Cue Europe...Gob Bluth is about to prove that I love these directors more than anybody and perform some magic for us.
This is it, the final countdown of the Blahblahblahgay Top 10 Favourite Directors. We've assessed the 10 most likely to succeed in Part 1 and we've looked at the fallen 20 in Part 2 but this is the real deal now, the list that ties it all together and makes you realise how crazy I am. By the end of this post you'll be asking yourself how I chose X over Fincher or Y over Tarantino and just where the hell is Z if he doesn't even get a mention in a list of 40 directors? I've been ready for this from the day I realised what I'd done so hit me with your best shot, I wanna see your flabbers gasted in the comments and I especially want you to criticise these directors for not being as good as your choice. The fun is in the contrariness afterall.
Number 10 is Gregg Araki, the director of eight features; one of which I haven't been able to find (Splendor) and one of which was too dumb for words (Smiley Face), all of them shot on an almost micro budget and always innovative, bizarre and fascinating viewing. For me Gregg Araki encapsulates the kind of cinema America could make if it wasn't so fascinated with explosions and Jennifer Aniston's hair. Essential: Mysterious Skin, Nowhere, Kaboom Don't Miss This: Totally Fucked Up, The Doom Generation, The Living End For Completists Only: Smiley Face
9th place for the first Asian director on my list, Wong Kar-Wai, director of the beautiful In The Mood For Love and it's slightly more surreal sequel 2046, spontaneous creator of the brilliant Chungking Express and one of the only men to make a Jude Law film watchable with his American debut My Blueberry Nights. Of his nine movies to date I've only missed his epic historical drama Ashes of Time and he even features in my noir-a-thon with his 1988 debut As Tears Go By. Possessor of a singular visual style for his films he owes a lot to the brilliant Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle. Essential: In The Mood For Love, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels Don't Miss This: As Tears Go By, 2046, Days of Being Wild For Completists Only: My Blueberry Nights
At number 8 sits my final choice, a late replacement for Vincent Gallo when I realised he didn't deserve a place for only two films yet when it came to placing Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn within the ten I felt he deserved a higher ranking. As a young film maker in Denmark growing up in a culture of Dogme95 it must have taken a strong willed and arrogant man to thumb his nose at von Trier et al and in this case a man with the talent to back it up. The Pusher Trilogy alone was enough to get him noticed but his output since then has been even better, and that's not even considering his early English language film Fear X. Essential: Pusher, Drive, Bronson Don't Miss This: Fear X, Pusher II, Valhalla Rising For Completists Only: Pusher III
7th place is as high as I could allow my folly to place the youngest member of the ten, mumblecore director Aaron Katz. To label Katz as simply a mumblecore director is an insult, for me there's mumblecore and then there's mumblecore directed by Aaron Katz. His work stands out as much better than his contemporaries in the movement and has seen a huge growth in quality between Dance Party, USA in 2006 and Cold Weather in 2010, of all the ten on this list his is the work I am most envious of and the man I most want to emulate with my forthcoming work. Essential: Cold Weather, Dance Party USA, Quiet City
This was a tough call, 6th place for quirky filmmaker extraordinaire Wes Anderson seems incredibly low for somebody who has yet to make a bad movie. I think having not seen Moonrise Kingdom yet may have something to do with it but also the fact that his films are a little lighter in their content than some others ahead of him. I am not a huge fan of Rushmore if I'm honest even though I did enjoy it and Life Aquatic just didn't sit right with me despite numerous attempts to enjoy it. I thought the way he transposed his cinematic style to stop motion animation with Fantastic Mr Fox was a particularly brilliant moment in his career however. Essential: The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr Fox Don't Miss This: Rushmore, Bottle Rocket For Completists Only: The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
The Top 5 opens with Kevin Smith. Possibly the most improbable of all the final ten when you consider his affection for rubber poop monsters and dick & fart jokes and the fact that my growth as a person meant the outspoken QT was kicked off of the list but there's no denying the fact that Kevin Smith has got talent. I've said it previously but if Red State had any other directors name on it there would have been talk of Oscar nominations, it was a bold and brilliant movie and a complete change of pace for him. In addition to that I find him highly entertaining both as a person and as a storyteller. I don't care what anyone says Mallrats is a great movie. Essential: Clerks, Red State, Mallrats Don't Miss This: Chasing Amy, Dogma, Cop Out For Completists Only: Zack & Miri Make A Porno
