WHAT MAKES A MEMORABLE DIRECTOR?

Going to break my format for my last blog post and talk about separates good director from a memorable one. I think one of the reasons I routinely go back and watch a Tarantino film or a Paul Thomas Anderson film or a David Fincher film is that, not only are they all around entertaining and insightful movies, but I also feel like their directors are communicating something about themselves within each film; something about their past or their personaility or their interpretation of something.

A good director is serviceable and inoffensive, they don't make waves one way or another. They facilitate. Great directors elevate whatever material they're working with to a cinematic level. Even if the script itself is already award-worthy, it's still just words on a page. It takes a vision and a will to raise to new heights. 

Recently I've been on a P.T. Anderson kick, especially with Phantom Thread only a month-and-a-half away. The commonality I'm finding throughout Anderson's work is that he's very good at making things feel grand. I've not seen Hard Eight, but Boogie Nights, Punch-Drunk Love and Magnolia especially all feel epic in scale, in my opinion, despite their relatively humble settings. It's one reason that There Will Be Blood really stands out among Anderson's filmography, as the director had already had over ten years' practice making small things feel big so when he finally got the chance to tell a true American epic, it was a spectacle.

Sometimes, it just comes down to luck. As a writer and/or director, you obviously never know what's going to resonate. For instance, Richard Kelly, whose directorial debut, Donnie Darko, was a noteworthy indie hit. Kelly by all rights, had the same amount of promise as any of my aforementioned favorite directors and should still be making noteworthy films but after his two follow-up films, the incomprehensible Southland Tales and the tepid The Box, Kelly has virtually vanished from the entertainment world.

I'm not an expert or especially knowledgeable on the subject, I just thought I'd muse on what separates the memorable from the forgotten. Also, can't wait to see Phantom Thread!