60 Greatest Directors of All Time
(In alphabetical order)
* The List is almost two years old and a new revised list will be posted on Mar 1st 2012, which would be "100 Best Directors" *
Abbas Kiarostami
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: Persian
Best :The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)
Recommends : Life and Nothing More... (1992), Where Is the Friend's Home? (1989),
Close-Up (1990), Ten (2003), Taste of Cherry
(1997),Through
the Olive Trees (1994)
Akira Kurosawa *
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: Japanese
Best : Rashomon (1950)
Recommends : The Seven Samurai (1954) , Ikiru (1952), Yojimbo (1961), The Bad Sleep
Well, Madadayo (1993) , Ran (1985),
Kagemusha (1980), The Idiot (1951), The Hidden Fortress (1958), Throne of
Blood (1957)
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: Spanish / English
Best : Amores Perros (2001)
Recommends : Babel (2006), 21 Grams (2003)
Alfred Hitchcock *
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: English
Best : Psycho (1960)
Recommends : The Birds (1963) , Rear Window (1954) , Rope (1948) , Strangers on
the Train (1951), Rebecca (1940) ,Vertigo
(1958)
, North by Northwest (1959),To catch a thief (1955) , Dial M for Murder (1954) ,
Notorious (1946) , Lifeboat (1944)
Balachander Kailasam
Timeline : Classic/Contemporary
Predominant Language: Tamil
Best : Sindhu Bhairvi (1985)
Recommends : Unnal Mudiyum Thambi (1988) , Apoorva Raganagal (1975), Thanner
Thanneer (1981) , Moondru Mudichu (1976),
Vaaname Ellai (1992) , Azhagan (1991) ,Puthu Puthu Arthangal (1989) , Thillu Mullu
(1981) , Varumayin Niram Sigapu
(1980)
, Nizhal Nijamagiradhu (1978) , Iru Kodugal (1969) , Naanal (1965)
Bernardo Bertolucci
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English/Italian
Best : The Conformist (1970)
Recommends : The Last Emperor (1944) , Before the Revolution (1962) , The
Spider's Startagem (1970) , Partner (1968)
Billy Wilder *
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: English
Best : Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Recommends : The Apartment (1960) ,Some Like it Hot (1959), Double Indemnity
(1944) , Witness for the Prosecution (1957),
The
Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) ,The Fortune
Cookie (1966), One, Two, Three (1961), Stalag 17 (1953) ,
The Lost Weekend (1945),A Foregin Affair (1948) , Ball of Fire (1941)
Buster Keaton
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: Silent / English
Best : Sherock Jr. (1923)
Recommends : The General (1927), Go West (1925), Our Hospitatlity (1923) ,
The Three Ages (1923), The Navigator (1921),
Seven Chances (1917)
Charlie Chaplin *
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: Silent / English
Best : The City Lights (1931)
Recommends : Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1950) , LimeLight (1952),
Monsieur Verdoux (1947) , The Circus (1928) ,
The Gold Rush (1925) , The Kid (1921)
Christopher Nolan
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : The Dark Knight (2008)
Recommends : Batman Begins (2005), Insomnia (2002), Memento (2000) , The Prestige
(2006)
Clint Eastwood
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Unforgiven (1992)
Recommends : Million Dollar baby (2004), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Gran
Torino (2008), Changeling (2008), Mystic River
(2003),
A Perfect World (1993),The Bridges of Madison County (1995) , Space Cowboys (2000),The
Outlaw Josey
Wales (1976), The Gauntlet (1977), Honkytonk Man(1982), Pale Rider (1985), White
Hunter, Black Heart (1990), High
Plains Drifter (1973)
D.W.Griffith
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: Silent/English
Best : Birth of a Nation (1915)
Recommends : Broken Blossoms (1919) , Intolerance (1916)
Danny Boyle
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Trainspotting (1995)
Recommends : Slumdog Millionaire (2008), 28 Days Later (2007), Sunshine (2007),
Millions (2005) ,Shallow grave (1995)
Darren Aronofsky
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : The Wrestler (2008)
Recommends : Pi (1997), Requiem for a dream (2000), The Fountain (2006)
David Fincher
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Recommends : Fight Club (1999), Zodiac (2007), Se7en (1995) , The Game (1997)
, Panic Room (2002)
David Lean
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: English
Best : The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Recommends : Lawrence of Arabia (1962) , Doctor Zhivago (1965),A Passage to
India (1984), Summertime (1955),
Hobson's Choice (1954), Oliver Twist (1948), In Which We Serve (1942)
Elia Kazan
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: English
Best : On the Waterfront (1954)
Timeline : Classic
Recommends : A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) ,Splendor in the Grass (1961),Baby
Doll (1956),A Face in the Crowd (1957), Panic
in the Streets (1950), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Ernst Lubitsch
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: English
Best : The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Recommends : Ninotchka (1939) ,Heaven Can Wait (1943),To Be or Not to Be (1942),
The Merry Widow (1934),Trouble in Paradise
