And what exactly makes Miyazaki better than Tarantino, Spielberg, Coen brothers and Woody Allen?
First argument: Do you ever knew a cinephile who was about as big fan of Tarantino's, Spielberg's, Coen brothers' or Woody Allen's work as I am a fan of Miyazaki's?
Second argument: The emotional reaction I get from watching the works of the Coens, while enjoyable, is weak if compared to the emotional reaction I get from Miyazaki's works (or any other film I put on my favorites or on my list of certified greats). I also didn't see anything really brilliant in a Coens film (yeah, they have tons of jokes but they never take themselves seriously enough to really hit a strong emotional chord). I think that it is very hard to argue that the Coen are among the greatest directors ever, though I included The BigLebowski among my top 25 movies of the 1990's, but that's because I am rather ignorant of most cinema, I guess I could eventually find hundreds of movies superior to The Big Lebowski made in the 1990's.
I found tons of people who said that Miyazaki's movie X is the best movie ever, I found tons of people who said that Kurosawa's movie X is the best movie ever, I found tons of people who said that Kubrick's movie X is the best movie ever but who do you know that says that Fargo is the greatest movie ever made?
I can understand if a list would rank Hitchcock, Kubrick, Haneke, Bela Tarr or Bresson above Miyazaki, I cannot understand the Coens above him. Honestly, I have watched a fair number of Coens films and I find these movies comparable to Family Guy in general terms, though The Big Lebowski manages to attain South Park levels of quality.
Miyazaki is regularly considered one of greatest directors of all time (for instance, John Lasseter said that or even the trailer to Princess Mononoke, who said that the Coens were among the greatest directors of all time?) and also one of the greatest storytellers or our generation (as Andrew Osmond), in any media, either book, TV or film. Nausicaa, the science fiction manga Miyazaki wrote, is considered by those who read it a better genre novel than Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Frank Ebert's Dune. Miyazaki is perhaps the best genre (fantasy and science fiction) filmmaker of all time, for example, he has the highest number of five star reviews at Moria (a database of reviews of science fiction, fantasy and horror movies,
http://moria.co.nz/). That's some serious stuff.
Spielberg would be the greatest of these four guys. But I find his films still a bit lacking in subtlety and
gravitas (though Mark might disagree here
). Anyway, I can understand someone ranking Spielberg above Miyazaki, given the emotional richness of the aggregate total of Spielberg's films.
But Tarantino, the Coens and Woody Allen? Their comedies are enjoyable, but I find their films quite lacking in substance (Pulp Fiction, though, might by an exception, it's coolness factor is so high that it achieves sublimity through heterodox means).
If one would rank directors based on the IMDB top 250, Miyazaki shows up in 4th place (
http://www.imdb.com/list/vR9zwrTG4i4/), and 1st place among non-English language directors and above all these guys (though below Christopher Nolan, who also makes enjoyable films but lacking in
gravitas). And if you rank directors based on the critics votes on the Sign and Sound poll, Miyazaki is also above these four.
If you rank directors based on their relative positions in Kinema Junpo's top 200 Japanese films lists, two lists elaborated by both critics and readers, Miyazaki and Naruse rank above Mizoguchi, who is 25th place in that list. So, the Japanese, who knows the work of these directors well, say that a director who the American/British critics know well (Mizoguchi), who is considered greatly superior by those American/British than the Coens, in turn is considered inferior to these two.
Also, besides Miyazaki, there are like 5-6 other anime directors who I would rank above the Coen brothers, and I am just starting to explore other anime directors. I could easily find 100 directors who I would rank above the Coens.
And also, I am also exploring Naruse's work. Truly a great director who made powerful works of art during the Japanese golden age of cinema. While I am still ignorant of most of his work, he clearly is a superior artist than the Coens, for instance.
So, if you make a rank where Miyazaki is around 100th place (and Naruse around 120th place), you should find 120 directors who made really powerful work and not only those cool but superficial comedies. I think it is possible to make a list where even I would agree on putting a hundred directors above Miyazaki and 120 above Naruse, but they all must do hardcore stuff like Tarkovsky, so they surpass those two in some ways that they doesn't even try.
Anyway, is too much to demand from those that compile that top 1000 greatest movies list enough great directors to remove the Cohens from a top 100 directors list? Or I am just taking those lists too much seriously? I guess I have analysed these top films lists with more rigor than the organization who made them.
Anyway, either the IMDB top 250 or the Sign and Sound top 250 boast a better selection than that top 1000 films list. The main problem of the IMDB's top 250 list is the lack of obscure directors/movies, caused by the restriction on the minimum number of votes required for a film to show up there while the main problem of the Sign and Sound top 250 films list is the bias toward older directors (as if old movies earn interest over their age), given their landmark positions.