Directors Whose Interviews You Like More Than Their Movies?

-Sam Peckinpah
-Orson Welles

Very interesting men.. I love reading or watching any of their interviews, and reading books about them. I might like a movie or two, but that's about it.

I'll second Orson Welles

Martin Scorsese, but that's only because I haven't seen his movies.

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My ratings are generally skewed towards the positive side.

There are at least 50 better directors, anyway. If you must watch one, check out "Taxi Driver", back when Robert De Niro was an actor. But what makes this movie great is Paul Schrader's script.

Bergman...I haven't seen any interviews with him, then again I haven't liked any of his movies either, so I'm betting I'd like the interviews more.

Wow, you didn't like ANY of his movies? Which ones have you seen?

Let's see: Wild Strawberries, Smiles of a Summer Night and The Virgin Spring. I kinda liked The Virgin Spring. Though I actually hope to watch more, maybe I'll find some that I like.

I love Wild Strawberries, but didn't care for the other two.


My favorite is "The Seventh Seal".. "Persona" is also great. "Skannen" (Shame), Autumn Sonata, and a handful of good movies.

In my case it's difficult for me to imagine a movie I've really liked, but then finding out that I admired the director's interviews even more.

I've really only loved 6-8 directors, and I've heard most of them interviewed. But I still love their films more so than them talking about them.

I will say this: experienced artists of any type, directors included, are experts at intellectualizing their art. They can do it until the cows come home. It comes with the territory.

I had a friend who was professor of sculpture at a Calif. university. His sculpture was nothing that special, but he could intellectualize it ad infinitum. He told me privately it was all b.s., but that one had to learn to intellectualize convincingly in order to fulfill the requirements of the university.

Since facts are in short supply in artistic endeavors, it allows for unlimited intellectualizing. And that is how an artist can paint a single line on a canvas, and expect to fetch big money for it.