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Post by wilcinema on Jan 17, 2021 13:43:11 GMT
It might sound like a rhetorical question but there are directors whose evolution is quite clear if you watch their movies chronologically. Bergman is one, for example; another is Almodovar. Among American directors, Paul Thomas Anderson is an easy example.
What others can you think of? I always like to approach directors from this point of view, so it can be an interesting thread for some recommendations.
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Post by dadsburgers on Jan 17, 2021 14:06:05 GMT
Sidney Lumet would be a cool one
Adam McKay as well
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 17, 2021 14:32:16 GMT
The GOAT director imo .........Roman Polanski who after his rape conviction (and actually earlier with the film that preceded it ironically The Tenant) made films that in one way or another were mea culpa works and justice assessments (and at times his most overtly feminist movies too - which is really saying something - he made A LOT)........great movies too later that also argue his place as an artist and blame too and justice/law and fate.
Love him or hate him, it's fearless and his career work increments by watching in order....
Tess, Death & The Maiden, Venus in Furs, Carnage, An Officer and a Spy etc.........in some ways........The Pianist even.
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Post by pupdurcs on Jan 17, 2021 14:42:39 GMT
Tony Scott's evolution is very interesting chronologically, and his experimentation with film form and editing techniques over the years is a constant in his career.
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Post by TerryMontana on Jan 17, 2021 15:29:06 GMT
I mean, isn't that the deal with almost every director??  |
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 17, 2021 16:38:39 GMT
Another I would say is Robert Bresson - even for people who find him boring (not me, at all). His filmography is small and kind of perfect (to me!) and one of his films is I think a rarity in film history that helps big time if you see it where it places in his filmography - The Devil, Probably (1977) which is a young person's movie that only an old man could have actually made....and it is in many ways so bleak that coming after his other films it kind washes over you when you realize who made it and what it said about 1977 (and 2021 too). Tarkovsky is also like this and like Bresson - small filmography, people are discovering both each year, The Sacrifice has a level of bleakness to it too that resonates because of who made it. Generally people who don't like The Sacrifice (not me!) are like those who don't like The Devil, Probably or L'Argent (or in English, The Irishman actually - not kidding).......life hasn't inflicted itself upon them enough I reckon....or they saw it too soon to know the artists who made them in the case of Bresson and Tarkovsky.   |
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Post by themoviesinner on Jan 17, 2021 16:58:15 GMT
How do you mean evolution as a director? Is it in the way he explores the themes he is interested in, as in becoming more complex with each consequent film? Because complex doesn't necessarily mean better. But, there are many directors whose works have a logical thematic continuity. I think Nuri Bilge Ceylan is the best example.
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Post by The_Cake_of_Roth on Jan 17, 2021 22:22:38 GMT
Terrence Malick comes to mind since Badlands is probably his most accessible film, and Tree of Life feels like a culmination of his career up to that point. I also feel like you're more likely to appreciate his post-Tree of Life films (with the exception of A Hidden Life) if you've seen his previous ones and see how he became more experimental in his style and unmoored from traditional narrative.
Sofia Coppola is another one... at least through Somewhere, which feels like her most formally audacious work while still engaging with similar themes of her previous films.
Edit: Thinking about it more, I think it makes sense to watch The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, and On the Rocks in order since each represents a different stage in female identity growth (youth, post-college, post-marriage/motherhood)
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Post by wilcinema on Jan 17, 2021 23:09:48 GMT
How do you mean evolution as a director? Is it in the way he explores the themes he is interested in, as in becoming more complex with each consequent film? Because complex doesn't necessarily mean better. But, there are many directors whose works have a logical thematic continuity. I think Nuri Bilge Ceylan is the best example. Thematic and stylistic (eg., the evolution of someone like Cronenberg). I realize the question in my head that made me open this thread was much more interesting though, I just don’t know how to articulate my points lol |
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Jan 18, 2021 3:26:08 GMT
Spielberg might be an interesting one to watch chronologically, because you can follow him from his roots as more of a populist popcorn guy with things like Jaws and E.T. to him clearly wanting to make movies with more of a message in Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. Heck after 1993, his attempts at blockbusters feel way less significant when compared to his Oscary dramas.
Orson Welles would be another great one too, mostly cause you can see his films get progressively stranger and stranger as he basically loses major funding from the studios who don’t appreciate his “ego”, and has to scrounge up money from other sources mainly Europe.
