I was glancing over my review index the other day and it came to my attention that I’ve reviewed quite a number of movies directed by women. It got me pondering on the fact that even though there are many women directors, there is still a large gap in comparison with male counterparts. But this post of mine is to celebrate the excellence of women directors everywhere and give praise to their unique vision. Plus, I wish to shine a light on many of the ladies in the profession. And I will ask you all, who is your favourite female director? Which films directed by ladies would you suggest to me? Below are two videos that feature many respected female directors.
Who Are Your Favourite Female Directors?
15 Saturday Jul 2017
in
kmSalvatore said:
Well. Today.. it would b Sophia Coppola 🙂
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vinnieh said:
I knew she’d be mentioned and with good reason. She’s carved out a great career for herself.
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sonofabeach96 said:
I think Penny Marshall is a fantastic director. Not sure if she’s still in the business, but her work is terrific.
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vinnieh said:
I think she still directs. I love her work on Big and A League of Their Own.
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beetleypete said:
You have a review index? that’s serious! 🙂
Kathryn Bigelow has done some good stuff.
Near Dark
The Hurt Locker
Point Break
Strange Days.
I recommend her work because it is not overtly ‘female orientated’, and for starters, suggest ‘Blue Steel’, with Jamie Lee Curtis, and Ron Silver. Great thriller.
And Jane Campion of course.
The Piano
Portrait of A Lady
Sweetie
In The Cut
And to start you off, ‘An Angel At My Table’, starring the wonderful Kerry Fox.
Lots more when you have seen all those, and not a pouty Sofia in sight!
Cheers, Pete.
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vinnieh said:
Yes. The review index can be reached from my homepage. I have seen a few Bigelow movies, yet never reviewed one. I like her style. As for Jane Campion, I loved The Piano a lot. But I’m eager to see more of her work. Man your knowledge on female directors is pretty fascinating, Pete.
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beetleypete said:
I try…
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vinnieh said:
And succeed, my cinematic friend.
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beetleypete said:
Perhaps you can see why I am not so excited about Sofia? 🙂
For some real lady director film-buff stuff, check out Agnes Varda.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agn%C3%A8s_Varda
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vinnieh said:
Yes I had noticed that Pete. Appreciate the link, she is a film maker who I’ve heard discussed numerous times.
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dbmoviesblog said:
I really respect Jane Campion. There are films of hers that I do not like, but there are others which I really love and think them underrated. I like how she approaches her films. You know that if it is her movie, it will very sensual and thought-provoking at some point. That’s guaranteed.
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vinnieh said:
Yes, she is very good at imbuing her work with a certain erotic quality that is also very intellectual too. She’s got an array of talent when it comes to the heroines of her movies, they are always really complex.
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maddylovesherclassicfilms said:
Ida Lupino, Gillian Armstrong and Jane Campion.
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vinnieh said:
Wasn’t Lupino an actress too? Or am I getting confused? I like Gillian Armstrong’s approach to films that highlight the strength of women and their validity. Campion is another fine movie maker with her own distinct way of doing things.
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maddylovesherclassicfilms said:
Yes Ida was an actress also. She was as good behind the camera as she was infront of it. As a director she worked in both films and TV(being the only woman to direct a Twilight Zone episode) and founded an independent production company called The Filmmakers (co-founded with her husband Collier Young(who was the producer of series such as Ironside and Wild Wild West.) Yeah Gillian and Jane are also excellent directors, their films always have good roles for actresses to play.
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vinnieh said:
For her time, she must have been quite a trailblazer. Good for her I say.
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maddylovesherclassicfilms said:
She certainly was a trailblazer. A really good flick from her that I’d recommend is The Hitch-Hiker (1953). As an actress check her out in On Dangerous Ground, Road House and Ladies In Retirement.
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vinnieh said:
All have been noted, thanks Maddy. Your cinematic smarts are enviable.
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iampharaohmaktuk said:
Kate Winslett!
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vinnieh said:
I wasn’t aware she had directed but now I’m curious.
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iampharaohmaktuk said:
Oh shit sorry, I read this as actors looool!
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vinnieh said:
No need to apologise, it happens to us all.
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iampharaohmaktuk said:
For sure, what do you think is currently amazing on Netflix that I may have not seen? American Violence and You Get Me were pretty good. American Violence was amazing actually. A disturbing look into the life of a murderer where you gain compassion for what he went through.
