Inspired By IMDB's Anniversary

Via Girish Shambu, I see a chance to make a list: IMDB is celebrating their 15th anniversary by posting their staff's top 15 films of that period. well - that's a game we can all play! Now Girish (and others) have been cheating - listing their favorite directors from that period - not me! I shall play the game in by the letter of the law! On the other hand - I thought I had posted a list of contemporary directors (best directors of the last X years), back in a post linking to a Guardian list of contemporary directors. But no! I did not! But I should! So I will!
But first - the 15 best films since 1990.

1. Rushmore - dir. Wes Anderson
2. Breaking the Waves - Lars Van Trier
3. Goodbye, South, Goodbye - Hou Hsiao Hsien
4. Yi Yi - Edward Yang
5. Fallen Angels - Wong Kar-wei
6. 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould - Francois Girard
7. Through the Olive Trees - Abbas Kiarostami
8. Flowers of Shanghai - Hou Hsiao Hsien
9. Beijing Bastards - Zhang Yuan
10. 2046 - Wong Kar-wei
11. White - Kristof Kieslowski
12. The Sweet Hereafter - Atom Egoyan
13. Once Upon a Time in China - Tsui Hark
14. A Moment of Innocence - Mohsen Makhmalbaf
15. Dead Man - Jim Jarmusch

And now, pour les auteurs.... judged solely (as solely as I can make myself) on what they have done since 1990. What rules have I set myself otherwise? Well - they have to have made, and I have to have seen, at least 2 films - though I think 3 is a better gauge; the exceptions (there may be only one) will be filmmakers who have done something genuinely extraordinary, and have a reputation of excellence that has been borne out by what I have been able to see - but whose films are grotesquely under-released in the States. That is, Edward Yang.

1. Hou Hsiao Hsien - his last 2 haven't made it to the states yet, but he got 2 on my list above, and could have had 3 easily, so, really, it's an easy pick. One of my 10 favorite directors ever.
2. Wong Kar-wei - for some reason, for a while, I was taking him for granted. But he's another director with no soft spots - every film does something remarkable, every film is an event, worth studying, savoring, returning to. He was the director of the 90s the way Godard was the director of the 60s, making historical films as the history happened. I still haven't mustered any lengthy appreciation of 2046, which I was promising back in the summer - but it's one that deserves it.
3. Edward Yang - I feel a bit guilty about this: I've only seen 2 of his films, Yi Yi and Mahjong - Mahjong is fine, Yi Yi is transcendent - he's here as much on reputation as that. Though the films certainly justify the reputation. I'll live with the guilt. Maybe praising him will somehow move someone to release his earlier films on DVD.
4. Abbas Kiarostami - when I did try to write up a list of contemporary directors, I think I set my limits as 1995-2005. In that period, he has been good, but he seems a bit soft - go back to 1990, and he has simply produced a body of work that ranks with the best...
5. Jia Jiang-Ke - another director who hit the ground running - from Xiao Wu on he has worked with complete confidence, documenting his world...
6. Tsai Ming-Liang - going back to 1990, he too has worked consistently among the best of the best. I hesitated some about the positioning of these directors...
7. David Lynch - ... but put Jia and Tsai above Lynch, mostly because Lynch was not at his best in the early 90s. Wild at Heart and the Twin Peaks movies are okay - but nothing like Children of a Neon God or Viva L'Amour - or Lynch's subsequent films. (Let alone his earlier films.) But he's been in fine form since Lost Highway...
8. Wes Anderson - Rushmore and the Royal Tenenbaums stand with any films; Bottle Rocket is a fine work; the Life Aquatic is amusing, but... his resume is a bit thin yet, but....
9. Kiyoshi Kurosawa - I haven't seen anywhere near enough of his films - but they are very impressive, the half dozen or so I have seen.
10. Hirokazu Kore-Eda - I was wondering if I should put him on this list, and where. I have liked all his fiction films, some of them immensely (After Life and Nobody Knows ar magnificent - the other two ar ver good as well.) Then I remembered, I have seen Without Memory - a devastating film. So yes.
11. Takashi Miike - sometimes, you just need to see a guy swallow someone's head.
12. Dardennes Brothers - I've only seen their 3 features from this period, but again - no let ups...
13. Aki Kaurismaki - sometimes easy to overlook, but has a strong body of work in the last 15 years, and before....
14. Guy Maddin - this is way too subjective - I don't know if I could justify this by any other standards than that his films are as enjoyable as they come. As are his DVD commentaries, his books, his reviews, everything.
15. Mohsen Makhmalbaf - hurt mostly by the lack of availability of his films in the states, and the scarcity of the films - as he's turned to educating his children, it seems.

The truth is, I can't do this. I don't know what my criteria are, they'd change every day anyway - the exact order probably depends on the last film I saw, or the last film I read about, or something random. I would say the following directors have every bit as good a claim to be in the top 15 (or 20 or whaever) as the ones I listed:

Jim Jarmusch
Alexander Sukorov
Michael Haneke
The Coen Brothers
Atom Egoyan
Hal Hartley

and maybe Anaud Desplechins (whose disadvantage is that I have only seen 2 of a relatively large body of work - 2 Great Films, though - but still)... Bruno Dumont (I have some mixed feelings, though his first 2 films are extraordinary)... Lars von Trier (some inconsistency?)... Jane Campion (why not?)... maybe Jafir Panahi (whose films have deepened as his career has progressed).... and I feel guilty not listing Francois Ozon or Olivier Assayas.

And am I really justified in leaving Altman off? Herzog? and another one I need to see more of from this period, Jacques Rivette - the 2 I've seen (Haut Bas Fragile and Va Savoir) have been delightful. So?