Best Director of Each Decade

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The only one I am positive about is that Tarkovsky has a lock on my 70's and I still haven't seen Stalker yet. Otherwise, I can't decide. I should man up.
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Gangster Rap is Shakespeare for the Future
Let's go for "nearly" every decade of cinema:

1900s: D.W. Griffith
1910s: Louis Feuillade
1920s: Buster Keaton
1930s: Ernst Lubitsch
1940s: Orson Welles
1950s: Yasujiro Ozu
1960s: Jean-Luc Godard
1970s: Terrence Malick
1980s: Hou Hsiao-Hsien
1990s: Abbas Kiarostami
2000s: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2010s: Hong Sang-soo (for completion purposes only, I don't think there's any non-repeat standout so far)
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These are MY FAVORITE directors of each decade from what I've seen at this point. I haven't seen enough to give a reliable, objective analysis, so I'm keeping it very subjective. Unfortunately some of my favorite directors don't appear because they never truly dominated a decade...

1930s: Charlie Chaplin



City Lights and Modern Times are my two favorite films of this decade, so this wasn't a hard choice for me.

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1940s: Billy Wilder



This one wasn't easy. Hitchcock, Wilder and Huston all made some great films during this decade. I ultimately went with Wilder because I just LOVE The Lost Weekend and Double Indemnity. The other two had more quantity, but I went with quality. I think Welles might beat him, but I still have to see some of his '40s work that is not called Citizen Kane.

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1950s: Alfred Hitchcock



Do I really have to explain this one? Just look at all of his films that came out during the '50s. It's insane.

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1960s: Stanley Kubrick



His four '60s films are enough. Two of them are among my absolute favorites. Fellini is a big contender, though.

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1970s: Robert Altman



MASH, Nashville, 3 Women, The Long Goodbye, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, etc. The films pretty much speak for themselves.

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1980s: Woody Allen



After having a great decade in the '70s, Woody absolutely nailed it in the '80s (especially the later half). Scorsese is his biggest opponent.

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1990s: The Coen Brothers


(Joel Coen)

PTA, Tarantino, Scorsese, Wong Kar Wai, Altman and Allen were also candidates, but the Coens take the win, because they are the best quality- and quantity-wise.

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2000s: The Coen Brothers


(Ethan Coen)

This is probably my least favorite decade of films, although it still contains some very good ones. I let the Coens have the win again, mainly because of their first two pictures of the decade. The other five didn't hurt either, though. Other candidates were Tarantino, Wes Anderson and Scorsese.

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2010s: Martin Scorsese



Most interesting contemporary directors only made one movie in this decade so far and if not, I haven't seen their most recent work yet. Scorsese made three pictures already though and I liked them all, so he gets the temporary lead. I'm pretty sure he's not going to keep it, though.

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Picking one director per decade is a tall order, but I think would go with Woody Allen for the 1980's. I would definitely go with John Ford for the 1940's. I'm thinking Scorcese for the 1990's and maybe Billy Wilder for the 1950's.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
1910s - Griffith

1920s - Murnau

1930s - Riefenstahl

1940s - Dreyer

1950s - Bergman

1960s - Bergman/Kobayashi

1970s - Tarkovsky

1980s - Angelopoulos/Tarkovsky/Bergman/Wenders

1990s - Angelopoulos

2000s - Tarr

2010s - Tarr/Malick
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



1940's
Alfred Hitchcock (Notorious and Rope are probably my 2 favorite films of the decade)
1950's
Alfred Hitchcock (Vertigo, Rear Window, North by Northwest, To Catch a Thief, Strangers on a Train, etc.)
1960's
Sergio Leone (The man with no name trilogy and Once Upon a Time in The West)
1970's
Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather part 1 and 2, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now
1980's
Hayao Miyazaki (Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky, Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service
1990's
David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en, The Game)
2000's
In quality I'd say Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill 1&2, Inglourious Basterds), In quantity of great films I'd say Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight Trilogy)
2010's
Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Prisoners)
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Let's go for "nearly" every decade of cinema:

1900s: D.W. Griffith
1910s: Louis Feuillade
1920s: Buster Keaton
1930s: Ernst Lubitsch
1940s: Orson Welles
1950s: Yasujiro Ozu
1960s: Ingmar Bergman
1970s: Andrei Tarkovsky
1980s: Hou Hsiao-Hsien
1990s: Abbas Kiarostami
2000s: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2010s: Hong Sang-soo (for completion purposes only, I don't think there's any non-repeat standout so far)
Mine would probably be the same. My favourite Hong Sang-soo films were in the 2000s but he's made a few great films this decade as well.



