL FEJOS: Lonesome
FEDERICO FELLINI: 8 1/2
ABEL FERRARA: Bad Lieutenant
LOUIS FEUILLADE: Les Vampires
MIKE FIGGIS: Leaving Las Vegas
DAVID FINCHER: Se7en
RICHARD FLEISCHER: 10 Rillington Place
VICTOR FLEMING:
JAMES FOLEY: Glengarry Glen Ross
JOHN FORD: The Grapes of Wrath
MILOS FORMAN: The People Vs. Larry Flynt
MARC FORSTER: Monster's Ball
BILL FORSYTH: Local Hero
BOB FOSSE: Lenny
GEORGES FRANJU: Eyes Without a Face
JOHN FRANKENHEIMER: The Manchurian Candidate
CARL FRANKLIN: One False Move
STEPHEN FREARS: High Fidelity
WILLIAM FRIEDKIN: The Exorcist
KINJI FUKUSAKU:
SAMUEL FULLER: Pickup on South Street
JOIRGE FURTADO: Island of Flowers
ABEL GANCE: Napoleon
RODRIGO GARCIA: Nine Lives
PHILLIPE GARREL: Regular Lovers
COSTA-GAVRAS: Z
ERNIE GEHR: Side/Walk/Shuttle
JEAN GENET: N/A

HAILE GERIMA: Bush Mama
ALEXEI GERMAN: Hard to Be a God
RITWIK GHATAK: The Cloud-Capped Star
MEL GIBSON: Apocalypto
TERRY GILLIAM: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
JEAN-LUC GODARD: Pierrot Le Fou
MICHEL GONDRY: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
DAVID GORDON GREEN: George Washington
PETER GREENAWAY: The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
PAUL GREENGRASS: United 93
D.W. GRIFFITH: Intolerance
ULU GROSBARD: Straight Time

PATRICIO GUZMAN: Nostalgia for the Light
LASSE HALLSTROM: My Life as a Dog
ROBERT HAMER: Kind Hearts and Coronets
MICHAEL HANEKE: The White Ribbon
KAZUO HARA: The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On
TSUI HARK: Peking Opera Blues
HAL HARTLEY:
WOJCIECH HAS: The Saragossa Manuscript
HOWARD HAWKS: Ball of Fire
TODD HAYNES: Far from Heaven
MONTE HELLMAN: Two-Lane Blacktop
WERNER HERZOG: Aguirre: The Wrath of God
GEORGE ROY HILL: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
WALTER HILL: The Warriors
ALFRED HITCHCOCK: Vertigo
WERNER HOCHBAUM: Raid in St. Pauli
AGNIESKA HOLLAND: Europa, Europa
RON HOWARD: Cinderella Man
HOU HSIAO-HSIEN: A Time to Live and a Time to Die
ALLEN AND ALBERT HUGHES: Menace II Society
JOHN HUGHES: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
JOHN HUSTON: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
KON ICHIKAWA: Tokyo Olympiad
SHOHEI IMAMURA: Vengeance is Mine
HIROSHI INAGAKI:
OTAR IOSSELIANI: Once Upon a Time There Was a Singing Blackbird
JORIS IVENS: A Valparaiso
JAMES IVORY: The Remains of the Day
PETER JACKSON: King Kong (2005)

KEN JACOBS: Star Spangled to Death
STEVE JAMES: Hoop Dreams
MIKLOS JANSCO: The Red and the White
DERERK JARMAN: N/A
JIM JARMUSCH: Stranger than Paradise
JEAN-PIERRE JEUNET: Micmacs
NORMAN JEWISON: A Soldier's Story
ZHANG KE JIA: N/A
WEN JIANG: Devils on the Doorstep
JAROMIL JIRES: The Joke
ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY: The Dance of Reality
ROLAND JOFFE: The Killing Fields

