Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The Ten Best Directors of All Time Relay Race


For the past few months, fellow film bloggers may have been lucky enough to take part in two interactive and challenging relay blog posts, both created by the ever-excellent Nostra from My Filmviews. First up was the Ten Best Actors of All Time Relay Race. The ladies came next, and earlier today, Nostra began a relay race in which we are to rank to the 10 finest auteurs.

Tyler at Southern Vision had the first crack at it (making a very difficult but wise swap), and he’s been kind enough to pass it along to me. My inclusion will come as no surprise to some - the difficulty of this post is going to be in who to take out. But first, Nostra’s rules:

“So what’s the idea behind the relay? I’ve created a list of what I think are the ten best directors. At the end of the post I, just like in a real relay race, hand over the baton to another blogger who will write his own post. This blogger will have to remove one director (that is an obligation) and add his own choice and describe why he/she did this. At the end the blogger chooses another blogger to do the same. We will end up with a list (not ranked in order) which represents a common agreement of the best directors. If you are following the relay race it is also a great way to be introduced to new blogs!”

The progression of the list since it began on June 5:

The directors who have been selected:
Darren Aronofsky

Joel and Ethan Coen

Alfred Hitchcock

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Stanley Kubrick

Akira Kurosawa

Hayao Miyazaki

Martin Scorsese

Steven Spielberg

Quentin Tarantino


Who I’m Taking Out:
Darren Aronofsky
Damn tough call. These are 11 extremely talented men who are all more than worthy of being here. It could be argued that Joel and Ethan Coen representing one spot isn’t exactly fair, but that’s not an argument I’m going to make. The Coen brothers have had too indelible a stamp on contemporary filmmaking to be excluded due to semantics. My instinctual cut was Miyazaki, simply because animation is not my thing. But if there is one director of animated films that I admire wholeheartedly, it’s Miyazaki, so he stays. Bascially, I had to rip the Band-Aid off and take out Darren Aronofsky. Believe me, this isn’t an easy call. The Wrestler was my favorite film of 2008, likewise Black Swan in 2010, and Requiem for a Dream’s influence is evident in nearly every successful independent film made today. But someone had to go. And so it is.

Who I’m Adding:
Ingmar Bergman
Bergman. To be honest, I could replace any of the directors listed above with Ingmar Bergman and be completely at peace. Bergman is my god; the effect his films have had over my life is something I will never be able to fully articulate in any communicable form. I could write an essay, give a speech, or make a film based on the impact of this man’s films, but nothing would suffice. My life is film. I am bound to the art of filmmaking more so than anything else. And Ingmar Bergman is my favorite filmmaker. Sure, I could rattle off a few of Bergman’s films specifically that justify his inclusion to this list, but I’d probably end up listing his entire filmography.

Film, to me, is an artistic medium created to evoke emotion, and no films evoke more emotion(s) from me than that of Ingmar Bergman’s.

Okay, sorry, I’m done. When the conversation shifts to Bergman, I just can’t help myself. Time to pass this thing along, and I am really very curious as to who Steven from Surrender to the Void will chose. The mantle is yours, my friend.

25 comments:

  1. Bergman. Ah, he is perfect. Oh, this will be tough to do but I already have chosen the filmmaker to put in that list. Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!

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    1. As long as Bergman stays, I'm all good haha. But really, I know you'll have a spirited choice, so have at it!

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  2. FUCK YEAH BERGMAN! *rips shirt off and runs around office*

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    1. BEEERRRGGGMAAAANNNN!

      I rewatched Autumn Sonata recently and wept through most of it. It was... awesome.

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  3. when i saw miyazaki it really made me happy, but then i was like oh no this is going to be who alex removes.

    glad you kept him, man is a legend of his craft.

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    1. That really was my first instinct, but looking over the films he's done, I couldn't possibly remove him. A true visionary.

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    2. if you ever go to japan, go to the studio ghibli museum. one of the most heart warming places you'll ever go.

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  4. Though I like Arronofsky, I agree with your choice especially since you replaced him with someone as essential to such list as Bergman. I really don't envy people who have to choose, there are so many fantastic directors out there and only 10 spots.

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    1. Yeah this relay is just going to get more difficult as time goes on. Soo many to chose from. I'd love to see Herzog here.

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    2. I really considered putting Herzog on the initial list as he's one of my favorites, but thought he probably might not stay on for very long...

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    3. Sadly, I think you're right. More people need to see his obscure, miraculous little films!

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  5. Ah, too bad to see Aronofsky leave so soon even though it does make sense. While he hasn't made a bad film yet, he doesn't have quite the resume that the rest have. I really need to see more Bergman.

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    1. Yeah that was kind of my way of thinking as well. You can never, ever, ever see too much Bergman. Ah... love him.

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  6. Ingmar Bergman is not not among my personal favorite directors, but I'm thinking if I had watched, discussed and studied up on his films at film school(as I believe you did?) I would appreciate him a lot more than I do.
    Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about as I have only seen 6-7 of Bergman's films. That said, you have made me curious in Autumn Sonata...movies with emotion are the best, aren't they ( :

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    1. I had always heard of Bergman, but yeah, I had not actually seen any of his films until film school. Changed my life over the course of two hours. As soon as class was done, I bought ever available Bergman film I could find. I've been living in his world of magic ever since.

      Autumn Sonata is by no means his best film, but that's the beauty of Bergman: his films change as you get older. Hell, they change entirely based on whatever mood you're in when you watch it. So good.

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  7. Bergman should have been there from the start, but since he wasn't, I'm glad that you were able to remedy that situation. Excellent work!

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    1. Thanks! I completely understand Nostra not including Bergman from the get-go, but as long as he made it up there quick, we're all good!

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  8. I was sure that Bergman was going to be added very soon, so I left him out of the initial list (was already expecting Tyler to add him ;))

    Shame to see Aronofsky leave, but with such a list it is very hard to remove one and understand the decision

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    1. I think Tyler knew I would put Bergman up there, which is why he passed it on to me haha. Either way, so glad he's there. Definitely a shame to remove Aronofsky, but I had to do it!

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  9. Bergman was a rather predictable, but very good choice to make- I knew you would go for him :) I should see more of his work soon. God, my To Watch list is way too long

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    1. I couldn't NOT add him! Let me give you a helpful word of advice about your watchlist: throw Bergman all the way at the top... you're life will be forever benefited :)

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  10. This couldn't be more perfect! You removed what is easily the worst director on the list and added my all-time favorite. Bravo!

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    1. I thought you'd appreciate my addition! Bergman...is...God.

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  11. Damn I read this and was genuinely perplexed :( I mean I love the work of everyone here but THAT much? The best... ever?? I feel like some of these artists are too current to have secured such a colossal stamp on cinema. Respect the OPs opinions though and would have definitely had Aronofsky off for Bergman too

    I guess I'd go with

    Ingmar Bergman
    Alfred Hitchcock
    Stanley Kubrick
    Akira Kurosawa
    Yasujiro Ozu
    Andrei Tarkovsky
    Billy Wilder (re-watched Lost Weekend. Easily his best work)

    Too tough to find ten, to be honest. These relays are always interesting to read man.

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    1. Yeah I'm with you. I remember these relays. They always seemed to venture toward current bests, as opposed to all-time bests.

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