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Directors The world's top 5 directors (all-time) (1 Viewer)

john davies

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My 5, and their most essential films

1. Mizoguchi (Sansho the Bailiff, Story of the Late Chrysanthemums, Ugetsu Monogatari, The Life of Oharu, Tales of the Taira Clan)

2. Renoir (La Regle du Jeu, A Day in the Country, La Grande Illusion, Boudu Sauve des Eaux, The River)

3. Hitchcock (North by North West, Vertigo, Rear Window, The 39 Steps, Psycho)

4. Tarkovsky (Andrei Rublev, Mirror, Stalker, The Sacrifice, Ivan's Childhood)

5. Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr Strangelove, The Shining, Paths of Glory, Barry Lyndon)

Also; Max Ophuls, Eisenstein, Rohmer, Dreyer, Powell, Kiarostami, Von Sternberg, Kurosawa. And where, you may ask, are Scorsese, Spielberg, Fellini, Bergman? Good but not good enough!
 

Brook K

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1. Akira Kurosawa (Ikiru, Rashomon, Ran, Madadayo, Throne Of Blood)

2. Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut)

3. Ingmar Bergman (The Seventh Seal, Winter Light, Wild Strawberries, Persona, Smiles Of A Summer Night)

4. Rainer Werner Fassbinder (The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant, Fox And His Friends, The Merchant Of Four Seasons, Lola, In A Year With 13 Moons)

5. Luis Bunuel (Belle De Jour, That Obscure Object Of Desire, The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeosis, Tristana, Diary Of A Chambermaid)

Also: Preston Sturges, Carl Th. Dreyer, Eric Rohmer, F.W. Murnau, Fellini, Godard, Visconti, Rosselini, Ozu, Scorsese, Von Sternberg, Von Trier, Herzog, Hitchcock, Tarkovsky
 

Lew Crippen

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Carl Dreyer: The Passion of Joan of Arc, Vampyr, Day of Wrath, The Word, Gertrud

D. W. Griffith: Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, Broken Blossoms

Akira Kurosawa: Stray Dog, Rshomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, High and Low, Red Beard, Ran

Stanley Kubrick: Paths of Glory, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut

Jean-Luc Godard: Breathless, A Woman is a Woman, My Life to Live, Contempt, Band of Outsiders, Two or Three Things I Know About Her, Weekend, For Ever Mozart, Histoires du cinema (which I’ve not seen, but am reliably informed is worth the effort)

On another day I would likely have another list. I think that my only constant would be Dreyer.
 

Lew Crippen

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I feel that these should not be left out and might include in my top 5 on another day:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Ingmar Bergman

Luis Buñuel

Charlie Chaplin

Sergei Eisenstein

Federico Fellini

Howard Hawks

Alfred Hitchcock

Fritz Lang

Yasujiro Ozu

Preston Sturges

Orson Wells



Plus so many, many more such as De Sica, John Ford, Billy Wilder, and on and on.


I have left out directors whose body of work is yet to be determined (such as Wong Kar-Wai, von Trier, or Martin Scorsese)
 

Rand

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Not to be confused with definitive or permanent:

William Wyler - Wuthering Heights, The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben Hur, The Heiress, Dodsworth, Roman Holiday, The Little Foxes

John Ford - The Searchers, The Informer, Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, They Were Expendable, The Quiet Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Akira Kurosawa - The Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Throne Of Blood, Ran, High and Low, Ikiru

Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo, Rear Window, Rebecca, North x Northwest, Psycho, Notorious

Billy Wilder - Sunset Blvd., The Apartment, Double Imdemnity, Some Like It Hot, Witness For the Prosecution, Ninotchka
 

Jan H

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1. Kubrick

2. Bunuel

3. Kurosawa

4. Fellini

5. Hitchcock


Interesting to note, though, that some of these guys are not in my personal favorite top 5 (though they're all in my top 10). "Greatness" is clearly a different thing than "my favorite".
 

george kaplan

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I only keep track of my top 2, so that's easy.

1. Alfred Hitchcock

2. Billy Wilder

For the rest, this is off the top of my head and could change.