BONG JOON-HO: Memories of Murder
NEIL JORDAN: The Crying Game
KAREL KACHYNA: The Ear
JAN KADAR & ELMAR KLOS: The Shop on Main Street
MIKHAIL KALATOZOV: The Cranes Are Flying
LAU KAR-LEUNG: Eight Diagram Pole Fighter
WONG KAR-WAI: In The Mood for Love
LAWRENCE KASDAN: Body Heat
MATTHIEU KASSOVITZ: La Haine
PHILIP KAUFMAN: The Right Stuff
AKI KAURISMAKI: The Match Factory Girl
ELIA KAZAN: On The Waterfront
BUSTER KEATON: Sherlock Jr.
NACER KHAMIR: Wanderers of the Desert
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI: Close-Up
KIM KI-DUK: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
KRYSTOF KIESLOWSKI: A Short Film About Killing (Dekalog #6)
TEINOSUKE KINUGASA: A Page of Madness
TAKESHI KITANO: Sonatine
ELEM KLIMOV: Come and See
DIMITRI KIRSANOFF: Menilmontant
MASAKI KOBAYASHI: The Samurai Rebellion
SATOSHI KON: N/A
ANDREI KONCHALOVSKY: Shy People
NIKOS KOUNDOUROS: The Ogre of Athens
BARBARA KOPPLE: Harlan County, USA
ALEXANDER KORDA:
HIROKAZU KORE-EDA: After Life
ROBERT KRAMER: Ice
STANLEY KRAMER: Inherit The Wind
STANLEY KUBRICK: 2001: A Space Odyssey
AKIRA KUROSAWA: Ikiru
EMIR KUSTURICA: N/A
NEIL LABUTE: In the Company of Men
GREGORY LA CAVA: My Man Godfrey
JOHN LANDIS: Spies Like Us
FRITZ LANG: Metropolis
CLAUDE LANZMANN: Shoah
DAVID LEAN: Bridge on the River Kwai
PATRICE LECONTE: The Man on the Train
ANG LEE: The Ice Storm
SPIKE LEE: Malcolm X
MIKE LEIGH: Secrets and Lies
CLAUD LELOUCH: A Man and a Woman
SERGIO LEONE: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
IRVING LERNER: Murder by Contract
MERVYN LEROY: I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
BARRY LEVINSON: Rain Man
RICHARD LINKLATER: Waking Life
HAROLD LLOYD: Safety Last
KEN LOACH: Kes
KONSTANTIN LOPUSHANSKY: Letters from a Dead Man
JOSEPH LOSEY: The Servant
ERNST LUBITSCH: To Be or Not To Be
GEORGE LUCAS: Star Wars
SIDNEY LUMET: Network
BAZ LUHRMANN:
DAVID LYNCH: Mulholland Drive
GUSTAV MACHATY: Seduction
ALEXANDER MACKENDRICK: Sweet Smell of Success
JOHN MACKEZNIE: The Long Good Friday
JOHN MADDEN: Proof
GUY MADDIN: The Heart of the World
DUSAN MAKAVEJEV: N/A
MOHSEN MAKHMALBAF: A Moment of Innocence
KAROLY MAKK: Love
TERRENCE MALICK: Days of Heaven
LOUIS MALLE: Au Revoir, les Enfants
DJIBRIL DIOP MAMBETY: Touki Bouki
DAVID MAMET: House of Games
JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ: All About Eve
MICHAEL MANN: Heat
CHRIS MARKER: N/A
ELAINE MAY: A New Leaf
DAVID & ALBERT MAYSLES: Salesman
PAUL MAZURSKY: An Unmarried Woman
NORMAN Z. MCLEOD: Monkey Business
LEO MCCAREY: Make Way for Tomorrow
JOHN MCTIERNAN:
PETER MEDAK: The Changeling
FERNANDO MEIRELLES: City of God
JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE: The Red Circle
SAM MENDES: Revolutionary Road
JIRI MENZEL: Closely Watched Trains
OSCAR MICHEAUX: N/A
TAKASHI MIIKE: 13 Assassins
NIKITA MIKHALKOV: N/A
LEWIS MILESTONE: All Quiet on the Western Front
GEORGE MILLER: Mad Max: Fury Road
TSAI MING-LANG: Stray Dogs
ANTHONY MINGHELLA: The Talented Mr. Ripley
VINCENTE MINNELLI: The Bad and the Beautiful
HAYAO MIYAZAKI: Spirited Away
KENJI MIZOGUCHI: Sansho the Bailiff
MARIO MONICELLI: The Organizer
LUKAS MOODYSSON: Lilja-4-Ever
MICHAEL MOORE: Fahrenheit 9/11
NANNI MORETTI: N/A
ERROL MORRIS: Gates of Heaven
ROBERT MULLIGAN: The Man in the Moon
F.W. MURNAU: Sunrise
MIRA NAIR: Salaam Bombay!
MIKIO NARUSE: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
GREGORY NAVA: El Norte
JAN NEMEC: Diamonds of the Night
MIKE NEWELL: Donnie Brasco

JEFF NICHOLS: Take Shelter
MIKE NICHOLS: The Graduate
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN: Memento
PHILLIP NOYCE: Rabbit-Proof Fence
VICTOR NUNEZ: Ruby in Paradise
LAURENCE OLIVIER:
ERMANNO OLMI: The Tree of Wooden Clogs
MARCEL OPHULS: The Sorrow and The Pity
MAX OPHULS: Letter from an Unknown Woman
NAGISA OSHIMA: Death by Hanging
IDRISSA OUEDRAOGO: Yaaba
FANCOIS OZON: 5x2
YASUJIRO OZU: Tokyo Story
G.W. PABST: Pandora's Box
MARCEL PAGNOL: The Baker’s Wife
ALAN J. PAKULA: Sophie's Choice
JAFAR PANAHI: The Circle
SERGEI PARAJANOV: The Color of Pomegranates
ALAN PARKER: Mississippi Burning

