<<

1

COM 320, Fall 2016 Approved Topics Paper, Version A (with links to sources documenting historic influences on more contemporary filmmakers):

●Abrams, J. J. (Lost, Felicity, Alias, Regarding Henry, Armageddon, , Star Trek 2009, Super 8) Influences: (1) Rod Serling Sources: (1) http://www.creativecreativity.com/2007/03/jj_abrams_on_hi.html

●Allen, Woody (Bananas, , Hannah and Her Sisters, , , , A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, September, Another Woman, , ) Influences: (1) Sources: (1) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000095/bio and other sources known to instructor

●Anderson, Paul Thomas (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, , The Master) Influence: (1) (in particular, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Nashville) Source: (1) http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,883142,00.html

● Anderson, Wes (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, , ) Influences: (1) John Huston; Peter Bogdanovich; Francois Truffaut (2) Jacques Cousteau (3) Satyajit Ray; Jean Renoir’s The River (both as influencing The Darjeeling Limited) (4) You Can’t Take It With You (Frank Capra) and Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock) (both as confined New York films influencing The Royal Tenenbaums) (5) His favorite films: Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1932); Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968); A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971) Sources: (1) http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/12/07/a_talk_with_director_wes_anderson.ph p (2) http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1222_041222_life_aquatic_anderson.html (3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4QYJJuw-RE&feature=related (4) http://www.talktalk.co.uk/entertainment/film/interviews/wes_anderson/2 (5) http://www.openculture.com/2014/03/wes-andersons-favorite-films.html

●Aronofsky, Darren (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan) Influences: (1) Rod Serling (particularly the Twilight Zone episodes “Back There” and “Eye of the Beholder”) Source: (1) http://www.artinterviews.com/Darren.html

●Bird, Brad (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille) Influences: (1) Disney classics, specifically Snow White and Peter Pan (2) Chuck Jones Sources: (1) http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-11-02-brad-bird_x.htm (2) http://www.slashfilm.com/brad-bird-tomorrowland-interview/2/ 2

●Branagh, Kenneth (Henry V, Dead Again, Frankenstein, Hamlet, The Magic Flute, Sleuth) Influences: (1) (2) Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Carol Reed’s The Third Man, other films noir (all specifically for Dead Again) Sources: (1) http://www.branaghcompendium.com/artic-lat89a.htm (2) http://www.branaghcompendium.com/artic-sdut91-2.htm

●Brooks, Mel (The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles) Influences: (1) Buster Keaton (2) Marx Brothers; Ritz Brothers Sources: (1) http://www.tipjar.com/dan/melbrooks.htm (2) http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10122/1054544-325.stm#ixzz0yh9n1ZrF

●Burnett, Charles (Killer of Sheep, To Sleep with Anger) Influences: (1) Basil Wright; Jean Renoir, notably Grand Illusion Source: (1) http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/burnett/

●Burns, Ken (The Civil War, Jazz, The Dust Bowl) Influences: (1) John Ford; Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard; Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo; Sir Carol Reed’s Odd Man Out; Buster Keaton’s The General Source: (1) http://www.avclub.com/article/ken-burns-his-filmmaking-influences-and-first-love- 203295

●Burton, Tim (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Corpse Bride, Edward Scissorhands, Dark Shadows, etc.) Influence: (1) Ray Harryhausen Source: (1) http://popentertainment.com/timburton.htm

●Campion, Anna (Loaded) Influences: (1) Ingmar Bergman (specifically, ) Source: (1) Falsetto, M. (2000). Personal visions: Conversations with contemporary film directors. , CA: Silman-James Press.

●Carpenter, John (Halloween, The Fog, The Thing, Escape from New York) Influences: (1) The original The Thing; Forbidden Planet Source: (1) http://www.iconvsicon.com/2010/08/31/legendary-director-john-carpenter- discusses-his-past-present-future-in-cinema/

●Cassavetes, John (Shadows, Faces, Husbands, A Woman Under the Influence) Influences: (1) Frank Capra Source: (1) http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2001/book-reviews/cassavetes_meet/

●Chadha, Gurinder (Bend it Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice) Influence: (1) Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life Source: (1) Elder, R. K. (2011). The film that changed my life: 30 directors on their epiphanies in the dark. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press.

●Coen, Joel & Ethan (Raising Arizona, Fargo, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) 3

Influence: (1) Preston Sturges (although the brothers are “willfully perverse” in their vagueness about this!) Source: (1) Allen, W. R. (Ed.). (2006). The Coen brothers interviews. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. (see pp. 31, 70, 182).