4th place for the only directing team on the list; The Coen Brothers have yet to make a bad movie. I might not enjoy the farcical nature of some of their cannon but that doesn't make them bad, if it wasn't for the less enjoyable Hudsucker Proxy there might not have been The Big Lebowski for example. Together they have created a body of work over the past 28 years that is second to none in terms of quality and watchability; their affection for film noir certainly goes a long way in my book too. Essential: A Serious Man, The Big Lebowski, No Country For Old Men Don't Miss This: Fargo, Miller's Crossing, Blood Simple For Completists Only: The Ladykillers
3rd place may seem a little high for Kim Ki-Duk considering he has The Coen Brothers hot on his tail and I'm yet to see some of his more recent output but the movies I have seen have been of a quality almost unmatched in contemporary cinema. His attention to detail in his mise-en-scene and a rejection of dialogue has left an indelible mark on my brain, when I think of beautiful and mesmerising cinema I immediately think of Kim Ki-Duk. Essential: Bad Guy, 3-Iron, Spring Summer Autumn Winter and Spring Don't Miss This: The Isle, Samaritan Girl, The Bow For Completists Only: Crocodile
It was a very close call between the last 2 on this list but despite his many plus points Steven Soderbergh didn't really stand a chance against my top pick. His range of projects alone is astounding, his ability to ressurrect himself twice in his early career equally so. Practicing the one for Hollywood and one for me approach has seen him squeeze Full Frontal in between intelligent box office fodder Ocean's Eleven and Solaris and indulge his artistic side with the much maligned Ocean's Twelve, he is responsible for quite a few of my all time favourite movies. Not to mention George Clooney's career. Essential: The Limey, Solaris, Traffic Don't Miss This: Contagion, Sex Lies & Videotape, Out Of Sight For Completists Only: Schizopolis, Underneath, Gray's Anatomy
There can only be 1 director perched in his ivory tower overseeing those lesser mortals out there making movies. Mike Leigh has been that man for quite some time, always creating something brilliant with film from his first movie Bleak Moments in 1971 right through to Another Year forty years later. His approach is unique and his achievements extraordinary. He specialises in the slice-of-life drama but his lighter moments are also something more than others can achieve thanks to the effort he goes to insert reality in to everything he does. He has made eleven TV movies and eleven cinematic features and except for Topsy-Turvy because of the Gilbert & Sullivan content I have enjoyed every moment of the time I've spent with him. Essential: Secrets & Lies, Bleak Moments, Abigail's Party, Naked Don't Miss This: High Hopes, Nuts In May, Life Is Sweet For Completists Only: Career Girls, Topsy Turvy
As I said at the head of the post, go for it, don't hold back in your comments. I want to hear your opinions. I have an idea of some of the names you've missed seeing on the list but as far as I can figure it was deliberate on my part, nobody has been completely overlooked, I just didn't think that highly of them or I am yet to see even one of their films.
I must have seen this movie at least six times before putting it on for Leah the other night but I didn't remember it being quite so funny. There's something about Mike Leigh and his movies that I always seem to remember them being bleak. I assure you this is a sweet and extremely funny film from him and featuring at least five superb performances.
Blurb:Another dose of Mike Leigh's slice of life film making, this time featuring the working class, strongly opinionated, socialist Cyril (Philip Davis,) his happy go lucky girlfriend Shirley (Ruth Sheen), his elderly conservative mother (Edna Dore,) social climbing sister Valerie (Heather Tobias) and her husband, the self-made businessman Martin (Philip Jackson.)
Thoughts: I admit, I spent weeks reading about Mike Leigh and his method of direction back in university for a small essay yet I enjoyed my research so much that the essay suffered from over preparation. So I excuse myself if this review suffers from over enthusiasm for my subject.
We meet Cyril and Shirley via Wayne, an extremely naive young man in London alone for the first time. From the opening credits Mike Leigh wastes no time in locating this film firmly within the working class mileau as a lost Wayne wanders the dirty rundown streets surrounding Kings Cross station.
This allows for a chance meeting with our main characters, a nice way for Leigh to introduce them whilst demonstrating several of the key character traits that will lead the movie, namely their working class nature, their affection towards each other and their willingness to help a complete stranger.
Mike Leigh is an intelligent film maker, he might be heavy on the social commentary at times but he very rarely suffers from Downton Abbey syndrome, preferring to simply show you the facts as he sees them rather than beat you over the head repeatedly with forced dialogue, "things are changing!" and the like.
As almost always with Leigh, this is a movie that looks at the class structure within Britain but unfortunately he is a little heavy handed in his comparisons this time around. He offers a glimpse in to the world of his working class heroes Cyril and Shirley and then compares this with the lifestyle of his social climbing sister and her husband whilst offering a third couple, the Boothe-Braines, upper class, and the complete opposite end of the spectrum to Cyril. Sounds good on paper but what Leigh does is make everyone but Cyril and Shirley vulgar or a caricature.