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vinnieh said:
Well I’ve recently been watching Party of Five. It’s a drama from the 90’s about five siblings having to cope with life after their parents die in a car accident.
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iampharaohmaktuk said:
Nice, I’ll look into it and add it to my list. Will let you know how I like it.
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vinnieh said:
Excellent news.
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Richard said:
I really liked Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman. I hope she does all the sequels!
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vinnieh said:
Damn, I still need to see that. It was good hearing of a woman helming that film, good for her. I did see her work in Monster, which was fantastic too.
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Richard said:
Probably my favourite film this year!
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vinnieh said:
Well that’s some praise.
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ozflicks said:
My favourite women directors are:
Sarah Watt (for Look Both Ways and My Year Without Sex)
Jane Campion (for The Piano, Holy Smoke, Bright Star and others)
Sofia Coppola (for Lost In Translation, The Virgin Suicides and The Beguiled)
Julie Taymor (for Across The Universe and Frida)
Lina Wertmuller (for Love and Anarchy, Seven Beauties and The Seduction of Mimi)
Jocelyn Moorhouse (for Proof and The Dressmaker)
Gillian Armstrong (for My Brilliant Career, The Last Days of Chez Nous and others)
A little Aussie bias showing through …
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for introducing me to a few I hadn’t heard of. I also promise to check your blog out more. Speaking of The Beguiled, I just reviewed it.
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ozflicks said:
Yes. I read your review and liked it (and ‘Liked’ it), but didn’t comment as you’d said it all so well.
A few other Aussie women directors are Cate Shortland (Somersault and Lore), Sue Brooks (Japanese Story), Rachel Perkins (Jasper Jones, Radiance and others), Rachel Ward (Beautiful Kate), Nadia Tass (Malcolm, The Big Steal and Waiting), Shirley Barrett (Love Serenade) and Jennifer Kent (The Babadook). Cheers
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vinnieh said:
Appreciate your suggestions and choices.
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ozflicks said:
Vinnie. Why don’t your have a Like option in your comments section? It should be in your options.
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vinnieh said:
I’ll look into that.
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ozflicks said:
See this page How to Enable Comment Likes at https://en.support.wordpress.com/comment-likes/
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vinnieh said:
Thanks. When I reply to comments, you should be able to press like then, I’m sure.
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vinnieh said:
I’ve just enabled it, thanks for telling me.
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Dell on Movies (@w_ott3) said:
There are some really good ones, out there…
Penny Marshall (A League of Their Own, etc.)
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, plenty of others)
Ava DuVernay (Selma, 13th)
Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman, Monster)
Mary Harron (American Psycho, The Notorious Bettie Page)
Kasi Lemmons (Talk to Me, Eve’s Bayou)
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vinnieh said:
You have good taste, my friend. I really have to watch more of these films.
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ninvoid99 said:
Sofia remains the best so far as she is my all-time favorite filmmaker.
Others that I love so far are Lynne Ramsay, Andrea Arnold, the late Chantal Akerman, Nicole Holofcener, Jane Campion, Patty Jenkins, Kathryn Bigelow, Kasi Lemmons, Ava DuVernay, Agnes Varda, Julie Taymor, Catherine Breillat, Lone Scherfig, and Rebecca Miller.
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vinnieh said:
I must say that I’ve quite liked the movies by Lone Scherfig so far. Can’t say I’ve seen any Catherine Breillat.
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ninvoid99 said:
The only film of Breillat I’ve seen in its entirety and have is Romance as I’ve seen clips of her other films and they’re quite confrontational. Especially as it play into the world of extreme sex as there’s film called Anatomy of Hell that’s about a gay man forced to have sex with a woman as he’s scared of the woman’s vagina as he believes it is hell on Earth.
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vinnieh said:
She sounds like a controversial film maker who doesn’t hold anything back. I quite like Susanne Bier as a director.
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apesdontreadphilosophyblog said:
I’ve seen Anatomy of Hell. It was disturbing. And I normally like disturbing. I may have enjoyed it more if I had seen it with better subtitles. But there is not very much dialogue
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
-Penny Marshall,
-Jane Campion
-Kathryn Bigelow
-Catherine Hardwicke (I know she’s had duds like Twilight and Red Riding Hood, but I loved Thirteen, and Miss You Already)
-Patty Jenkins
-Agnes Varda
-Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry)
-Jodi Foster
-Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give, It’s Complicated, Private Benjamin…)
-Niki Faro (Whale Rider, McFarland USA, North Country
-Amy Heckerling (Clueless, Fast Times at Ridgemont High
-Dee Rees (Pariah and the upcoming, much buzzed about Mudbound)
-Ava Duverney (Selma, the Netflix documentary The 13th, and the not yet released Disney adaptation of A Wrinkle In Time–which I’m sooo excited about!)