GORAN PASKALJEVIC: Cabaret Balkan
PIER PAOLO PASOLINI: The Gospel According to St. Matthew
IVAN PASSER: Cutter’s Way
GIOVANNI PASTRONE: Cabiria
ALEXANDER PAYNE:
SAM PECKINPAH: The Wild Bunch
ARTHUR PENN: Bonnie and Clyde
D.A. PENNEBAKER: Monterey Pop
FRANK PERRY: Last Summer
WOLFGANG PETERSEN: Das Boot
ELIO PETRI: Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
MAURICE PIALAT: A Nos Amours
JINDRICH POLAK: Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea
ROMAN POLANSKI: Chinatown
SYDNEY POLLACK: They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
GILLO PONTECORVO: The Battle of Algiers
SALLY POTTER: Orlando
MICHAEL POWELL & EMERIC PRESSBURGER: The Red Shoes
OTTO PREMINGER: Laura
ALEX PROYAS: Dark City

CRISTI PUIU: The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
BOB RAFELSON: Five Easy Pieces
SAM RAIMI: A Simple Plan
HAROLD RAMIS: Groundhog Day
NICHOLAS RAY: In a Lonely Place
SATYAJIT RAY: The World of Apu
ROBERT REDFORD: Ordinary People
CAROL REED: The Third Man
KELLY REICHARDT: Wendy and Lucy
ROB REINER: This is Spinal Tap
NICOLAS WINDING REFN: Drive
KAREL REISZ: The Gambler

JASON REITMAN: Up in the Air
JEAN RENOIR: La Grande Illusion
ALAIN RESNAIS: Last Year at Marienbad
CARLOS REYGADAS: Silent Light
TONY RICHARDSON: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
MARTIN RITT: Hud
JACQUES RIVETTE: Out 1
GLAUBER ROCHA: N/A
ROBERT RODRIGUEZ: Sin City
NICOLAS ROEG: Walkabout
ERIC ROHMER: Claire's Knee
GEORGE A. ROMERO: Dawn of the Dead
MIKHAIL ROMM: Ordinary Fascism/Triumph Over Violence
HERBERT ROSS:
ROBERTO ROSSELINI: Rome, Open City
ROBERT ROSSEN: The Hustler
PAUL ROTHA: Shipyard
JEAN ROUCH: Chronicle of a Summer
RAUL RUIZ: Time Regained
DAVID O. RUSSELL: Three Kings
KEN RUSSELL: Altered States
MARK RYDELL:
SOHRAB SHAHID SALEES: N/A
HONG SANG-SOO: N/A
NELSON PEREIRA DOS SANTOS: Vidas Secas
CARLOS SAURA: Cria Cuervos…
JOHN SAYLES: Matewan
FRANKLIN J. SCHAFFNER: Patton
FRED SCHEPISI: The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
JOHN SCHLESINGER: The Falcon and the Snowman
VOLKER SCHLONDORFF:
PAUL SCHRADER: Blue Collar
BARBET SCHROEDER: Reversal of Fortune
MARTIN SCORSESE: Taxi Driver
RIDLEY SCOTT: Alien
OUSMANE SEMBENE: Guelwaar
LARISA SHEPTIKO: The Ascent
JIM SHERIDAN: In America
HIROSHI SHIMIZU: Children of the Beehive
M. NIGHT SHYAMLAN: Unbreakable
DON SIEGEL: Invasion of The Body Snatchers
BRYAN SINGER:
JOHN SINGLETON: Boyz N The Hood
ROBERT SIODMAK: The Killers
DOUGLAS SIRK: All That Heaven Allows

VICTOR SJOSTROM: The Outlaw and His Wife
JERZY SKOLIMOWSKI: Moonlighting
KEVIN SMITH: Chasing Amy
STEPHEN SODERBERGH: Che
ALEXSANDR SOKUROV: Mother and Son
FERNANDO E. SOLANAS: Hour of the Furnaces
HUMBERTO SOLAS: Lucia
TODD SOLONDZ: Happiness
SION SONO:
STEVEN SPIELBERG: Raiders of the Lost Ark
JOHN M. STAHL:
GEORGE STEVENS: Swing Time
MAURITZ STILLER: Sir Arne’s Treasure
WHIT STILLMAN: Love & Friendship
OLIVER STONE: JFK
JEAN-MARIE STRAUB & DANIELE HUILLET: Othon
JOHN STURGES: The Great Escape
PRESTON STURGES: Sullivan's Travels
SEIJUN SUZUKI: N/A
JAN SVANKMEJER: Alice
HANS-JURGEN SYBERBERG: Our Hitler: A Film from Germany
ISTVAN SZABO: Mephisto
ISAO TAKAHATA: Grave of The Fireflies
ALAIN TANNER: Jonah, Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000
QUENTIN TARANTINO: Pulp Fiction
ANDREI TARKOVSKY: Andrei Rublev
BELA TARR: Werckmeister Harmonies
FRANK TASHLIN: Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
JACQUES TATI: Playtime
BERTRAND TAVERNIER: 'Round Midnight
PAOLO AND VITTORIO TAVIANI: N/A
HIROSHI TESHIGAHARA: A Woman in the Dunes
JOHNNIE TO: Drug War
JAMES TOBACK: Tyson
JACQUES TOURNEUR: Out of the Past
JAN TROELL: The Emigrants
FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT: The 400 Blows
FRANK TUTTLE: This Gun for Hire
TOM TYKWER: The Princess and the Warrior
EDWARD G ULMER: Detour
ROGER VADIM:
W.S. VAN DYKE: The Thin Man
GUS VAN SANT: Drugstore Cowboy
AGNES VARDA: Vagabond
PAUL VERHOEVEN: Soldier of Orange
THOMAS VINTERBERG: The Celebration
KING VIDOR: Duel in The Sun
LUCHINO VISCONTI: The Leopard
FRANTISEK VLACIL: Marketa Lazarova
JOSEF VON STERNBERG: The Blue Angel
ERIC VON STROHEIM: Greed
LARS VON TRIER: Europa
THE WACHOWSKI BROTHERS: Bound
ANDRZEJ WAJDA: Ashes and Diamonds
RAOUL WALSH: White Heat
WAYNE WANG: Chan is Missing
MICHAL WASZYNSKI: The Dybbuk

