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In Reply to: Victor: posted by rhizomatic on June 21, 2004 at 11:39:37:
That is an interesting question, and let me start with one suggestion, and perhaps later more will come to my mind.Years ago, when we had already seen many films, but did not have it all organized in any meaningful fashion, we simply took one of the "5000 movies" kind of books... don't recall which one. We then proceeded to rent every five-star film in it first, then the four-star ones.
That allowed us to put what we did know into right perspective, and to also discover plenty of stuff we didn't know existed.
One can always make an argument that some five-star ones are not great, and some two-star ones are just underappreciated, but you will catch at least 90% of worthwhile ones this way.
The beauty of this approach is that you will be truly randomly puling good movies - so Wim Wenders might sit next to Kozintsev - something that would never happen otherwise, if people simply submitted the lists of their favorite directors.
Once you stumble on a director that impresses you during this random pull, you can always dig deeper into his filmography, of course.
It worked great for us.
Follow Ups:
That's basically how I've approached musics I don't know, working my way through the top-rated stuff on the All Music Guide. Should be fun being as systematic with film history as I have with music history.Meanwhile, do you have any favorite 'unknown' (or underappreciated) masters whose oeuvres you think are solid enough to warrant blanket consideration?
______________________________
Stranger than that, we're alive!Whatever you think it's more than that, more than that.
-Incredible String Band
This is not easy given how much we have discussed here, but let me take a few stabs.Emir Kusturica should be high on any such lists... his Underground is simply a masterpiece, he is wonderful director.
Also from Yugoslavia - Dusan Makavejev with his incredible Montenegro.
From Poland come Krzysztof Zanussi with his Life as Fatal Sexually Transmitted Desease, and of course Andrzej Wajda who could be considered off-mainstreet.
I also think Bob Hoskins could indeed be considered an obscure gem of a director, and his The Raggedy Rawney is a very serious effort worth consideration... in addition to his being great actor, of course.
I think people like Cédric Klapisch could also be considered obscure in this country, and his Un Air de Famille is a wonderful film.
Bruce Beresford from Australia. Things like Black Robe are unforgettable.
Ettore Scola is vircutally unknown here, but he is a monument of a director. His Down and Dirty is a must.
Then we should probably include Agnieszka Holland - things like Angry Harvest.
Henning Carlsen and his Hunger.
From Hungary comes Ildikó Enyedi - his My Twentieth Century is good film.
Mike van Diem is also a must, his Karakter is gloomy but deep.
Visconti is also, for some strange reason, obscure in the US. Another MUST.
But I noticed the list is growing fast, and I am not even close to be done.
So let me pause here, and also suggest that many of the Soviet/Russian directors fall into this category, but since most of them are hard to find, maybe it would make more sense for you to see what's available and then ask pointed questions.
Also, I intentionally kept off the Asian film industry - you might ask TAFKA Steve directly, as his knowledge of that area is unmatched, I think.
I am pleasantly surprised to see you put Makavejev on your list. The first film of his that I ever saw was "The Coca Cola Kid"...lousy overall but my goodness! the nude sequences are amazing! I saw "Montenegro" a couple of years after that...a whole film with that feeling!Now if I could catch "WR" and "Sweet Movie"!
but why the ban on Asian directors? Is it because they are so gratuitously, incoherently weird much of the time?
______________________________
Stranger than that, we're alive!Whatever you think it's more than that, more than that.
-Incredible String Band
I didn't ban them, it is just people like Steve are much better equipped in that area.BTW - I remembered one more name, and I believe it is a MUST: Liv Ullmann.
She has done several films as director, and while she shined in the Lumiere and Co, her Private Confessions and then Faithless put her on the highest level among the world directors.
And I'd say she is still an obscure one here in the US.
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