3. Stanley Kubrick

4. Steven Speilberg

5. Charlie Chaplin
 

Jim_K

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1. Akira Kurosawa - (Seven Samurai, Ran, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo, Dersu Uzala, Rashomon)

2. Stanley Kubrick - (Dr Strangelove, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Paths of Glory, Killing, Barry Lyndon)

3. Alfred Hitchcock - (Vertigo, Rear Window, Psycho, North By Northwest, Birds)

4. Martin Scorsese - (Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, Last Temptation of Christ)

5. Fritz Lang - (M, Metropolis, Dr Mabuse The Gambler, Big Heat, Siegfried)


Also high up on my list are John Ford, Terry Gilliam, Howard Hawks, Sergio Leone, Anthony Mann, Sam Peckinpah, Michael Powell, Steven Spielberg, Preston Sturges, James Whale & many others I'm probably leaving off.
 

Adam_S

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John Ford

David Lean

Steven Spielberg

Billy Wilder

Stanley Kubrick or Akira Kurasawa

not sure on the last one, because I generally don't think in terms of my all time favorite directors, but these names popped immediately to mind. As for the prominance of western individuals, I feel I haven't seen enough films of many of the artists already mentioned to offer a valid opinion.
 

Bill J

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Stanley Kubrick
Alfred Hitchcock
Akira Kurosawa
Steven Spielberg
Martin Scorsese
 

Steve Christou

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There's Alfred Hitchcock and than there's the rest...

David Lean
Steven Spielberg
Martin Scorsese
Stanley Kubrick
John Ford
Howard Hawks
William Wyler (director of my all-time favorite film)
Sergio Leone
Billy Wilder

And those are the top 5 directors of all time.:D
 

Jefferson

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Apr 23, 2002
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My scholarly answer would be:
Charlie Chaplin
Federico Fellini
Alfred Hitchcock
Stanley Kubrick
Orson Welles

(but actually my favorites are:
Alfred Hitchcock
Billy Wilder
George Stevens
Frank Capra
George Cukor).
 

Jason_Els

Screenwriter
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Feb 22, 2001
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Gah! What a tight list! I'm going to base my choices upon two criteria:

Best Directors of Cinema:

1. Georges Melies -- The Visionary
2. D.W. Griffith -- The Storyteller
3. Orson Welles -- The Modernist
4. Ingmar Bergman -- The Analyst
5. Alfred Hitchcock -- The Sociopathologist

Best Cinematic Directors:

1. Akira Kurosawa -- The Master Craftsman
2. C.T. Dreyer -- The Humanist
3. Frederico Fellini -- The Passionate
4. Martin Scorsese -- The Technician
5. F.W. Murnau -- The Expressionist (what else? ;) )

I hate not being able to include Lang, Ray, and a whole host of others but I think I'd do OK on a desert island with that crew :D .
 

Dome Vongvises

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My personal top five

In no order:

Alfred Hitchcock
Steven Spielberg
Akira Kurosawa
Stanley Kubrick
David Lean
 

Patrick McCart

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Sir Alfred Hitchcock (Vertigo, North By Northwest, Rear Window, Psycho, and The Birds)

Mel Brooks (The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, The Twelve Chairs, and High Anxiety)

Buster Keaton (The General, Sherlock Jr., The Cameraman (co-dir), Seven Chances, and Cops) [Note: co-directed on most of these, but still the main influence)

Frank Capra (It Happened One Night, The Strong Man, Arsenic and Old Lace, It's A Wonderful Life, and Mr. Deeds Goes To Town)

Sir David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, Great Expectations, and Brief Encounter)
 

Rob Tomlin

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  1. 1. David Lean
    2. Martin Scorsese
    3. Akira Kurosawa
    4. Alfred Hitchcock
    5. Stanley Kubrick[/list=1]
 

Scott Weinberg

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Steven Brill
Dennis Dugan
Raja Gosnell
Adam Shankman
Brett Ratner

:laugh:

Well I can't speak for the world, but my 5 favorites (in no particular order) are:

Steven Spielberg
John Carpenter
Terry Gilliam
Alfred Hitchcock
The Brothers Coen
 

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