Just Top 5 movie Directors? Oh gosh, that’s hard. There are so many great filmmakers, alive and dead, that it’s very difficult to narrow it down to just five.
But again, who doesn’t love the top five list, and wow I love making the top five don’t know why to be honest with you. In any case, when I judge the directors, I try to base them solely on their artistic merits and not on the quality of their films.
As I already mentioned above it’s very difficult to narrow down of course, but that’s what I’m trying to do. With that in mind, here are my Top 5 movie Directors in no particular order:
Stanley Kubrick
Kubrick presented a wide variety of styles that play with actors, themes, music, and the creation of dark works that revealed our society’s horrors and depicted alternative futures that we as a society have to think about. He made films about the misuse of technology, civilization, sexuality, warfare, crime and more, and revealed their undersides of them.
His every film had some identifiable aspect that made you aware that it was Kubrick who directed the film or otherwise participated in it. He provided scenes that were grandiose, unsettling, and moving. Films of note: Full Metal Jacket (1987), The Shining (1980), A Clockwork Orange (1971), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), Lolita (1962), Spartacus (1960).
Akira Kurosawa
Kurosawa, when young wanted to become a painter used his painting skills to draw story-board for his film’s became one of the greatest directors of all time. Kurosawa delivered 30 films. Among them are film masterpieces such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai and Ran. Kurosawa’s films have simple yet effective cinematography that brilliantly tells the story in an exhilaratingly visual way. It’s impossible to watch a Kurosawa movie, and not feel like you’ve seen something special.
Satyajit Ray recalls “The effect of Rashomon on me was electric. I saw it three times on consecutive days, and wondered each time if there was another film anywhere which gave such sustained and dazzling proof of a director’s command over every aspect of filmmaking.” Films of note: Seven Samurai (1954), Yojimbo (1961), Ran (1985), Kagemusha (1980), The Hidden Fortress (1958), Rashomon (1950).
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan has too much faith in directing films that try to tackle deep meanings. He has earned too much reputation as a smart, thought-provoking filmmaker by creating films that are too unduly complicated for the sake of complexity. It’s enough to cement the idea in people’s minds that Christopher Nolan is a god to directing. But this very reputation is the reason why I love him.
Having watched all of his work I can only describe Christopher Nolan as “A Genius filmmaker who always fools his audience by making them think they’re not fools.” Many have been critical of his recent work Tenet, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Films of note: Dunkirk (2017), Tenet (2020), Interstellar (2014), Inception(2010).
Denis Villeneuve
Dennis is similar to Kubrick in his generation of directors having tried his hands at different genres. Arrival was made so beautifully. Blade Runner 2049 (one of my favourite movies of all time) was a feast to both eyes and ears. Sicario was just terrific. Prisoners were one of Hugh Jackman’s best performances. I loved all of these movies, and only recently did I discover that he directed all of them. Can’t wait until he gets a well-deserved Oscar.
His last year’s release, Dune, equally matched the hype, it surfaced in the news that Denis spent almost a year perfecting the sandworm design. If you have not watched the movie, I strongly recommend you to watch it. Films of note: Blade Runner (2049), Arrival (2016), Prisoners (2013), Sicario ( 2015).
David Fincher
And last, but not least when the topic of best directors comes one name always pops up in my mind and that is the director David Fincher. After watching every movie from Alien 3 to Gone girl and both of his series Mindhunter and House of cards, I can without any hesitation say that he is one of the finest directors of all time.
If you’re familiar with David Fincher movies, you know they focus on serial killers, robbers, brawlers, and murderers alike. And who can forget his movement of camera tilt and pan (the camera moves up as the character moves up, stays with it, and moves down in sync.) And in one of his when asked about his viewers and audience he said “I think people are a pervert. I have maintained that. That’s been the foundation of my career.” And that’s David Fincher for you. Films of note: Se7en (1995), Fight Club (1999), Gone Girl ( 2014), Zodiac (2007).
Well, I hope that was helpful. I know all those lists are subjective, but maybe they could lead you to some movies you didn’t know about. Again, five really isn’t enough to mention all the great directors. In addition, I’m sorry if one of your favourite directors isn’t on them, such as Hitchcock, Kieslowski, Keaton, Scorsese, Spielberg or Tarantino and so many more. I just believe that the directors mentioned above are superior and if I had to name the top 5 movie directors, I suppose the list above would be it.