PETER WATKINS: Punishment Park
APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL: Syndromes and a Century
PETER WEIR: Picnic at Hanging Rock
ORSON WELLES: Citizen Kane
WILLIAM A. WELLMAN: The Ox-Bow Incident
WIM WENDERS: Paris, Texas
LINA WERTMULLER: Swept Away
JAMES WHALE: Bride of Frankenstein
BO WIDERBERG: Adalen 31
ROBERT WIENE: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
BILLY WILDER: The Apartment
MICHAEL WINTERBOTTOM: The Road to Guantanamo
ROBERT WISE: The Set-Up
FREDERICK WISEMAN: Welfare

JOE WRIGHT: Atonement
YUEN WO-PING: Drunken Master
JOHN WOO:
WILLIAM WYLER: The Best Years of Our Lives
YOJI YAMADA: The Twilight Samurai
SADAO YAMANAKA: Humanity and Paper Balloons
EDWARD YANG: A Brighter Summer Day
PETER YATES: The Friends of Eddie Coyle
KOZABURO YOSHIMURA: The Ball at Anjo House
FRANCO ZEFFIRELLI:
ROBERT ZEMECKIS: Contact
YIMOU ZHANG: Raise The Red Lantern
JIA ZHANGKE: N/A
TIAN ZHUANGZHUANG: The Blue Kite
FRED ZINNEMANN: The Day of The Jackal
EDWARD ZWICK: The Last Samurai
TERRY ZWIGOFF: Crumb

What are your picks? Who am I missing? What choice is galling or makes you nod in agreement? Feel free to only list your favorites or only the most canonized, but I'm trying to go with everyone I can think of that meets the qualifications. This is a savvy, film-literate group here so I'm eager to see other choices.

[LawrenceA]

To make this manageable, I'll give my options in chunks, letter by letter. Several of these I don't know, so I'll leave a ----.

 

CHANTAL AKERMAN: Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

FATIH AKIN: ----
ROBERT ALDRICH: The Dirty Dozen
TOMAS GUITIERREZ ALEA: -----
WOODY ALLEN: Annie Hall
PEDRO ALMODOVAR: Talk To Her
ROBERT ALTMAN: Nashville
ALEJANDRO AMENABAR: The Others
LINDSAY ANDERSON: If...
PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON: There Will Be Blood
WES ANDERSON: Rushmore
ROY ANDERSSON: Songs from the Second Floor
THEO ANGELOPOULOS: -----
MICHAELANGELO ANTONIONI: L'avventura

JUDD APATOW: The 40 Year Old Virgin
MICHAEL APTED: 28 Up
DENYS ARCAND: Decline of the American Empire
DARIO ARGENTO: Suspiria
GILLIAN ARMSTRONG: My Brilliant Career
DARREN ARONOFSKY: The Fountain
HAL ASHBY: Being There
OLIVIER ASSAYAS: Carlos
ANTHONY ASQUITH: Pygmalion
RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH: Gandhi
JACQUES AUDIARD: A Prophet
BILLE AUGUST: Pelle The Conqueror
ALFONSO AURA: ------
 

[skimpole]

I'm not seeing Richard Lester.

[LawrenceA]

