# Two great, Unsung Directors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2004, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886 "2004-01-31T06:41:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DaPearl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DaPearl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaPearl)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/1 "2004-01-31T06:41:19Z")
Alan Parker and Peter weir Yes we all hear Kubrick, Scorsese, Spielberg, Coppola, and others as great directors, but when was the last time you’ve heard about the works of Alan Parker and Peter Weir; two great, unsung directors. They’ve made some great films but inexplicably are rarely discussed. Parker with _The Wall_, _Angel Hear_, and though I haven’t seen it, I’ve heard good things about _The Life of David Gale_. And Weir _Mosquito Coast_ (a favorite of mine), _The Truman Show_, and most recently _Master and Commander_. So in this thread, pay your respects to those unsung directors who never seem to get the recognition they deserve. (For the record, my favorite director is Sam Peckinpah. I considered putting him in the above, but decided against it since he does, sometimes, get a little bit of recognition, though not as much as he deserves.) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/2 "2004-01-31T06:53:10Z")
Robert Zemeckis Notable credits (director) - Forest Gump, Back to the Future (I, II, III), Castaway. ---
**Author:** ![sirtonyh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@sirtonyh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirtonyh)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/3 "2004-01-31T07:01:03Z")
**Todd Solandz** , credits include _Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness_ and _Storytelling_. I think he is one of the best writer/directors currently working. Very acerbic and witty **Tony Scott** , credits include _Crimson Tide, Top Gun, Enemy of the State_ and _True Romance_. Now, I don’t think he is neccessarily a _great_ director in the same sense as Kubrick or Scorcese but he is one of the best at what he does which is popcorn action movies. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/4 "2004-01-31T07:12:21Z")
Barry Sonnenfeld. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/5 "2004-01-31T14:15:16Z")
\*\*Hal Hartley & David Mamet \*\* - Two of the few directos out there who have truly distinctive acting and writing styles in their movies. **Julie Taymor** - _Titus_ was the most inspired version of a Shakespeare since Olivier’s Henry V. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/6 "2004-01-31T14:31:01Z")
Out of curiosity, how in the _hell_ can you say that Robert Zemeckis, Barry Sonnenfeld and Tony Scott are underappreciated and underrecognized?😉 Unless that wooshing sound isn’t the air purifier I’m sitting next too. 😃 Howzabout: Erich Von Stroheim Jacques Tati Josef Von Sternberg Carl Theodore Dreyer William Wellman ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/7 "2004-01-31T14:57:41Z")
Every one of these directors is well know, but Peter Weir is a good call. He should be the most popular director on earth. Most movies that he makes make people reassess the actors he uses: _Gallipoli The Year of Living Dangerously_ made Mel Gibson a star. _Witness_ turned Harrison Ford from bit player to leading man. _Dead Poets Society_ showed more depth to Robin Williams. _Green Card_ made Gérard Depardieu a sex symbol for a while (look at the guy to see what an achievement this is). Unfortunately he also boosted Andie MacDowell’s career as well. _The Truman Show_ let Jim Carrey expand his horizons. All things being equal I expect Paul Bettany, _Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World_ will star in a huge hit in the next year or two. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/8 "2004-01-31T14:58:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Erich Von Stroheim The lost footage of Greed is one of filmdom’s holy grails, I hardly think he’s underappreciated. Granted not as well known now, but then most of his original audience is dead. Give you the other four though and add - Jacques Demy, for the Umbrellas of Cherbourg alone. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/9 "2004-01-31T15:02:30Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Every one of these directors is well know, but Peter Weir is a good call. He should be the most popular director on earth. Most movies that he makes make people reassess the actors he uses: > > _Witness_ turned Harrison Ford from bit player to leading man. > All things being equal I expect Paul Bettany, _Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World_ will star in a huge hit in the next year or two. Uh, you mean _other_ than Star Wars, Blade Runner and Raiders Of The Lost Ark _and_ Temple Of Doom? I’m sticking with Von Stroheim. He was underappreciated in his lifetime, and now, so he gets a pass. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/10 "2004-01-31T15:52:31Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by don’t ask_ > **All things being equal I expect Paul Bettany, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World will star in a huge hit in the next year or two.** He’s the main character in _The Reckoning_ and the trailer looks pretty cool. He’s also a lead (I think he’s the lead) in a movie called _Wimbledon_ (about guess which sport). Both of them have very respectable casts, one of them has to hit big. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/11 "2004-01-31T16:14:19Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by don’t ask_ > **All things being equal I expect Paul Bettany, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World will star in a huge hit in the next year or two.** He’s the main character in _The Reckoning_ and the trailer looks pretty cool. He’s also a lead (I think he’s the lead) in a movie called _Wimbledon_ (about guess which sport). Both of them have very respectable casts, one of them has to hit big. ---
**Author:** ![DaPearl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DaPearl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaPearl)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/12 "2004-01-31T19:35:37Z")
I don’t think Weir’s movies made Ford a leading man, but _Witness_ and _Mosquito Coast_ expanded the variety of Ford’s roles. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/13 "2004-01-31T20:15:51Z")
