Brian de Palma:
⦁ started his directing Career in the late 60´s and early 70´s
⦁ attached to the “”New Hollywood”-movement; friends with other directors like Martin Scorsese or Francis Ford Coppola
⦁ discovered Robert de Niro, and suggested Scorsese to cast him for “Mean Streets”
⦁ helped develop innovative camera- and filming-techniques like “split-screen”
⦁ often makes films dealing with madness, main charecters dealing with mental illness, psychopaths etc.
⦁ known for his “visual brilliance”, his Focus on Elaborate sceneries and stylisicism, using storyboards
⦁ often uses “Irony” to soften his heavy and violent sujets
⦁ critisized for making overly violent, brutal and mysogynic movies
best/recommened films: “Carrie”, 1976; “Obsession”, 1966; “Blow Out”, 1981; “Scarface”, 1983; “Passion” 2012
Michael Cimino:
⦁ started his Career in the 1970s
⦁ breakthrough film: “Thunderbolt & Lightfoot” with Jeff Bridges and Clint Easwood
⦁ known for a powerful visual style, that has accuratedly been descirbed as “Terror of Beauty”
⦁ director of the Vietnam-film “The Deer Hunter”, that has won the Oscar as best feature
⦁ director of the film “Heaven´s Gate”, that ruined a whole film studio
⦁ after “Heaven´s Gate”, Cimino was not able anymore to get bigger Projects financed. In the 80´s he made smaller films, of which “Year of the Dragon” stands out
⦁ In the 90s disappeared from the public eye
⦁ died last year, 2016
best/recommended films: “Thunderbolt & Lightfoot”, 1974 “The Deer Hunter”, 1978 “Year of the Dragon”, 1985
Alan Parker:
⦁ British-born
⦁ started his Career in Television advertising
⦁ “breakthrough” 1978 with “Midnight Express”
⦁ likes to make films on “heavy subjects” with a lot of intensity, such as ME (torture), “Mississippi Burning” (racist violence) or “The Life of David Gale” (death Penalty)
⦁ has a wide range of styles
⦁ has not made any new efforts since the 2003 film “Life of David Gale”
best/recommended films: “Midnight Express”, 1978 “Angel Heart”, 1987 “Mississippi Burning”, 1988 “The life of David Gale”, 2003
Paul Verhoeven:
- dutch-born
- started his Career in Europe with “Turkish Delights”
- moved to the USA/Hollywood in the 80´s
- Hollywood-debut: “Flesh and Blood”
- uses over-exaggeration of violence, sex, etc. as a a way of mocking Hollywood directing styles
- like to make satirical films (like “Showgirls” or “Starship Troopers”) that were often misunderstood
- does not take his own films, or the film Business too serious, and like to apply a sense of irony to his work
- likes to Play with audience´s expectations
- has been critisized for making Sexist, mysogynist, or even Fascist movies
- was nominated for the Oscar, as well as winning a “Razzie”-Award for Worst films, that he picked up personally
best/recommended films: “Robo Cop”, 1987 “Basic Instinct”, 1992 “Showgirls”, 1995 “Starship Troopers”, 1997 “Hollow Man”, 2000