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vinnieh said:
I’m interested in both Thirteen and Miss You Already. Nancy Meyers does conjure up some entertaining romances, that have great casts. Thanks for introducing me to a few I hadn’t heard of, Kim. You’re a fountain of information.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Coming from you my friend, that is indeed a compliment!😙
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vinnieh said:
It’s the truth sister.
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Mel said:
Movies: Kathryn Bigelow & Sofia Coppola
TV: Jill Soloway & Lena Dunham
Theater: Julie Taymor & Susan Stroman
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vinnieh said:
Julie Taymor has also done some amazing movies.
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Mel said:
I loved Across The Universe
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vinnieh said:
I still have yet to see that one. I also wanted to say in case you missed it, I asked to view your blog as it’s protected.
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Mel said:
I fixed it. Though it may take a while to do it’s thing.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for that. Will check it soon.
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vinnieh said:
It’s working fine.
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Cindy Bruchman said:
Jane Campion but my favorite artist is Julie Taymor. I only wish she’d do more!
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vinnieh said:
Julie Taymor has done some gorgeous movies. She has that eye for detail.
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Rebecca Dawn said:
I love Nancy Meyers.
Something’s gotta to give. It’s Complicated.
What Woman want.
Amy Heckerling: Fast times at Ridgemont high. Night at the Roxbury
I love comedy 😜
Great post ☺️
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vinnieh said:
Both are really good directors, particularly in the comedy genre.
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Rebecca Dawn said:
Thinking back, the early 2000’s were great for movies. Comedy and horror wise
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vinnieh said:
You may be on to something there. Looking back, they were a good decade.
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Lloyd Marken said:
I got a soft spot for Julie and Julia.
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vinnieh said:
Directed by the fantastic Nora Ephron.
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Eccentric Muse said:
Farah Khan.
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vinnieh said:
That’s a new name to me. But thanks for telling me.
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Eccentric Muse said:
Maybe because she’s Bollywood! 🙂
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vinnieh said:
I need to see more Bollywood.
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Eccentric Muse said:
Yes! 🙂
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Laura Beth said:
Wonder Woman is a must-see movie in theaters. I’m so excited to see what happens next!
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vinnieh said:
It’s at the top of my priorities. Plus, I have to catch up with your blog too.
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Sean said:
Lots of good names being thrown out but I have to give my vote to Patty Jenkins right now. Who’d have thought I’d enjoy a DC movie as much if not more than a brand new Spider-Man film?
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for reminding me that I still need to watch Wonder Woman.
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Sean said:
It’s really good. I’m curious to see whether DC movies have turned a corner or whether Wonder Woman was a one-off in trying to be fun instead of deadly serious. I would really like for Justice League to be good but that still seems like way too much to expect.
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vinnieh said:
I’m curious to see as well. Hope it turns out good.
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apesdontreadphilosophyblog said:
Patricia Rozema, Gillian Armstrong and Nicole Holofcener. All very different. All really awesome!
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vinnieh said:
I must say Patricia Rozema is new to me. But that’s why I love these posts.
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apesdontreadphilosophyblog said:
She did the best Jane Austin adaptation IMHO: Mansfield Park. When Night is Falling is also very good
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vinnieh said:
I do love Jane Austen.
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Anna Deneau said:
Ouch… not one mention of Larisa Shepitko? Wings and The Ascent (Soviet cinema) are masterpieces.
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vinnieh said:
I will definitely look into them as I’m eager to learn.
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Anna Deneau said:
FilmStruck is the greatest service for film fans. It is my bliss.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for telling me.
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Virginie Pronovost said:
Daisies is such a weird film! (had to say it)
Ok, now I think my favourite one would be Penny Marshall. Big, Awakenings and A League of their Own are all films I love.
And Julie Taymor directed a film I just love, which is Across the Universe. She is a very creative movie director.
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vinnieh said:
Marshall has crafted some really delightful movies. I’m not too familiar with Julie Taymor but am eager to learn.
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Virginie Pronovost said:
I definitely recommend Across the Universe, especially if you like The Beatles!
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vinnieh said:
I appreciate the recommendation.
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