HECTOR BABENCO: Ironweed

JOHN BADHAM: Dracula

MAROUN BAGDADI: -----

RAMIN BAHRANI: -----

RALPH BASHKI: Wizards

NOAH BAUMBACH: The Squid & the Whale

MARIO BAVA: Black Sunday

HAROLD BECKER: The Onion Field

JACQUES BECKER: Le Trou

JAMES BENNING: ------

ROBERT BENTON: Kramer vs Kramer

BRUCE BERESFORD: Breaker Morant

LUIS GARCIA BERLANDA: -----

JOE BERLINGER (& sometimes BRUCE SINOFSKY): Paradise Lost

INGMAR BERGMAN: Wild Strawberries

BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI: The Conformist

LUC BESSON: La Femme Nikita

SANJAY LEE BHANSALI: -----

KATHRYN BIGELOW: Near Dark

LES BLANK: -----

BERTRAND BLIER: -----

BUDD BOETTICHER: Seven Men from Now

PETER BOGDANOVICH: Paper Moon

SERGEY BONDARCHUK: -----

JOHN BOORMAN: Excalibur

FRANK BORZAGE: Street Angel

STAN BRAKHAGE: Dog Star Man

KENNETH BRANAGH: Hamlet

CATHERINE BREILLAT: Romance

ROBERT BRESSON: A Man Escaped

LINO BROCKA: ----

ALBERT BROOKS: Real Life

JAMES L. BROOKS: Broadcast News

MEL BROOKS: Young Frankenstein

RICHARD BROOKS: In Cold Blood

TOD BROWNING: Freaks

ZBYNEK BRYNYCH: -----

RYSZARD BUGAJSKI: -----

ANDREW BUJALSKI: -----

LUIS BUNUEL: L'Age D'Or

CHARLES BURNETT: Killer of Sheep

TIM BURTON: Ed Wood

 

[kingrat]

Kilgore, this list is tilted way too much toward recent directors for my taste. Could you chop out the classic era directors and let us look at those as a group? I'd have to add a bunch of directors to the list--Forbes, Negulesco, Cy Endfield, etc.

 

I think it's a great idea. You had me at Ashes and Diamonds, though I haven't seen nearly enough Wajda films.

 

Bryan Forbes - KING RAT

Jean Negulesco - DEEP VALLEY

Cy Endfield - ZULU

Joseph Losey - THE CRIMINAL

Julien Duvivier - VOICI LE TEMPS DES ASSASSINS

Otto Preminger - BONJOUR TRISTESSE

Rene Clement - FORBIDDEN GAMES

Henri-Georges Clouzot - THE WAGES OF FEAR

Kon Ichikawa - THE BURMESE HARP

Claude Chabrol - LES BONNES FEMMES

Zoltan Korda - CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY

Elia Kazan - WILD RIVER

Nicholas Ray - IN A LONELY PLACE

[TopBilled]

Wow...I just noticed this thread. What an ambitious topic.

 

I've listed my top 20 directors in my profile. So I will post those directors with what I consider to be their best films. 

[LawrenceA]

JAMES CAMERON: The Terminator

JANE CAMPION: The Piano

MARCEL CAMUS: Black Orpheus

LAURENT CANTET: -----

FRANK CAPRA: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

LEOS CARAX: -----

MARCEL CARNE: Children of Paradise

JOHN CARPENTER: Halloween

JOHN CASSAVETTES: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

LILIANA CAVANI: Ripley's Game

NURI BILGE CEYLAN: -----

CLAUDE CHABROL:-----

PARK CHAN-WOOK: Oldboy

LEE CHANG-DONG: -----

CHARLIE CHAPLIN:  Modern Times

PATRICE CHEREAU:-----

VERA CHITYLOVA:-----

MICHAEL CIMINO: The Deer Hunter

SOULEYMANE CISSE: Yeelen

RENE CLAIR: A Nous la Liberte

LARRY CLARK: Bully

RENE CLEMENT: Purple Noon

HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT: Wages of Fear

JEAN COCTEAU: Beauty and the Beast

JOEL AND ETHAN COEN: No Country for Old Men

BILL CONDON: Kinsey

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA: Apocalypse Now

SOFIA COPPOLA: Lost in Translation

ROGER CORMAN: The Intruder

PEDRO COSTA: -----

ALEX COX: Sid & Nancy

WES CRAVEN: A Nightmare On Elm Street

CHARLES CRICHTON: The Lavender Hill Mob

DAVID CRONENBERG: Videodrome

CAMERON CROWE: Fast Times At Ridgemont High

ALFONSO CUARON: Children of Men

GEORGE CUKOR: The Philadelphia Story

ADAM CURTIS: -----

MICHAEL CURTIZ: Casablanca

[TopBilled]

Here goes:

 

FAVORITE DIRECTORS & THEIR BEST FILMS
1. Roberto Rossellini...EUROPE '51
2. Alfred Hitchcock...REBECCA (A lot of its success is because of David Selznick.)
3. Max Ophuls...THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE... (But I think all of Ophuls' films are equal in brilliance.)
4. Vittorio de Sica...BICYCLE THIEVES
5. John Ford...THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT (I also like THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS.)
6. Federico Fellini...LA DOLCE VITA
7. Otto Preminger...ADVISE & CONSENT
8. Jules Dassin...NEVER ON SUNDAY
9. Luchino Visconti...THE LEOPARD
10. Ernst Lubitsch...THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (I also love BLUEBEARD'S EIGHTH WIFE.)
11. Jean Renoir...THE RIVER (And THE GOLDEN COACH is very good in its own way.)
12. Louis Malle...ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS
13. Michaelangelo Antonioni...L'ECLISSE 
14. Sergio Leone...ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
15. Marc Allegret...BLANCHE FURY
16. Fritz Lang...HOUSE BY THE RIVER (Hitchcock borrowed from it for PSYCHO.)
17. Rene Clement...PURPLE NOON
18. Francois Truffaut...THE 400 BLOWS
19. Jean-Luc Godard...MASCULIN FEMININ
20. Orson Welles...CITIZEN KANE (A lot of its greatness is due to Herman Mankiewicz & Gregg Toland.)