Alan Parker and Peter Weir? Are you serious? Both of these guys’ careers have been examples of steady mainstream success. Weir and Parker make _slightly_ more interesting choices than the whoriest of hollywood directors (e.g., Ron Howard, Rob Reiner, Michael Bay, Garry/Penny Marshall, and the old queen who ruined the Batman franchise, whose name escapes [mercifully] for the moment)–but ONLY slightly. Personally, either name on a movie poster (Parker, Weir) is more likely to make me think twice before getting in line than encourage me to do so. IMHO, a serious filmlover could avoid these guys entirely and not really miss anything. Extremely important directors whose stuff is not even easily available: Rossellini, Mizoguchi, Tourneur, Sirk, etc. etc. Nicholas Ray, Wellman (as pointed out above), Leo Carey, and on and on. Sheesh. Weir and Parker. I roll my eyes at you. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/14 "2004-01-31T20:23:59Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Alan Parker and Peter Weir? > > Are you serious? > > Both of these guys’ careers have been examples of steady mainstream success. Weir and Parker make _slightly_ more interesting choices than the whoriest of hollywood directors (e.g., Ron Howard, Rob Reiner, Michael Bay, Garry/Penny Marshall, and the old queen who ruined the Batman franchise, whose name escapes [mercifully] for the moment)–but ONLY slightly. Personally, either name on a movie poster (Parker, Weir) is more likely to make me think twice before getting in line than encourage me to do so. > > IMHO, a serious filmlover could avoid these guys entirely and not really miss anything. > > Extremely important directors whose stuff is not even easily available: Rossellini, Mizoguchi, Tourneur, Sirk, etc. etc. Nicholas Ray, Wellman (as pointed out above), Leo Carey, and on and on. > > Sheesh. Weir and Parker. I roll my eyes at you. That was the point I was trying to get across, albeit in a slightly less confrontational manner. 😃 I wouldn’t include McCarey in that list. His Marx Bros. stuff and _An Affair To Remember_ aren’t exactly prime examples of lamentable obscurity. I’d replace him with Stan Brakhage and John Cassavetes. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/15 "2004-01-31T20:42:55Z")
[Monte Hellman](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0375494/bio) Now _there’s_ someone who is unsung and underappreciated! No one could direct the late great Warren Oates the way Hellman could (see _ **Two Lane Blacktop** _, _ **Cockfighter** _ and _ **China 9, Liberty 37** _). ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/16 "2004-01-31T21:46:07Z")
Well, there’s always Edgar G. Ulmer in the list of unsung and hard-to-find and wonderful imagination… ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/17 "2004-02-01T00:07:23Z")
Three points: 1. It’s Joel Schumacher, you damn dirty homophobe 😉 2. Is Sirk still obscure enough to belong to this thread? He’s seemed to have gained recognition in the last couple of years. 3. Speaking of obscure enough, would Rouben Mamoulian be a suitable nominee for the list? Oh, one last note, to the Mods (and **lissener** ): My comments above aren’t meant as a “flame” ---
**Author:** ![Husker\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Husker\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Husker_Dude)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/18 "2004-02-01T00:51:15Z")
**1) Lars von Trier** Yes, his Dogme films can suck it, but **The Kingdom I** and **II** are the best mini series ever made. Even better than **Band of Brothers**. **Dogville** looks promising too. **2) Jim Jarmusch** Master off quirky non-pretentious independent movies. “If looks could kill, I am a-dead now.” **3) Jean-Pierre Jeunet** His visual style is so unique. I mean, you could pick a frame from any of his movies, at random, and it would be fit for framing above your fireplace like a piece of art. May he never set a foot inside of Hollywood again. My favorite of his is **Delicatessen**. **The City of Lost Children** really, really needs the full Criterion treatment. The version I own is dubbed in English, just horrible. **4) Alex Proyas** For **Dark City** alone. That movie is so criminally under appreciated, even amongst movie geeks. I don’t think I’ll embarass myself too much when I say that this is one of my all time favorite movies. …I could probably think of many more. ---
**Author:** ![joshmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@joshmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joshmaker)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/19 "2004-02-01T06:14:49Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > …the whoriest of hollywood directors (e.g., Ron Howard, Rob Reiner, Michael Bay, Garry/Penny Marshall, and the old queen who ruined the Batman franchise, whose name escapes [mercifully] for the moment) Are you serious? Rob Reiner has had some bad movies, but the director of “The Princess Bride” and “This Is Spinal Tap” in no way deserves to be listed with Michael [cough]hack[cough] Bay. Sheeesh. Some times a director’s failures can make us overlook their talent. John Frankenheimer for example. While I have no intention of watching some of his latter movies (ie, Reindeer Games), some of his earlier films are impressive. Seven Days in May is excellent, and The Manchurian Candidate is a masterpiece. Likewise, the superb noir thriller “The Third Man” proved that Carol Reed had undeniable talent, even if he never made another movie that matched it. I’ll agree with Hüsker Düde that Alex Proyas is underrated. Dark City is a visual delight. Lets see… of course, there are plenty of excellent directors such as Hayao Miyazaki who are under-appreciated in America but are well known elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886/20 "2004-02-01T07:43:17Z")
Nicholas Ray? Roberto Rosselini? Bah, mainstream fluff! Try Im Kwon-Taek–terrific director, but virtually unknown outside Korea. His films most familiar to Western filmgoers are _Sopyonje_, _Chunhyang_, and _Chihwaseon_. Criterion will get to him eventually and break his films out to a larger audience. How about Jafar Panahi, director of _The White Balloon_ and _The Circle_? Some of the most provocative films of the last decade have come from Iran, but they get virtually no play here in the States outside NYC and LA. And let’s not forget about Yasujiro Ozu (_Tokyo Story, Floating Weeds_), Juzo Itami (_The Funeral, Tampopo, A Taxing Woman_), and Satyajit Ray (_Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Apu Sansar_). I’d mention Akira Kurosawa, but I’m sure his films are far too familiar to Dopers to consider him an unsung director. And Alan Parker is a hack–_Mississippi Burning_, anyone? You ought to hear what Roger Waters and Gerald Scarfe have to say about him on the _Pink Floyd’s The Wall_DVD commentary. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-great-unsung-directors/226886.md?page=2)