Gangster Rap is Shakespeare for the Future
Mine would probably be the same. My favourite Hong Sang-soo films were in the 2000s but he's made a few great films this decade as well.
I've never been been much of a Bergman person like many cinephiles on this site, and
for me Godard best encompasses 1960s art film. Tarkovsky is also a great choice for the 1970s, primarily for Stalker (not The Mirror, take it, Minio!). I was trying to make a list without repeating any directors between decades, which really wasn't limiting except for the 2010s. Hong Sang-soo's best films are from the 2000s (with the addition of 1998's The Power of Kangwon Province), but I think Weerasethakul's work trumps his. The 2010s have seen some great films, but a lot of them are by repeat directors: "Joe", Kiarostami, Malick. So I decided to give Hong a nod, whose made several very good films in the decade so far.

Godard?? Is this some kind of a joke or what..
I could've put Tati down for making the best film of the 1960s, but he also only made one film in the 1960s. So, yes, I am rejecting your tastes



Godard is a very good director and made a lot of great flicks in the 60s.
And Kubrick made one film that is worth more than Godard's entire filmography.

I appreciate everyone's tastes, I really do, and I was merely teasing bluedeed, but seriously, Godard's films are about nothing. With the exception of maybe Le Mepris. I honestly don't see how anybody could prefer him over any director for the 60s. It just beats me.

I lost all the respect I had for Godard during the opening credits of Bande a part (a film by JeanLuc Cinema Godard, seriously?) Does he feel he invented cinema or what? Or that he's perhaps the most prominent of all directors?



The 2010s have seen some great films, but a lot of them are by repeat directors: "Joe", Kiarostami, Malick. So I decided to give Hong a nod, whose made several very good films in the decade so far.
Johnnie To's Drug War and Blind Detective are among the greatest films I've seen recently so I would give him the edge over Hong Sang-soo. I've also heard good things about Romancing in Thin Air.



Gangster Rap is Shakespeare for the Future
And Kubrick made one film that is worth more than Godard's entire filmography.

I appreciate everyone's tastes, I really do, and I was merely teasing bluedeed, but seriously, Godard's films are about nothing. With the exception of maybe Le Mepris. I honestly don't see how anybody could prefer him over any director for the 60s. It just beats me.
I wouldn't bet on that. Godard's got a massive filmography filled with political, cultural and aesthetic significance. They're most certainly not about nothing, but most certainly more difficult in meaning than Kubrick's sci-fi that's too often termed as difficult. I'd take "If you can't afford LSD, try color TV" over all of 2001.

Johnnie To's Drug War and Blind Detective are among the greatest films I've seen recently so I would give him the edge over Hong Sang-soo. I've also heard good things about Romancing in Thin Air.
I have seen Drug War, which was my first of To's films, but not seen anything else from him since.



1920s: Charlie Chaplin
1930s: Yasujiro Ozu
1940s: Alfred Hitchcock
1950s: Satyajit Ray
1960s: Ingmar Bergman
1970s: Francis Ford Coppola
1980s: Really hard to choose. Maybe Peter Greenaway?
1990s: Abbas Kiarostami
2000s: Kim Ki Duk
2010s: Steve McQueen

1980s and 2000s were the hardest. The 80s because no director really stood out beyond their best 2 or 3 movies. 2000s because it is my favourite decade. Really hard to choose between Kim Ki Duk, Wong Kar Wai, Lars Von Trier, Park Chan Wook, Zhang Yimou, etc



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I tried doing this in the past, and didn't have the time... I'll try, and maybe EDIT later?


1930s - Frank Capra
1940s - Vittorio De Sica
1950s - Vittorio De Sica
1960s - Ingmar Bergman
1970s - Robert Altman
1980s - Aki Kaurismaki
1990 - Mike Leigh
2000s - Ken Loach
2010s - Ken Loach


I'm leaving out Robert Bresson, my 2nd favorite director, only because he didn't make too many movies. Since we only could pick one, Kurosawa, John Huston, Cassavetes, Kazan were left off.