Movies can and do have a tremendous influence in shaping young lives
in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of
normal adulthood” said Walt Disney. He is definitely right. A movie,
like a book, can change your life. It can change the way you think. It
can make you a better person, for there’s an electrical thing about the
movies. It captures our imagination like no other. The movies we watch
in childhood shape the way we think and they influence us to a great
extent. There have been so many movies that are larger than life and
coming of age. So many movies that have revolutionized the way we think.
They may be cliché, but somehow the characters have sashayed into our
lives! Few Hollywood movies are laudable and very praiseworthy, for the
way they have been made.
A film is a fountain of thought. When you make a film you usually
make a film about an idea. An idea that has grappled your mind!
Something you want to show the world. You show the world to look at
things from a new perspective, from your perspective. It all comes down
to the director. Their job is not easy. To handle so many people on the
sets, to tutor the actors and to set the scenes, it requires great
vision. Directors are answerable to the audience, so they always make
credible movies. Whether it is about the subtleties of human emotions,
or a sci-fi movie or a romcom. This article lists out ten famous
Hollywood directors. It is not exhaustive, as there are too many
talented directors out there. But these are some big names that every
one of us would have heard. Here they are:
10. Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is a well known American director,
screenwriter, producer and actor. He’s the man behind “Pulp Fiction”, a
movie that is loved by thousand even today! His first movie, “Reservoir
Dogs” won him accolades! He is the man behind “Inglorious Basterds”. QT,
as few call him, made a bizarre mix of pop music and art house cinema.
His thrillers are famous for their witty and satirical dialogues. His
“Kill Bill” series made Uma Therman very popular. He has received many
awards, including the Academy awards, Golden Globe award and the
prestigious Palme D’Or.
9. Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to win the Oscar in the best
director category. She won this award for the movie, “The Hurt Locker”
in 2008. She was married to fellow director, James Cameron. Kathryn is
known for her visuals and awesome action sequences. She is a very
talented painter too. In the year 2010, she was named in the Time 100
list of ‘most influential people of the year’. Her recent movie is “Zero
Dark Thirty”, which was released in 2012.
8. Woody Allen
Woody Allen
is an American screenwriter, director, actor,
comedian, author, playwright, and musician whose career spans over half a
century. If you appreciate true cinematic beauty and simplicity, then
you will love Woody Allen’s movies. He is best known for his light
hearted romantic comedies, which contain a dash of slapstick. His movies
portray the women as having strong characters. Some of his most famous
movies are, “Annie Hall”, “Midnight in Paris”, “Manhattan” etc. He has
the most number of Academy Award nominations as a screenwriter. He has
won four Oscars. In 2007, a Spanish university conferred him with a PhD
Honoris Causa.
7. Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is a famous American director. His origin is
Italian. He is best known for “The Godfather” trilogy, which is based on
the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo. In the 1960s, he emerged as
one of the leading directors of the 20
th century. He first
gained critical acclaim as a screenwriter and even won an Academy Award
for “Patton” in 1970. He is a legend, for directing some of the greatest
movies ever. His career had suffered a setback initially. But his
unwavering determination made him successful. “Apocalypse Now” marked
the end of the golden period in his career.
6. Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese is known for his gritty, meticulous filmmaking style
and is widely considered one of the most important directors of all
time. In 1973, he directed “Mean Streets”, which was his first film to
be recognized as a masterpiece. In the same movie, he collaborated with
Robert De Niro, marking the beginning of one of the most successful
partnerships in Hollywood. He is regarded as one of the greatest
directors of all time. He has made some of the most daring films. In
2007, he founded the World Cinema Foundation. He has accolades’ galore
and has even won the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution
to cinema.
5. Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock went on to become the most widely known and
influential director in the history of world cinema with a significant
body of work produced over 50 years. His first American film,
“Rebecca”, won an Academy Award for best picture. Hitchcock created more than 50 films, including the classics
“Rear Window
”, “The 39 Steps
” , “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and “Psycho
”.
His movies show eccentric characterization and comedy. Nicknamed, the
“Master of Suspense,” Hitchcock received the AFI’s Life Achievement
Award in 1979. He died in 1980.
4. Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan is best known for his existential explorations of
time and memory. He is intrigued and fascinated by the perception of
reality and identity. He is known as one of the most imaginative and
innovative storytellers today. He is a director of psychologically
demanding movies. If you have watched “Inception”, a brilliant movie
without any doubt, and one of its kind, then Nolan will strike your
head. His most famous character is Batman. In July 2012, Christopher
Nolan became the youngest director to be honored with a hand and
footprint ceremony at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
“The Dark Knight
Rises” was one of the biggest films of 2012, grossing about a billion at the box office.
3. James Cameron
James Francis Cameron first found success for directing the sci-fi
hit “The Terminator”, in 1984. He is one of the most popular Hollywood
directors. After his film “True Lies”, he took on his biggest film at
the time “Titanic
” (1997) which won the Academy Award for best
picture and him, the Academy Award for best director and film editing.
After Titanic, Cameron began a project that took almost 10 years to
make, his science-fiction epic “Avatar” (2009), for which he was
nominated for best director and film editing, again. Even today, the
movie Titanic is revered by people worldwide and it is one of the
greatest movies ever to be made.
2. Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood is not unheard of. He is one of the most macho of
stars. His suave style has made him an international icon. His
characters have a trademark expression. In a career that spanned over
half a century, actor-director Clint Eastwood managed to become both a
top box office draw and an Oscar-winning director. In 2000, he was
awarded the Italian Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for lifetime
achievement. In recent years, Eastwood has directed many films,
including the Academy Award-winning projects “Unforgiven”, “Mystic
River”, “Million Dollar Baby” and “The Changeling”.
1. Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg is a celebrated American director. He is loved by
his fans, the world over. He is perhaps the world’s most popular
filmmaker. He has made some of the most successful movies ever. In a
career of more than four decades, Steven Spielberg’s films have covered
many themes and genres. Spielberg went on to become the enormously
successful and Academy Award-winning director of such films
as “Schindler’s List”,” The Color Purple”, “E.T.: The
Extra-Terrestrial “and “Saving Private Ryan”. He is one of the most
influential film personalities and has countless big grosser are
accolades to his name. This list would be incomplete without him and he
is the numero uno!
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