Joys David O. Russell and The Revenants Alejandro González Iñárritu.
  • Joy‘s David O. Russell and The Revenant‘s Alejandro González Iñárritu.

As part of 2015 film roundup, the Hollywood Reporter wrangled together the six men (and, yes, sadly, they’re all men) whom they deemed to be “the year’s most notable directors.” The result: a roundtable discussion about the current state of film, featuring The Hateful Eight‘s Quentin Tarantino, Joy‘s David O. Russell, Steve Jobs‘ Danny Boyle, The Revenant‘s Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Martian‘s Ridley Scott, and The Danish Girl‘s Tom Hooper. All are happy to go back and forth in a ranging conversation about everything from their favorite moments in movies, to the relation between the economy and film budgets, and what it takes to get audiences into a theater in an age of prestige TV. Also: horses!

This kind of broad overview—from directors of this caliber—is pretty great to listen to. If you’ve got some free time this weekend and you’ve seen even one of these films (or if you just want to see even one of these films), it’s well worth your time.

Click the links above for the Mercury reviews of these directors’ 2015 films—and here’s a look at what 2016 has in store.

With honor and distinction, Erik Henriksen served as the executive editor of the Portland Mercury from 2004 to 2020. He can now be found at henriksenactual.com.

12 replies on ““This Is a Working Man’s Art Form”: Talking Film with Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and More”

  3. @frankieb: When it comes to female directors who directed a film that was 1) given critical praise and 2) had a reasonably wide circulation (leading to “notable”), I’d say Ava DuVernay, director of Selma and Elizabeth Banks, director of Pitch Perfect 2 (which might be a fluffy film, but I’d personally pick it over Steve Jobs).

    I’d say those after Googling the question, however. My first thought was “female directors, uh, Penny Marshall and Sophia Coppola and… uhm…”

    I think that’s the depressing bit: It’s not that the Hollywood Reporter is dismissing female directors but that there’s so few prominent ones out there. There’s plenty of talented ones with great films to their credit but they’re just not familiar names and time doesn’t seem to be helping: http://variety.com/2015/film/news/number-o…

  4. I’ve always liked Jane Campions’ films, and that last show she started Top of the Lake was pretty good too, but she hasn’t made a film for awhile.
    But I think Erik apologizes for being a man too much at times!
    Love you though man!

  5. @pstress: Derp. Thanks! Fixed.

    @frankieb: The first who comes to mind is Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl), but I’d have also loved to see a few of these dudes swapped out for Maya Forbes (Infinitely Polar Bear), Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behavior), the Wachowskis (Jupiter Ascending, though I’d also want to hear them talk about Sense8), Leslye Headland (Sleeping with Other People), and/or, as Sok mentioned, Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect 2).

  10. Lucrecia Martel, Catherine Breillat, Sofia Coppola, Kira Muratova, Agnieszka Holland, Jane Campion, Kathryn Bigelow, Ava Duvemey, Claire Denis, just off the top of my head, are among the most significant currently working directors. Among those listed above. In spite of historical and systemic exclusion from the industry, especially in Hollywood, women continue to make a very significant impact on film.

Comments are closed.