(1932)
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen *
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Fargo (1993)
Recommends : No Country for Old Men (2007) ,The Man Who Wasn't There (2001),
Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991),
Blood Simple (1984),The Big Lebowski (1998) , O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000),
Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Burn
After Reading (2008), A Serious Man (2009)
Federico Fellini
Timeline : Classic/ Contemporary
Predominant Language: Italian
Best : 8 1/2 (1963)
Recommends :Ginger & Fred (1986), And the Ship Sails On (1984), Amarcord (1974),
The Clowns (1971), La Dolce Vita (1960),
Nights of Cabiria (1957), Il Bidone (1955), La Strada (1954), I Vitelloni (1953),
The White Sheik (1952), Variety Lights
(1951)
Francis Ford Coppola *
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : The Godfather (1972)
Recommends : The Godfather 2 (1974), The Conversation (1974) , Apocalypse
Now (1979) , The Godfather 3 (1989),Peggy Sue
Got Married (1986) , Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988),Bram Stoker's Dracula
(1992), The Rainmaker (1997),
Rumble Fish (1983), The Cotton Club (1984)
Francois Truffaut *
Timeline : Classic/Contemporary
Predominant Language: French
Best : The 400 Blows (1959)
Recommends : Day for Night (1973), The Bride Wore Black (1967), The Wild Child
(1970) , Stolen Kisses (1968), Bed & Board
(1970),
Two English Girls (1972), Small Change (1976), The Story of Adele H. (1975) , Jules
And Jim (1962)
Frank Capra *
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: English
Best : It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Recommends : Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939), You can't take it with you
(1938), State of the Union, Arsenic and Old Lace
(1944),
Lost Horizon (1937), Meet John Doe (1941), Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936), It Happened
One Night (1934) ,
Lady for a Day (1933), The Miracle Woman (1931)
Fritz Lang
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: Silent/English
Best : Metropolis (1927)
Recommends : The Big Heat (1953), The Indian Tomb (1959),The Tiger of Eschnapur
(1956),While the City Sleeps (1956), Rancho
Notorious (1952), Scarlet Street (1945), Ministry of Fear (1944), The Woman in the
Window (1944) , M (1931) , Spies
(1928),
Man Hunt (1941)
George Cukor
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: English
Best : Gone With the Wind (1939)
Recommends : The Philadelphia Story (1940),My Fair Lady (1964), Adam's Rib
(1949),It Should Happen to You
(1954),
A Star Is Born (1954), Born Yesterday (1950) , Gaslight (1944), A Woman's Face (1941),
Holiday (1938), Camille
(1937), Dinner at Eight (1933)
Hayao Miyazaki
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language:
Best : Spirited Away (2002)
Recommends : The Howl's Moving Castle (2005), Princess Monohoke (1997), Ponyo
(2009), Porco Rosso (1992),Kiki's Delivery
Service (1989), Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Castle in the Sky (1986),
The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
Howard Hawks
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: English
Best : Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Recommends : His Girl Friday (1940) , Only Angels Have Wings (1939) , The
Big Sleep (1946), Air Force (1943),El Dorado (1967),
Rio Bravo (1959), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953),The Big Sky (1952), Red River
(1948), Scarface (1932), Ball of Fire
(1941),To
Have and Have Not (1945)
Ingmar Bergman
Timeline : Classic/Contemporary
Predominant Language: Swedish
Best : Persona (1966)
Recommends : Smiles of the Summer night (1956), Saraband (2005),Fanny and
Alexander (1982) , Autumn Sonata (1978), The
Magic Flute (1975) , Cries and Whispers (1972), Scenes from a Marriage (1973), The
Passion of Anna (1969) , The
Silence (1963), Wild Strawberries (1957), Through a Glass Dark (1961) ,The Magician
(1958) ,The Seventh Seal
(1957), Sawdust and Tinsel (1953), Secrets of Women (1952)
James Cameron
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Titanic (1997)
Recommends : Avatar (2009), Aliens (1986),The Terminator (1984), True Lies (1994), Terminator
2: Judgment Day (1991), The Abyss (1989)
Jean-Luc Godard *
Timeline : Classic / Contemporary
Predominant Language: French
Best : Breathless (1960)
Recommends : A Band of outsiders (1963), La Chinoise (1967), Détective (1985),
First Name: Carmen (1983), A Woman Is a Woman
(1960), My Life to Live (1962), Contempt (1964), Masculin Feminin (1966),Weekend
(1967), Made in U.S.A. (1966),
Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1967), Numéro Deux (1975)
Jean Renoir
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: French
Best : The Rules of the Game (1939)
Recommends : The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936),The Elusive Corporal (1962),
French Cancan (1954), The Golden Coach
(1952),
The River (1951), The Southerner (1945), La Bête Humaine (1938), Grand Illusion
(1937), Day in the Country
(1936), Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)
John Ford
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: English