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Post by franklin on Jan 18, 2021 3:30:22 GMT
Scorsese
From "Who's That Knocking At My Door?" to "The Irishman".
It's a fascinating growth.
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Post by themoviesinner on Jan 18, 2021 7:56:04 GMT
How do you mean evolution as a director? Is it in the way he explores the themes he is interested in, as in becoming more complex with each consequent film? Because complex doesn't necessarily mean better. But, there are many directors whose works have a logical thematic continuity. I think Nuri Bilge Ceylan is the best example. Thematic and stylistic (eg., the evolution of someone like Cronenberg). I realize the question in my head that made me open this thread was much more interesting though, I just don’t know how to articulate my points lol Don't worry, I find the thought indeed very interesting. And evaluating the question a bit more I think another director whose films can benefit from a viewing in chronological order is Theodoros Angelopoulos. His filmography is extremely consistent, not only in terms of style, but thematically as well. He has made only 13 films and most of them are parts of thematic trilogies: Trilogy Of History (Days Of 36', The Travelling Players, The Hunters) Trilogy Of Silence (Voyage To Cythera, The Beekeeper, Landscape In The Mist) Trilogy Of Borders (The Suspended Step Of The Stork, Ulysses Gaze, Eternity And A Day) Trilogy On Modern Greece - which he didn't manage to finish (The Weeping Meadow, The Dust Of Time) Even the themes he explores in each trilogy have a common link in Greek history, culture and ethics, but some are much more personal (Trilogy Of Silence for example) and some more detached (Trilogy Of History). Even the two films that aren't part of a trilogy seem to be linked thematically to the others. Alexander The Great for instance feels like a summary of everything explored in the Trilogy Of History. He is definitely a director worth exploring, even if his style can be quite hard to get into (especially when viewing his films in chronological order). But he is one of my all time favourites and I highly recommend his work. |
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Post by wilcinema on Jan 18, 2021 8:03:38 GMT
Thematic and stylistic (eg., the evolution of someone like Cronenberg). I realize the question in my head that made me open this thread was much more interesting though, I just don’t know how to articulate my points lol Don't worry, I find the thought indeed very interesting. And evaluating the question a bit more I think another director whose films can benefit from a viewing in chronological order is Theodoros Angelopoulos. His filmography is extremely consistent, not only in terms of style, but thematically as well. He has made only 13 films and most of them are parts of thematic trilogies: Trilogy Of History (Days Of 36', The Travelling Players, The Hunters) Trilogy Of Silence (Voyage To Cythera, The Beekeeper, Landscape In The Mist) Trilogy Of Borders (The Suspended Step Of The Stork, Ulysses Gaze, Eternity And A Day) Trilogy On Modern Greece - which he didn't manage to finish (The Weeping Meadow, The Dust Of Time) Even the themes he explores in each trilogy have a common link in Greek history, culture and ethics, but some are much more personal (Trilogy Of Silence for example) and some more detached (Trilogy Of History). Even the two films that aren't part of a trilogy seem to be linked thematically to the others. Alexander The Great for instance feels like a summary of everything explored in the Trilogy Of History. He is definitely a director worth exploring, even if his style can be quite hard to get into (especially when viewing his films in chronological order). But he is one of my all time favourites and I highly recommend his work. I’ve always wanted to explore him more, since I’ve only seen two films of his (Eternity and a day, Landscape in the mist). I might start doing that soon. |
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Post by jimmalone on Jan 18, 2021 12:37:34 GMT
Maybe Wong Kar Wai is one example, as you can see how he rarefies his style in small details. Though I would stop after "My Blueberry Nights" as "The Grandmaster" is rather something that feels like one of his earlier works.
Sergio Leone's Westerns from "A Fistful of Dollars" to "Once upon a Time in the West" get always more complex and he brings his language of pictures and music really to perfection.
Christopher Nolan mostly makes sense to me as well - though with small changes (Prestige would fit better before Batman Begins and Inception after The Dark Knight Rises). But also due to much bigger budgets the evolvment is really interesting. First the very simple "Following" or "Memento", which basically relies on one trick, then his more action-orientated Batman-flicks and then the more complex films, where he can play much around with his imagination and ideas.