 

Honorable mentions--

Ronald Neame...TUNES OF GLORY

Ida Lupino...OUTRAGE

Akira Kurosawa...THRONE OF BLOOD

Billy Wilder...ACE IN THE HOLE

Ingmar Bergman...THE SILENCE

Robert Aldrich...THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE

Bryan Forbes...THE WHISPERERS and SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON (tie)

Robert Wise...THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

George Cukor...THE PHILADELPHIA STORY

Yasujiro Ozu...FLOATING WEEDS

Nicholas Ray...BIGGER THAN LIFE

[skimpole]

CHANTAL AKERMAN: Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
FATIH AKIN: N/A
ROBERT ALDRICH: Flight of the Phoenix
TOMAS GUITIERREZ ALEA: Memories of Underdevelopment
WOODY ALLEN: Annie Hall
PEDRO ALMODOVAR: Volver
ROBERT ALTMAN: McCabe and Mrs. Miller
ALEJANDRO AMENABAR: The Others
LINDSAY ANDERSON: If...
PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON: Magnolia
WES ANDERSON: Fantastic Mr. Fox
ROY ANDERSSON: Songs from the Second Floor
THEO ANGELOPOULOS: Landscape in the Mist
MICHAELANGELO ANTONIONI: L'Avventura

JUDD APATOW:N/A
MICHAEL APTED: N/A
DENYS ARCAND: Jesus of Montreal
DARIO ARGENTO: Deep Red
GILLIAN ARMSTRONG: Little Women
DARREN ARONOFSKY: Requiem for a Dream
HAL ASHBY: Being There
OLIVIER ASSAYAS: Carlos
ANTHONY ASQUITH: Pygmalion
RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH: Gandhi
JACQUES AUDIARD: A Prophet
BILLE AUGUST: The Best Intentions
ALFONSO AURA: Like Water for Chocolate

[kingrat]

Stanley Kubrick - The Killing

Robert Siodmak - Criss Cross

Fred Zinnemann - The Nun's Story

William Wyler - The Best Years of Our Lives

Jack Conway - High Barbaree

Edmund Goulding - Nightmare Alley

Joseph L. Mankiewicz - The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

John M. Stahl - Leave Her to Heaven

Michael Powell - Black Narcissus

Raoul Walsh - White Heat

John Ford - The Searchers

Mervyn LeRoy - Johnny Eager

Max Ophuls - The Earrings of Madame de . . .

Jean-Luc Godard - Contempt

Alain Resnais - Mon oncle d'Amerique

Louis Malle - The Fire Within (Le feu follet)

Alain Jessua - The Killing Game (Jeu de massacre)

Satyajit Ray - Pather Panchali

Orson Welles - Citizen Kane

Mitchell Leisen - Midnight

Robert Z. Leonard - Ziegfeld Girl

Leo McCarey - Duck Soup

Sam Wood - Kings Row

Irving Rapper - Now, Voyager

[skimpole]

HECTOR BABENCO: Pixote
JOHN BADHAM: Saturday Night Fever
MAROUN BAGDADI: N/A
RAMIN BAHRANI: N/A
RALPH BASHKI: The Lord of the Rings
NOAH BAUMBACH: Frances Ha
MARIO BAVA: Black Sunday
HAROLD BECKER: The Onion Field
JACQUES BECKER: Le Trou
JAMES BENNING: One Way Boogie Woogie
ROBERT BENTON: The Late Show
BRUCE BERESFORD: Breaker Morant
LUIS GARCIA BERLANDA: Welcome Mr. Marshall
JOE BERLINGER (& sometimes BRUCE SINOFSKY): Paradise Lost
INGMAR BERGMAN: Fanny and Alexander
BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI: The Last Emperer
LUC BESSON: La Femme Nikita
SANJAY LEE BHANSALI: N/A
KATHRYN BIGELOW: The Hurt Locker
LES BLANK: Burden of Dreams
BERTRAND BLIER: N/A
BUDD BOETTICHER: A time for Dying
PETER BOGDANOVICH: The Last Picture Show
SERGEY BONDARCHUK: War and Peace
JOHN BOORMAN: Hope and Glory
FRANK BORZAGE: Three Comrades
STAN BRAKHAGE: The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
KENNETH BRANAGH: Henry V
CATHERINE BREILLAT: Fat Girl
ROBERT BRESSON: A Man Escaped
LINO BROCKA: N/A
ALBERT BROOKS: Modern Romance
JAMES L. BROOKS: Broadcast News
MEL BROOKS: The Producers
RICHARD BROOKS: Lord Jim
TOD BROWNING: Freaks
ZBYNEK BRYNYCH: N/A
RYSZARD BUGAJSKI: Interrogation

ANDREW BUJALSKI: N/A
LUIS BUNUEL: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
CHARLES BURNETT: Killer of Sheep
TIM BURTON: Ed Wood

[JamesJazGuitar]

Wow...I just noticed this thread. What an ambitious topic.