Best : The Searchers (1956)
Recommends : How green was my valley (1941), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How
the West Was Won (1962), The Horse Soldiers (1949) , The Long Gray Line (1955),
Mogambo (1953), The Quiet Man (1952), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
(1949) , Fort Apache (1948), My Darling Clementine (1946) , The Long Voyage Home
(1940), Stagecoach (1939), The
Informer (1935)
John Lasseter
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Toy Story (1995)
Recommends : A Bug's Life (1998) , Toy Story 2 (1999), Cars (2006)
Ki Duk Kim
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: Korean
Best : Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
Recommends : 3-Iron(2004), Time (2006), The Isle (2002)
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: Polish
Best : The Decalogue (1988)
Recommends : Red (1994), Blue (1993), White (1993),A Short Film About Love
(1988) , No End (1985) , Camera Buff (1979), Blind
Chance (1981)
Majid Majidi
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: Persian
Best : Baran (2001)
Recommends : Children of Heaven (1997), The Song of Sparrows (2009) , The
Willow tree (2005), The Color of Paradise (1999)
Maniratnam
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: Tamil / Hindi
Best : Iruvar (1997)
Recommends : Dil Se (1998) ,Bombay (1995), Nayagan (1987) , Thalapathi (1991),
Anjali (1990), Roja (1992), Guru (2007) , Yuva
(2004), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002)
Martin Scorsese *
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Ragini Bull (1980)
Recommends : Mean Streets (1973) , Goodfellas (1990), Taxi Driver (1976) ,
The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), Gangs of
New York (2002), No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005), Shine a Light (2008), After
Hours (1985) ,The Color of Money
(1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), The Age of Innocence (1993), Casino
(1995), Kundun (1997) , The King
of Comedy (1982)
Orson Welles
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: English
Best : Citizen Kane (1941)
Recommends : The Magnificent Ambersons (1942),F For Fake (1976), The Immortal
Story (1968) , Chimes at Midnight (1967), The
Trial (1963) ,Touch of Evil (1958), Othello - The Lost Masterpiece (1952),The Stranger
(1946), The Lady from
Shanghai (1948)
Paul Greengrass
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : United 93 (2006)
Recommends : The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), Bloody
Sunday (2002)
Pedro Almodovar
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: Spanish
Best : Talk to her (2002)
Recommends : Labyrinth of Passion (1982),Broken Embraces (2009),Volver (2006),
Bad Education (2004), All About My Mother
(1999),The Flower of My Secret (1996) ,Law of Desire (1987),What Have I Done to
Deserve This? (1985),Women on
the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1989)
Peter Jackson
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : The Lord of the Rings - Return of the King (2003)
Recommends : The Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the ring (2001), The Lord
of the Rings - The Two Towers (2002), King Kong
(2005),Forgotten Silver (1997),Heavenly Creatures (1994) ,Dead Alive (1993)
Quentin Tarantino *
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Pulp Fiction (1994)
Recommends : Reservoir Dogs (1992), Kill Bill - Volume 1 (2003),Kill Bill
- Volume 2 (2004), Inglourious Basterds (2009) (2009),
Jackie Brown (1997)
Ridley Scott
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Blade Runner (1982)
Recommends : Gladiator (2000), American Gangster (2007), Black Hawk Down (2001),
Alien (1979), Matchstick Men (2003),Thelma
& Louise
(1991),The Duellists (1978)
Robert Zemeckis
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Forrest Gump (1994)
Recommends : Castaway (2000), Polar Express, Who Framed the Roger Rabbi t
(1988), Contact (1997), Beowulf (2007), A
Christmas Carol (2009),Romancing the Stone (1984),Back to the Future (1985), Back
to the Future Part II (1989),Back
to the Future Part III (1990)
Roman Polanski
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Chinatown (1974)
Recommends : The Pianist (2002),Death and the Maiden (1995),Bitter Moon (1994),Tess
(1980),The Tenant (1976),Macbeth
(1971),Rosemary's Baby (1968),Cul-de-Sac (1966),Repulsion (1965), Knife in the Water
(1963)
Sam Mendes
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : American Beauty (1999)
Recommends : Road to perdition (2002), Revolutionary Road (2008), Jarhead
(2005), Away we go (2009)
Satyajit Ray *
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: Bengali
Best : Charulata (1962)
Recommends : Pather Panchali(1954),Aparajito (1957),The World of Apu (1959) , Jalsagar
(1958) ,The Stranger (1991),The Home
and the World (1984) ,The Elephant God (1978),The Middleman (1976),The Chess Players
(1977),Pratidwandi
(1972),Days and Nights in the Forest (1970),Mahanagar (1963) ,Two Daughters (1961),Devi
(1960)
Sergei Eisenstein
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: Russian
Best :Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Recommends : Ivan the Terrible - Pt. 1 (1943),Ivan the Terrible - Pt. 2 (1946),Alexander