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Post by MsMovieStar on Jan 18, 2021 14:59:49 GMT
Oh honey, my favorite director, Luis Buñuel, for sure. He appeared with an explosion in 1929 with Un Chien Andalou and almost 50 years later his work was still provocative, original and iconoclastic. No one pushed the envelope like Buñuel, absolutely no one (OK, maybe Sion Sono).  |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2021 15:37:32 GMT
An Officer and a Gentlemen is a Polanski film?!  |
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 18, 2021 15:46:34 GMT
An Officer and a Gentlemen is a Polanski film?!  Corrected, thank you Tyler!........I think on some level I was just upset with all the defense of Nate Parker's, ahem, "artistry" when I still can't (legally) see An Officer and a Spy in America .........grrrrr |
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Post by hugobolso on Jan 20, 2021 16:22:39 GMT
Oh honey, my favorite director, Luis Buñuel, for sure. He appeared with an explosion in 1929 with Un Chien Andalou and almost 50 years later his work was still provocative, original and iconoclastic. No one pushed the envelope like Buñuel, absolutely no one (OK, maybe Sion Sono). Excellent. You can't understand french Buñuel, without seing first mexican Buñuel |
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Post by jakesully on Jan 20, 2021 17:54:35 GMT
Tony Scott's evolution is very interesting chronologically, and his experimentation with film form and editing techniques over the years is a constant in his career. Outstanding choice! I miss him so much. |
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Steve17
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Post by Steve17 on Feb 13, 2021 2:10:30 GMT
I like to do this once in a while with Kevin Smith, more specifically his View Askewniverse films: Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks II, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. I also usually put in Jersey Girl (my DVD copy is signed by him) and Zack and Miri Make a Porno because I own those.
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Post by Sharbs on Feb 14, 2021 2:25:12 GMT
I did the Michael Mannquest a few years back chronologically (with the exception of The Keep) and that was pretty neat to see his evolution into having more fluidity in his works. Malick is a great example as well
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Post by Joaquim on May 6, 2021 0:49:20 GMT
Lucifer valentine
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tobias
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Post by tobias on May 8, 2021 21:46:58 GMT
Another I would say is Robert Bresson - even for people who find him boring (not me, at all). His filmography is small and kind of perfect (to me!) and one of his films is I think a rarity in film history that helps big time if you see it where it places in his filmography - The Devil, Probably (1977) which is a young person's movie that only an old man could have actually made....and it is in many ways so bleak that coming after his other films it kind washes over you when you realize who made it and what it said about 1977 (and 2021 too). Tarkovsky is also like this and like Bresson - small filmography, people are discovering both each year, The Sacrifice has a level of bleakness to it too that resonates because of who made it. Generally people who don't like The Sacrifice (not me!) are like those who don't like The Devil, Probably or L'Argent (or in English, The Irishman actually - not kidding).......life hasn't inflicted itself upon them enough I reckon....or they saw it too soon to know the artists who made them in the case of Bresson and Tarkovsky. Hm, I mean I watched The Sacrifice at 17 and it has been my 2nd favourite Tarkovsky (after Rublev) ever since, though I would agree that the film might make more sense if you've seen his other films. It even ends with the same motif that Ivan started with (child under a tree), thus bookending Tarkosky's career - which seems intentional, given he knew he would die.
I don't find this holds true for Bresson at all though. I can't imagine watching Diary of Country Priest, A Man Escaped or Pickpocket increasing your appreciation of his late works significantly. Either you like them or you don't, from a Man Escaped onwards his stylistics are extremely similar anyway. I would even go so far to say The Devil, Probably should be the Bresson film that speaks most to young people. It's certainly my favourite. I would say similar things about L'argent, it's a very youthful film considering he was in his early 80's. The most interesting part of his career to watch chronologically is from his surrealist madcap debut film Les Affaires publiques (which is surprisingly good btw, but the available copy is terrible) to Man Escaped or maybe Pickpocket. Bresson for all his pertinent stylistics is reall just a masterfull director in general who would have been a complete baller within genre-filmmaking as well. He made better noir than Cluzot when he wanted to. Bresson was really just a great dude, can't say anything bad about the guy.
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wonky
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Post by wonky on May 11, 2021 8:32:34 GMT
Does anybody else listen to the podcast Blank Check? They do this, each movie gets an episode in order. It's fun.
So far they've covered M. Night Shyamalan, The Wachowskis, Cameron Crowe, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg post-1993, Christopher Nolan, Kathryn Bigelow, James L. Brooks, Brad Bird, Ang Lee, Nancy Meyers, Tim Burton, Michael Mann, Hayao Miyazaki, Jonathan Demme, George Miller, Nora Ephron, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Robert Zemeckis, John Musker & Ron Clements, and Elaine May. Currently doing John Singleton with John Carpenter next.
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