 

I've listed my top 20 directors in my profile. So I will post those directors with what I consider to be their best films. 

 

Yes,  I agree.   These list are very impressive and show a major love of film.     I admit I couldn't create such comprehensive lists.   The only topic I would feel confident about would be jazz guitar players.

 

One director missing is Archie Mayo.      He was under contract for Warner Bros. for many years and directed some fine films,  two of my favorites being The Petrified Forest and It's Love I'm After  (both Davis \ Leslie Howard film).     There are many more WB films like Moontide with Gabin and Lupino,  Bordertown were Bette Davis goes crazy,  Black Legion at film about racism,  and the comedy Charley's Aunt with Jack Benny (for 20th Century Fox)   (as well as many WB pre-codes). 

[TopBilled]

Yes,  I agree.   These list are very impressive and show a major love of film.     I admit I couldn't create such comprehensive lists.   The only topic I would feel confident about would be jazz guitar players.

 

One director missing is Archie Mayo.      He was under contract for Warner Bros. for many years and directed some fine films,  two of my favorites being The Petrified Forest and It's Love I'm After  (both Davis \ Leslie Howard film).     There are many more WB films like Moontide with Gabin and Lupino,  Bordertown were Bette Davis goes crazy,  Black Legion at film about racism,  and the comedy Charley's Aunt with Jack Benny (for 20th Century Fox)   (as well as many WB pre-codes). 

 

Slight correction-- MOONTIDE was a Fox film. Ida was loaned out for it and for the comedy-drama LIFE BEGINS AT 8:30.

[TopBilled]

LINDSAY ANDERSON: If...

ANTHONY ASQUITH: Pygmalion

RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH: Gandhi

 

These British directors are quite good. Glad you mentioned them!

[kingrat]

Skkimpole, thank you for mentioning Harold Becker and The Onion Field. Not well known, but a fine film with some outstanding performances, especially that of James Woods.

 

That reminds me of the need to mention a couple of other outstanding films from the same era:

 

Ted Kotcheff - North Dallas Forty

Colin Higgins - Foul Play

[TopBilled]

Mitchell Leisen - Midnight

 

Films like KITTY and NO MAN OF HER OWN show the range he had as a director despite the constraints of the studio system. And EASY LIVING is another good one of his. 

 

Recently, someone sent me a copy of the 1934 film BEHOLD MY WIFE, starring Sylvia Sidney and Gene Raymond. It was one of Leisen's earliest pictures at Paramount and you can see all the flourishes in it that would become his trademark.

[Bogie56]

Skkimpole, thank you for mentioning Harold Becker and The Onion Field. Not well known, but a fine film with some outstanding performances, especially that of James Woods.

 

That reminds me of the need to mention a couple of other outstanding films from the same era:

 

Ted Kotcheff - North Dallas Forty

Colin Higgins - Foul Play

 

Have you seen Ted Kotcheff's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz with Richard Dreyfuss?

[LawrenceA]

 

JOHN DAHL: The Last Seduction

JOE DANTE: The Howling

JEAN-PIERRE AND LUC DARDENNE: -----

JULES DASSIN: Rififi

DELMER DAVES: 3:10 to Yuma (1957)

TERENCE DAVIES: -----

CECIL B. DE MILLE: The Ten Commandments

MANOEL DE OLIVEIRA: -----

BRIAN DE PALMA: Carrie

VITTORIO DE SICA: Umberto D

GUILLERMO DEL TORO: Pan's Labyrinth

ANDRE DE TOTH: House of Wax

JONATHAN DEMME: The Silence of the Lambs

JACQUES DEMY: Lola

CLAIRE DENIS: Trouble Every Day

ARNAUD DESPLECHIN: -----

MICHEL DEVILLE: -----

LAV DIAZ: -----

EDWARD DMYTRYK: Crossfire

ROGER DONALDSON: No Way Out

STANLEY DONEN: Singin' in the Rain

RICHARD DONNER: Superman

ALEKSANDR DOVZHENKO: Earth

CARL THEODOR DREYER: The Passion of Joan of Arc

JULIEN DUVIVIER: Pepe Le Moko

 

[LawrenceA]

 

CLINT EASTWOOD: Unforgiven

ATOM EGOYAN: The Sweet Hereafter

MAURICE ELVEY: -----

MORRIS ENGEL: -----

SERGEI EISENSTEIN: Ivan the Terrible, Part 1

ASGHAR FARHADI: -----

RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER: -----

MU FEI: Spring in a Small Town

PAL FEJOS: -----

FEDERICO FELLINI: La Dolce Vita

ABEL FERRARA: King of New York

LOUIS FEUILLADE: Les Vampires

MIKE FIGGIS: Leaving Las Vegas

DAVID FINCHER: Fight Club

RICHARD FLEISCHER: The Vikings

VICTOR FLEMING: Gone with the Wind

JAMES FOLEY: Glengarry Glen Ross

JOHN FORD: The Searchers

MILOS FORMAN: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

MARC FORSTER: Monster's Ball

BILL FORSYTH: Local Hero

BOB FOSSE: All That Jazz

GEORGES FRANJU: Eyes Without a Face

JOHN FRANKENHEIMER: The Manchurian Candidate

CARL FRANKLIN: One False Move

STEPHEN FREARS: Dangerous Liaisons

WILLIAM FRIEDKIN: The Exorcist

KINJI FUKUSAKU: Graveyard of Honor

SAMUEL FULLER: Pickup on South Street

JOIRGE FURTADO: -----

 

[kingrat]

Have you seen Ted Kotcheff's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz with Richard Dreyfuss?