Nevsky (1938),Ten Days That Shook the
World
(1927),Strike (1924)
Sergio Leone
Timeline : Classic / Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Recommends : Once Upon a Time in the West (1969),Once Upon a Time in America
(1984), A Fistful of Dynamite (1971), For a Few
Dollars
More (1965) , A Fistful of Dollars (1965)
Sidney Lumet
Timeline : Classic / Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : 12 Angry Men (1957)
Recommends : Dog Day Afternoon (1975) ,Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
(2007), Q & A (1990) ,Running on Empty (1988), The
Verdict
(1982) , Prince of the City (1981) ,Network (1976), Murder on the Orient Express
(1974), Serpico (1973), The Hill
(1965), The Pawnbroker (1965) , Fail-Safe (1964), Long Day's Journey Into Night
(1962) (2007)
Stanley Kubrick
Timeline : Classic / Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(1964)
Recommends : Lolita (1962) ,Barry Lyndon (1975) , A Clockwork Orange (1971),
Full Metal Jacket(1985) , The Shining (1980), 2001:
A Space Odyssey (1968) , Spartacus (1960), Paths of Glory (1957), The Killing (1956),
Fear and Desire (1953), Killer's
Kiss (1955) , Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Steven Spielberg *
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Schindler's List (1993)
Recommends : Saving Private Ryan (1998), Jaws (1975),Raiders of the Lost Ark
(1981),E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Munich
(2005),
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Minority Report (2002),Jurassic Park
(1993),Amistad (1997), Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), War of the Worlds (2005), The
Terminal (2004), Catch Me If You
Can (2002) ,A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Empire of the Sun (1987), Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade (1989),
The Color
Purple (1985), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), The Sugarland Express
(1974), Duel (1971)
Tim Burton
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best :The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Recommends : Ed Wood (1994), Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005),Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory (2005), Sweeney Todd: The
Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
(1985) Corpse Bride
(2005)
Vittorio De Sica
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: Italian
Best : The Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Recommends : Umberto D (1950), The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1971), Two
Women (1961), Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
(1964)
Werner Herzog
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: German/ English
Best : Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1973)
Recommends : Even Dwarfs Started Small (1971), The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
(1975), Stroszek (1977), Nosferatu: The Vampyre
(1979), Burden of Dreams (1982) , Rescue Dawn (2007) , Grizzly Man (2005) , Wheel
of Time (2005) , The White
Diamond (2005), Little Dieter Needs To Fly (1997), Cobra Verde (1987)
William Wyler
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: English
Best : Roman Holiday (1953)
Recommends : Wuthering Heights (1939),The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) ,Mrs.
Miniver (1942) ,Ben-Hur (1959), How to Steal a
Million (1966), Funny Girl (1968), The Big Country (1958), Friendly Persuasion (1956)
, The Heiress (1949), The Little
Foxes (1941), The Letter (1940) ,Dodsworth (1936) (1959), Jezebel (1938) , Dead
End (1937) , These Three (1936),
Counsellor at Law (1933)
Wong Kar Wai
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: Chinese
Best : Chungking Express (1992)
Recommends : Fallen Angels (1996), 2046 (2005) , My Blueberry Nights (2005),
In the Mood for Love (2001), Ashes of Time (1994),
Days of Being Wild (1990)
Woody Allen
Timeline : Contemporary
Predominant Language: English
Best : Annie Hall (1977)
Recommends : Manhattan (1979) ,The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Match Point
(2005), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008),
Cassandra's Dream (2008),Broadway Danny Rose (1984) , Radio Days (1986) , Crimes
and Misdemeanors
(1989) ,Husbands and Wives (1992) ,Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) ,Bullets Over
Broadway (1994) , Zelig
(1983) ,Love and Death (1975) ,Sleeper (1973) ,Take the Money and Run (1969) ,Bananas
(1971), Play It Again, Sam
(1972) ,Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask (1972)
Yashujiro Ozu
Timeline : Classic
Predominant Language: Japanese
Best : Tokyo Story (1953)
Recommends : Early Summer (1951), An Autumn Afternoon (1962),Late Autumn (1960),Floating
Weeds (1959) ,Good Morning
(1959),Equinox Flower (1958) ,Tokyo Twilight (1957) , Early Spring (1956) ,Early
Summer (1951) ,Late Spring
(1949) ,Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947) ,I Was Born, But... (1932)
* Highly Recommended Directors
All directors are selected purely on our viewing experience. However not all movie
recommendations are based on our viewing experience.
A very few are based on suggestions from various sources.