This exterior shot might go unnoticed by the casual viewer and is one of the few subtle examples used by Leigh. Mostly he relies on the stereotypical behaviour of an uncaring and selfish husband and wife team, only interested in appearances and money. Their behaviour is abhorrent, every kind thing they do is done grudgingly and every action seems like an extreme. The performances from Leslie Manning and David Bamber are still strong, they are like a train wreck that you just can't turn your eyes away from, but it's with instances like this that it seems Mike Leigh's style of creating a film displays its flaws. A firmer script or tighter direction might have toned this down a little.
In contrast, Cyril may well be a scruffy, idealistic, socialist who spouts Marxist catchphrases but these are imporatant aspects of his character that are developed throughout the movie.
The upper classes escape with only flesh wounds, it is the upwardly mobile former working classes that get the full mauling here thanks to stellar performances from Philip Jackson and most notably Heather Tobias. Martin and Val, morons with too much money and no taste (check out the clothes and the interior design!), high expectations for life and each other yet seemingly do nothing towards making them a reality, especially when it comes to communicating with each other.
They are weak and empty people who have turned their backs on their working class roots believing money is the source of all happiness. Multiple times the phrase "best that money can buy" is heard to be uttered from one or both of their mouths yet neither of them display even one percent of the happiness displayed by Cyril and Shirley.
Heather Tobias as Val is to the 80s what Alison Steadman as Bev was to the 70s, in Abigail's Party ten years earlier. She's loud and insensitive to others at all times whilst trying to appear glamourous and important, yet inside she's treading a very thin line, trying not to fall in to the oblivion of a nervous breakdown.
Val is really put through the emotional wringer in this film and Leigh chooses to show a large portion of this in closeup, I would imagine because Tobias has an extremely expressive face.
The extrovert performance of Tobias might be considered a little too much by the standards of other movies but in High Hopes it just plain works. It's almost a typical performance from a lead female in a Mike Leigh movie, he seems to have a habit of drawing very strong unreserved performances from them. After Alison Steadman, Brenda Blethyn in Secrets & Lies is another prime example.
You might say that Edna Dore as Cyril's mother offers the complete opposite in terms of performance but the effect is no less powerful as we witness the everyday life of a woman who's been broken by life and still haunted by her own demons.
At this point you might be wondering where the humour and charm I mentioned at the start comes in to this bleak sounding picture. The interaction between the above two couples is filled with laugh out loud moments, some of the dialogue is one hundred percent perfect and the humour is naturally found in the situation. Of the many sight gags my favourite comes from a moment of marital strife and the petulance of Val in its aftermath, blindly storming out of her husbands used car dealership she attempts to walk between two cars obviously parked too close together before getting wedged in. On its own it is silly but the reaction of the character and the placement within the scene makes it work really well.
Most of the joy of the film comes from Cyril and his relationship with the always smiling Shirley.
From the moment Wayne arrives at their home it is obvious that these two people are perfectly happy and in love with each other. Cyril wants Shirley near at all times, he doesn't like to face anything without her; when he is told that this mum has had an accident he doesn't immediately race over to see her he first rides his motorbike home to collect a spare helmet for Shirley, drives to her workplace and then visits his mum. This behaviour runs throughout the movie and will go unnoticed if you don't look out for it. If this were a Hollywood blockbuster and they were two of the beautiful people this is the kind of relationship Jennifer Aniston would cry over not having.
Ruth Sheen as Shirley sets the template that Sally Hawkins would later draw on as Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky but is much more down to earth and subtle than the latter version. She is Cyril's rock and she's happy to be that for him but she certainly takes no shit and doesn't hesitate to give him a good kick up the backside when needed. This give and take, and back and forth between them is the heart and soul of the film.
In a key sequence the couple visit Highgate cemetary to pay their respects to Karl Marx, a scene that has unexpected humour to sit alongside the serious nature of the moment and is perfectly shot in Leigh's customary style.
As with Secrets & Lies the action comes to a head at a family dinner party, with some domestic violence, a nervous breakdown, some unsubtle sexual suggestions, forced feeding and the obligitory foot in mouth moment from one of the characters. The movie builds towards this moment and you sort of expect some of it but when it comes you will be amazed at what you are witnessing. The outcome is actually much more realistic than the calm at the end of Secrets & Lies and is much more in keeping with the slice of life aspect of Leigh's storytelling. It also allows for one last beautifully constructed shot as the credits roll.
I really would love to know what you think of this movie and Mike Leigh in general and look forward to reading your responses in the blah below.