●Craven, Wes (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, Music of the Heart) Influences: (1) Federico Fellini; Francois Truffaut; Luis Bunuel; Jean Cocteau; Ingmar Bergman; Alfred Hitchcock; Howard Hawks; Fred Zinnemann; Orson Welles; John Ford; Frank Capra; Akira Kurosawa Source: (1) Personal email

●Crowe, Cameron (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Jerry Maguire, , Vanilla Sky, We Bought a Zoo) Influence: (1) Billy Wilder Source: (1) http://www.theuncool.com/journalism/billy-wilder-ny-times/

●Darabont, Frank (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) Influences: (1) David Lean; Buster Keaton Source: (1) http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/features/reviews/cinema.darabont.html

●Del Toro, Guillermo (Cronos, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim) Influences: (1) Chaplin’s City Lights, and films he “wishes he had made”—Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franjou), Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau), Seven Chances (Buster Keaton), Touch of Evil (Orson Welles), Greed (Erich Von Stroheim) Source: (1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD4kspP5hRs

●Egoyan, Atom (The Sweet Hereafter, , Where the Truth Lies) Influences: (1) Sidney Peterson, Maya Deren Source: (1) Falsetto, M. (2000). Personal visions: Conversations with contemporary film directors. Los Angeles, CA: Silman-James Press.

Fassbinder, Rainer Werner (Fox and His Friends, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul) Influence: (1) Douglas Sirk (notably All That Heaven Allows) Source: (1) http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1068-ali-fear-eats-the-soul-all-that- fassbinder-allows

●Fincher, David (Fight Club, Se7en, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, ) Influence: (1) Alfred Hitchcock Source: (1) http://www.musicolog.com/fincher_interview.asp

●Fuqua, Antoine (Training Day, The Replacement Killers, Tears of the Sun) Influences: (1) Sergio Leone, Akira Kurosawa Source: (1) http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/callingtheshots/antoine_fuqua.shtml

●Gans, Christophe (Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf), Silent Hill) Influences: (1) Hammer horror films Source: (1) Bonus materials disc on the Brotherhood of the Wolf Director’s Cut DVD

●Gibney, Alex (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Taxi to the Dark Side, Mea Maxima Culpa) 4

Influence: (1) Luis Bunuel’s Exterminating Angel Source: (1) Elder, R. K. (2011). The film that changed my life: 30 directors on their epiphanies in the dark. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press.

●Gilliam, Terry (Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Time Bandits, Tideland, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) Influences: (1) Disney, Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Luis Bunuel, Stanley Donen (“I’ll steal from anywhere!”) Source: (1) http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/askterr2.htm

●Gondry, Michel (The Science of Sleep, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind) Influences: (1) Charlie Chaplin (2) Jean Vigo (specifically L’Atalante) (3) Films he ”can’t get out of his head”— Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson, 1951); Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936); L’Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934); Je T’aime, Je T’aime (Alain Resnais, 1968); The Phantom of Liberty (Luis Bunuel, 1974); Kes (Ken Loach, 1969) Sources: (1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/feb/16/1 (2) http://nymag.com/movies/filmfestivals/sundance/42779/ (3) http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/20435/1/no-way-out-michel- gondrys-favourite-inescapable-films

●Gordon, Keith (The Chocolate War, Mother Night) Influences: (1) Francois Truffaut, Federico Fellini Source: (1) Falsetto, M. (2000). Personal visions: Conversations with contemporary film directors. Los Angeles, CA: Silman-James Press.

●Harryhausen, Ray (Jason and the Argonauts, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Clash of the Titans) Influence: (1) Willis O’Brien Source: (1) Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection, Dir. & Prod. by Ray Harryhausen, DVD, 2005 (Disk 2, “The Clifton’s Cafeteria Reunion”).

●Haynes, Todd (Poison, Safe, Velvet Goldmine, , I’m Not There) Influence: (1) Rainer Werner Fassbinder Source: (1) http://independentfilmquarterly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5 92&Itemid=119

●Hitchcock, Alfred (Vertigo, North by Northwest, etc., etc.) Influences: (1) German Expressionists, notably F. W. Murnau, Fritz Lang (2) Chaplin, Griffith, & Decla-Bioscop Sources: (1) Truffaut, F. (1985). Hitchcock (Revised ed.). Simon & Shuster. (2) Francois Truffaut interviews Hitchcock August/1962(audio w/transcripts) : http://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock_and_Fran%C3%A7ois_Truffaut_%28 Aug/1962%29

●Howard, Ron (Splash, Cocoon, Parenthood, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon) Influence: (1) Billy Wilder Source: (1) http://www.cbsnews.com/news/extended-interview-ron-howard-on-directing/3/ 5

Jackson, Peter (Dead Alive, Heavenly Creatures, King Kong, trilogy) Influence: (1) Ray Harryhausen Source: (1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1x9xyh8NjA @ 2:03 in the video

●Jordan, Neil (The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire, Breakfast on Pluto) Influences: (1) Nicholas Ray; Federico Fellini; Luis Bunuel; Akira Kurosawa Source: (1) Falsetto, M. (2000). Personal visions: Conversations with contemporary film directors. Los Angeles, CA: Silman-James Press.

