Painfully Beautiful

J.C. Chandor discusses the bravura style and prescient politics of Do the Right Thing, and what he learned from it.

Susanne Bier revels in the seduction of power and evil in Apocalypse Now.

In viewing Man on Wire, Davis Guggenheim marvels in director James Marsh's deft reenactments, inspiring use of score and ability to build suspense.

Bill Condon marvels at Anthony Minghella's nuanced take on The Talented Mr. Ripley.

The director behind Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, David Yates, waxes nostalgic on the mix of horror, humor and ingenuity in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws.

Damien Chazelle revels in Taxi Driver's nightmarish mix of music, subjective imagery and De Niro in his prime.

As he prepares to unveil his latest film, The Front Runner, about Gary Hart's doomed 1988 presidential run, director Jason Reitman reflects on the film's biggest influence, Michael Ritchie's The Candidate.

Dee Rees revisits Lamont Johnson's obscure '80s sci-fi pastiche Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone and revels in its scrappy invention and underdog spirit.

Guillermo del Toro shares his passion for John Frankenheimer's large-scale yet intimate WWII drama, The Train (1964).

Director Errol Morris on Douglas Sirk’s The Tarnished Angels

Patty Jenkins, while in post on her own comic book opus, Wonder Woman, waxes nostalgic on the Richard Donner film Superman.

Director Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals) muses about Peter Bogdanovich’s astute choices on the timeless The Last Picture Show and why the film continues to resonate for him personally.

Early in his career, Richard Linklater was inspired by the sweeping style, conflicted characters, and unabashed emotion of Vincente Minnelli’s Some Came Running.

Robert Altman’s Nashville, a brilliantly orchestrated tapestry of national malaise, never gets old. That’s why DGA President Paris Barclay has returned to it over and over again—for inspiration and a guide to great directing.

King Vidor’s humanity and feeling for ordinary people come alive in his silent masterpiece, The Crowd. Paul Weitz reflects on what makes the film by the DGA’s first president a classic.

When Lisa Cholodenko first saw Bob Rafelson’s masterpiece in film school, it was a class in psychological realism. The lesson of openness between director and actor informs her work today.

Neil LaBute pays tribute to the precision and boldness of Mike Nichols’ vision in Carnal Knowledge—a film he admits he has borrowed from freely.

With Jack Nicholson as the volatile R.P. McMurphy and Louise Fletcher as his nemesis Nurse Ratched, Miloš Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest emphasized performance over style. And that’s still what impresses director Jean-Marc Vallée.

Shawn Levy admires the storytelling skill and deep emotion of Steven Zaillian's Searching for Bobby Fischer, a film that's had a lasting influence on his work.

Marc Forster revisits Alan J. Pakula’s ’70s-era conspiracy film, The Parallax View, and finds it as creepy today as when it was made. He explains how the director created a most disquieting mood.

Woody Allen’s second film, Take the Money and Run, delighted a young Paul Feig. Even today it defines his sense of what you can get away with in comedy.

François Truffaut’s New Wave classic Jules and Jim has lost none of its freshness and sense of innovation for Noah Baumbach. In fact, he borrowed some of its techniques for his latest film.

M. Night Shyamalan was captivated by Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show and how the plot is secondary to tone and texture. He’s even tried to do it with his own films.

In Vittorio De Sica’s charming Miracle in Milan, the poor literally rise above it all. Milos Forman explains why the film touched him so deeply in his youth.

Jay Roach looks at how Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd foreshadowed today’s political culture—and influenced his own films.

William Friedkin first saw Citizen Kane more than 50 years ago and has never looked at films the same way again. He explains how Orson Welles used the tools of the trade to create a masterpiece.

In Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, the story is not the main attraction. Bennett Miller explains how it’s the filmmaker’s restrained style that casts a sublime spell.

Lawrence Kasdan considers how Stanley Kubrick pulled off a daring mixture of tones in Dr. Strangelove.

Little Miss Sunshine's Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris explain why George Cukor's Holiday is the model of the romantic comedy for them.

Alejandro González Iñárritu analyzes Kurosawa’s Ikiru and explains how it influenced his latest film, Biutiful.

Long captivated by Raging Bull, Julian Schnabel considers how Martin Scorsese
was able to make something so savage so beautiful.

John Boorman presented a vision of heroism and bloodletting in Excalibur that captivated a young Zack Snyder. The director of 300 and Watchmen explains how it influenced his own mythical moviemaking.

Carroll Ballard's The Black Stallion is a legendary piece of visual filmmaking. Spike Jonze studied it for Where the Wild Things Are, and explains how Ballard effortlessly tells a rousing story with few words.

Antoine Fuqua watches Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and talks about his personal connection to the film.

Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange entranced rocker-turned-director Rob Zombie when he was a kid. Taking another look, he stil sees a film that's like no other.

John Waters rhapsodizes about The Girl Can't Help It, and is not shy (surprise) talking about what he "stole" from it.

Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye changed the way Barry Sonnenfeld looks at movies. Watching it again, he marvels at the diretor's stylized take on the Raymond Chandler novel.

Since high school, David O. Russell has been a big fan of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. Now he takes a closer look at how all the pieces fit together.

Everyone loves Annie Hall, but according to Ed Zwick it's more than just a charming movie. He explains how it revolutionized romantic comedies.

William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives is a film that has remained lodged in James L. Brooks' head and heart for all these years. He explains its inexorable appeal.

James Mangold leads us through the mean streets of Times Square in Sweet Smell of Success, directed by his mentor and teacher, Alexander Mackendrick.

Indie icon John Sayles strays from the socially conscious contemporary cinema he's known for and guides us through the moors of 11th-century Scotland in Roman Polanski's The Tragedy of Macbeth.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is the kind of straight-ahead film Paul Thomas Anderson would love to make. He explains what makes it great.

Billy Wilder's The Apartment is a film that inspired Nancy Meyers. The director chats about what makes it so special for her.

Stephen Frears takes a close look at Hitchcock's use of close-ups in Notorious. Repression never looked so good.

As an aspiring director, Darren Aronofsky watched Kurosawa's Yojimbo so much he wore out the tape. He watches it again and explains what he learned.

For Terry Zwigoff, Fritz Lang's mordant 1945 film noir Scarlet Street is a lot of laughs. He explains why.

John Singelton watches Spielberg's classic E-ride and analyzes what makes it so scary-and profound.

Director Miguel Arteta takes a look-a close look-at Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy to find out what makes it tick.