2.21.2011

10 Greatest Directors of All Time

This is the Zodiac speaking...
This is part one of my list of the 10 Greatest Directors of All Time. As with any of these "Greatest" lists, it is open for debate and personal feelings, all except for number 1, which no one could argue any different on. With any luck I will continue on with one director per day, but life, and alcohol, have a funny way of slowing things down. Let's get started, shall we?

#10 Francis Ford Coppola
Part of the new wave of Hollywood directors, Coppola left his mark on the film industry with such titles as Apocalypse Now (The Horror,) The Outsiders (Stay gold, Pony Boy ), and single-handedly changed the way we look at the mafia with the first two Godfather films, (I like to pretend number three didn't exist, and if you've seen it, so do you.) The Godfather Part two was the first sequel to win a best picture oscar, and in my not so humble opinion, was better than the original. Granted, his heyday was in the 70's and early 80's, after that he made pure filth. Even trying as hard as we can to forget that the same man who directed Al Pacino in his greatest role(s) also made the man-child attempt at humor titled Jack. Also I don't think we should just let him off the hook for helping the career of his nephew Nicolas, who in his early career, like uncle like nephew, made some decent movies, Raising Arizona, to becoming an embarrassment with The Weather Man.
My reason for putting him on this list can be summed up by viewing the last five minutes of The Godfather, Michael argues with Kay about the family business, and she watches as the new Don finally sets into his role, as the music rises to crescendo, we realize as an audience that we have just seen his character come full circle. The Godfather reads like a crime drama but is truly a character study, and the fact that most people miss that, speaks volumes for what Francis Ford Coppola can do as a story teller.
Watch This: The Godfather Part II
Skip This: The Godfather Part III

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