●Korine, Harmony (Julien Donkey-Boy, Gummo, Mister Lonely) Influences: (1) Rainer Werner Fassbinder (2) Jean-Luc Godard (3) Werner Herzog (4) Buster Keaton Sources: (1) Korine may not have written this, but certainly seems to endorse the views espoused— http://www.harmony-korine.com/paper/int/hk/fassbinder.html (2) http://www.harmony-korine.com/paper/index/i_gummo.html (3) http://www.harmony-korine.com/paper/int/hk/whammo.html (4) http://www.avclub.com/articles/harmony-korine,14235/

●Kubrick, Stanley (Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut) Influence: (1) Max Ophuls Source: (1) Gelmis, J. (1970). The film director as superstar. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company.

●Lee, Ang (Eat Drink Man Woman, Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, , Life of Pi) Influence: (1) Ingmar Berman’s The Virgin Spring Source: (1) http://sensesofcinema.com/2008/great-directors/ang-lee/#1

●Lee, Spike (She’s Gotta Have It, , Malcolm X, Miracle at St. Anna) Influences: (1) Oscar Micheaux (2) Akira Kurosawa (notably ) (3) Billy Wilder Sources: (1) http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Spike+Lee/ (2) Fuchs, C. (Ed.). (2002). Spike Lee: Interviews. ??: University Press of Mississippi. (3) http://www.powertolearn.com/ask_the_expert/expert_archive/spike_lee.shtml

●Liman, Doug (Swingers, The Bourne [Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum], Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Jumper) Influence: (1) Luc Besson (specifically Le Grand Bleu) Source: (1) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3582356/Filmmakers-on-film-Doug- Liman.html

●Lucas, George () Influences: (1) Joseph Campbell (classics prof, not a filmmaker) (2) Arthur Lipsett 6

Sources: (1) Empire of Dreams, documentary on supplemental disk of the Star Wars DVD box set (2) http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.05/lucas.html

●Lynch, David (Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive) Influences: (1) Federico Fellini, notably 8-1/2; Billy Wilder, notably Sunset Boulevard; Jacques Tati, notably Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday; Alfred Hitchcock, notably Rear Window Source: (1) Tirard, L. (2002). Movie makers’ master class: Private lessons from the world’s foremost directors. New York: Faber and Faber.

Maddin, Guy (My Winnipeg, The Forbidden Room) Influence: (1) Luis Bunuel’s L’Age D’Or Source: (1) Elder, R. K. (2011). The film that changed my life: 30 directors on their epiphanies in the dark. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press.

Mangold, James (, Girl, Interrupted, 3:10 to Yuma) Influences: (1) Billy Wilder (2) Alfred Hitchcock Sources: (1) http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/16128/james-mangold-interview-knight-and-day- tom-cruise-and-the-disarray-of-hollywood (2) http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2003/06/10/james_mangold_identity_interview.shtml

●Mann, Michael (The Keep, Last of the Mohicans, The Insider, Ali) Influence: (1) Dziga Vertov Source: (1) Rybin, S. (2007). The cinema of Michael Mann. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. (p. 113)

●Mingella, Anthony (Truly Madly Deeply, The English Patient, Breaking and Entering) Influence: (1) Federico Fellini (specifically, I Vitelloni) Source: (1) http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1561569,00.html

●Moore, Michael F. (Roger & Me, , Fahrenheit 9/11, , Slacker Uprising) Influences: (1) Ingmar Bergman, Werner Herzog Source: (1) Schultz, E. (2005). : A biography. ???: ECW Press.

