Lynch is always interesting, but most of his films are too incoherent for him to be considered one of the “greats.”
Spielberg, for all his influence on the past three decades of American cinema, lacks the depth to make the list, too. He’s a fantastic cinematographer, and has an excellent command of the tools of visual storytelling, but he doesn’t trust his audience enough. He always spoonfeeds his motives and morals to the viewer. Look at the “I tried to earn it” speech at the end of Saving Private Ryan, which ruined the end of the film for me, or Tom Hanks’ “Why I’m doing this mission” spiel, which had Oscar nomination clip written all over it. His characters are usually pretty shallow, too. SPR had two characters (Hanks and the translator) and a bunch of red shirts.
Until Wumpus shows up, I think I’ll have to step up to defend the Coen brothers, who, for my money, are the best American filmmakers today. (Well, maybe after Scorcese) Most striking is their unparralleled ear for dialogue, and especially dialect. Fargo is the best example of this, but also look at O Brother, Where Art Thou, or Raising Arizona. Of course, good scripts do not a great director make, as has already been pointed out in the posts dismissing Woody Allen. But they are also superlative cinematographers. Some of their shots have an almost iconic power. I’m thinking, in particular, of the aerial shot of Bill Macy in the snowy parking lot in Fargo, the scene between Gabriel Byrne and John Turturro in the forest in Miller’s Crossing, and John Goodman in the flaming corridor in Barton Fink.
That the Coen’s lack emotional depth may be a legitimate complaint. At their worst, their films are more concerned with the artifice of filmmaking than the emotional lives of their characters (Hudsucker Proxy, for example, or the cipher-like Byrne character in Miller’s Crossing) However, in Fargo they showed a capacity for incredible emotional depth. Bill Macy’s pathetic, inept, despairing salesman is one of the best characters ever created for the silver screen, IMO. Hell, even the weather in that movie has a distinct character. Or look at Hi from Raising Arizona, or Barton Fink from Barton Fink. These are strong, complex characters whose emotions ring very true.
While their emotional content may sometimes be lacking, none of their films has ever been less than thought provoking. Barton Fink in particular has lent itself to endless analysis, especially amongst the French. One of the joys of re-watching The Big Lebowski is trying to keep up with the Dude as he unravels the plot, and realizing at last that the movie does indeed make perfect sense. (Anyone who wants to argue that it should be excluded because it is not crystal clear on the first viewing is invited to view The Maltese Falcon, or better yet, Casablanca, whose plot, when you get right down to it, is pretty damn illogical.)
Everytime I re-watch a CB movie, I come away with something new. There are damn few other artists, in any medium, for whom I can say the same thing. So, yeah, I think Joel and Ethan are at least one leg (if not two) of the triumvirate of great American directors.
Ah well, to each his own.