No, I haven't seen that, Bogye, but will seek it out on your recommendation.

[skimpole]

JAMES CAMERON: Aliens
JANE CAMPION: Portrait of a Lady

MARCEL CAMUS: Black Orpheus
LAURENT CANTET: Time Out
FRANK CAPRA: It's a Wonderful Life
LEOS CARAX: Holy Motors
MARCEL CARNE: Children of Paradise
JOHN CARPENTER: The Thing
JOHN CASSAVETTES: A Woman under the Influence
LILIANA CAVANI: The Night Porter
NURI BILGE CEYLAN: Winter Sleep
CLAUDE CHABROL: The Story of Women
PARK CHAN-WOOK: Oldboy
LEE CHANG-DONG: N/A
CHARLIE CHAPLIN: Modern Times
PATRICE CHEREAU: N/A
VERA CHITYLOVA: Daisies
MICHAEL CIMINO: The Deer Hunter
SOULEYMANE CISSE: Yeelen
RENE CLAIR: Le Million
LARRY CLARK: N/A
RENE CLEMENT: Forbidden Games
HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT: Wages of Fear
JEAN COCTEAU: Orpheus
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN: Miller's Crossing
BILL CONDON: Kinsey
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA: The Godfather, Part II
SOFIA COPPOLA: Lost in Translation
ROGER CORMAN: The Masque of the Red Death
PEDRO COSTA: Colossal Youth
ALEX COX: Repo Man
WES CRAVEN: Scream 2
CHARLES CRICHTON: A Fish Called Wanda
DAVID CRONENBERG: A History of Violence
CAMERON CROWE: Say Anything
ALFONSO CUARON: Children of Men
GEORGE CUKOR: The Philadelphia Story

ADAM CURTIS: N/A
MICHAEL CURTIZ: Casablanca

[speedracer5]

There are a bunch of people in this list who I've never heard of.  I'm just going to delete those ones.  I'm going to add Kingrat's missing directors, because those are some of my favorites too.  Some of the directors I've heard of (like Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman), but I haven't seen any of their films.

 

ROBERT ALDRICH: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
ROBERT ALTMAN: Gosford Park
WES ANDERSON: Rushmore
JUDD APATOW: The 40-Year Old Virgin

MICHAEL APTED: Coal Miner's Daughter
DARREN ARONOFSKY: Black Swan
HAL ASHBY: The Thomas Crown Affair
RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH: Chaplin
ALFONSO AURA: Three Amigos!
---

JOHN BADHAM: Saturday Night Fever
PETER BOGDANOVICH: Paper Moon
FRANK BORZAGE: Green Light
KENNETH BRANAGH: Cinderella
JAMES L. BROOKS: Terms of Endearment
MEL BROOKS: Young Frankenstein
RICHARD BROOKS: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
TIM BURTON: The Nightmare Before Christmas

---

JAMES CAMERON: Titanic 
FRANK CAPRA: It Happened One Night

JOHN CARPENTER: Halloween
CHARLIE CHAPLIN: Modern Times
RENE CLAIR: And Then There Were None
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN: O Brother, Where Art Thou?
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA: The Outsiders
ROGER CORMAN: The Wasp Woman
WES CRAVEN: A Nightmare on Elm Street
DAVID CRONENBERG: The Fly
CAMERON CROWE: Almost Famous
ALFONSO CUARON: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
GEORGE CUKOR: Born Yesterday

MICHAEL CURTIZ: The Adventures of Robin Hood

---

 

...To be continued...

[LawrenceA]

speed, Judd Apatow didn't direct Anchorman, Adam McKay did.

 

Apatow's directorial efforts are The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People, This Is 40, and Trainwreck.

[speedracer5]

speed, Judd Apatow didn't direct Anchorman, Adam McKay did.

 

Apatow's directorial efforts are The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People, This Is 40, and Trainwreck.

Oh.  Serves me right for just googling names.

 

Thanks.

 

I'll switch to The 40-Year Old Virgin.  Lol. 

[ChristineHoard]

This is mind-boggling ambitious and it'll take a while to digest but a couple of things stood out.  I would pick King Vidor's THE BIG PARADE over DUEL IN THE SUN, hands down no-brainer for me.  One of the best war movies ever.  I would pick CROSSFIRE over  MURDER MY SWEET for Edward Dmytryk.