●Nee, Adam & Aaron (The Last Romantic) Influence: (1) Francois Truffaut (misspelled “Traffaut” in the interview) Source: (1) http://www.efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=1715

●Nolan, Christopher (Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) Influence: (1) Jacques Tourneur’s Out of the Past Source: (1) http://movies.answers.com/movie-stars/the-essential-christopher-nolan-interviews

●Payne, Alexander (, , ) Influences: (1) , notably The Leopard; Michelangelo Antonioni, notably L’Avventura; Federico Fellini Source: (1) http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,1381440,00.html

●Peirce, Kimberly (Boys Don’t Cry, Stop-Loss, Carrie) 7

Influences: (1) Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause; Elia Kazan’s Streetcar Named Desire Sources: (1) http://www.moviemaker.com/archives/moviemaking/directing/articles- directing/kimberly-peirce-3334/

●Powell, Michael (Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, Peeping Tom) Influences: (1) Charlie Chaplin’s A Woman of Paris Source: (1) http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/Micky/WomanOfParis.html

●Raimi, Sam (The Evil Dead, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3) Influences: (1) John Huston’s Treasure of the Sierra Madre; George Pal’s The Time Machine; Fritz Lang’s Metropolis Sources: (1) Talent Bios, Special Features on the Evil Dead DVD

Reiner, Rob (The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, This is Spinal Tap) Influences: (1) Luis Bunuel, Francois Truffaut, Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini Source: (1) http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/the-m-c-interview-rob-reiner- talks-flipped-princess-bride-misery-and-more

●Romero, George (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead) Influence: (1) Powell and Pressburger’s The Tales of Hoffman Source: (1) Elder, R. K. (2011). The film that changed my life: 30 directors on their epiphanies in the dark. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press.

●Russell, David O. (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, Silver Linings Playbook, ) Influences: (1) Billy Wilder, Frank Capra Source: (1) http://loglines.lmu.edu/feature/david-o-russell-hollywood-master/

●Scorsese, Martin (The Aviator, Taxi Driver, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Departed, , ) Influences: (1) Kenneth Anger (2) Val Lewton (3) Key Italian films—Cabiria (1914); Ossessione (1943); Roma, Citta Aperta (Open City; 1945) and others Sources: (1) From printed guide to The Films of Kenneth Anger Volume Two DVD set (2) Martin Scorsese Presents, Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows, Turner Classic Movies original documentary, 2008 (3) Martin Scorsese—My Voyage to Italy, documentary directed by Scorsese, 1999

●Scott, Ridley (Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator) Influence: (1) Disney Sources: (1) Knapp, L. F., & Kulas, A. F. (Eds.). (2005). Ridley Scott: Interviews. ???: University Press of Mississippi. (p. 62)

●Spielberg, Steven (ET, Schindler’s List) Influences: (1) Four films he always watches before beginning production on a film of his own: Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai; David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia; Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life; John Ford’s The Searchers Source: (1) http://www.filmmakers.com/artists/spielberg/biography/ 8

●Tarantino, Quentin (, Kill Bill Vols. 1 & 2) Influences: (1) Jean-Luc Godard, Howard Hawks (2) Sam Fuller Source: (1) http://www.geraldpeary.com/books/tarantino_interview.html (2) 1996 documentary, The Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie Camera

●Tavernier, Bertrand (It All Starts Today) Influences: (1) John Ford, notably Fort Apache, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon; William Wellman; Jean Renoir; Jean Vigo; Sam Fuller; Delmer Daves Source: (1) http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jul1999/sff2-j10.shtml

Truffaut, Francois (The 400 Blows, Jules and Jim) Influences: (1) Jean Renoir, Henri-Georges Clouzot (notably The Raven), Marcel Carne, notably The Devil's Envoys), Roberto Rossellini, Frank Tashlin, Jean Vigo (2) Howard Hawks, John Ford Sources: (1) http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2010/08/francois-truffaut- last-interview.html (2) http://zakka.dk/euroscreenwriters/interviews/francois_truffaut_529.htm

●Wachowski, Lana (formerly Larry) & Andy (The Matrix series, Cloud Atlas) Influences: (1) Billy Wilder (esp. Sunset Boulevard and Lost Weekend), Alfred Hitchcock (esp. Strangers on a Train and Psycho), John Huston (esp. Treasure of the Sierra Madre) Source: (1) http://www.gadflyonline.com/archive-wachowski.html

●Wajda, Andrej (Ashes and Diamonds, The Promised Land, The Maids of Wilko, Man of Iron, Katyn) Influences: (1) French avant garde films—Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali’s Un Chien Andalou and L’Age D’Or, Fernand Leger’s Ballet Mechanique Source: (1) http://www.wajda.pl/en/o_sobie.html

●Wan, James (Saw, Dead Silence) Influences: (1) The Hammer Horror films Source: (1) http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/interview_james_wan_on_dead_silence

Water, John (Polyester, Hairspray) Influence: (1) The 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz Source: (1) Elder, R. K. (2011). The film that changed my life: 30 directors on their epiphanies in the dark. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press.

●Wiseau, Tommy (The Room) Influences: (1) Orson Welles (notably ), Marlon Brando Source: (1) Phone interview with COM 320 student