What does it mean to be a unique director? Unique directors put their own personal stamp on any project they touch, and all unique directors have very distinct styles in every aspect of their films. These are my top 5 favorite unique and one of a kind directors.
Yorgos Lanthimos — The Lobster, Dogtooth, Alps
Yorgos Lanthimos is a Greek film writer/director who has made such films as “Dogtooth”, “Alps”, and most recently “The Lobster”.
His films use strange plots and intriguing cinematography to draw audiences in and show them something that they’ve definitely never seen before. This man defies the notion that there are no original ideas anymore, thinking of movies like “The Lobster” which takes place in a world where people stay in a hotel and have 45 days to find love with someone else in the establishment. If they can not find a partner, they are turned into an animal and released into the wild. What a creative brain!
Quentin Tarantino — Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, Reservoir Dog
Quentin Tarantino has gotten immensely famous because of his violent and dramatic style of filmmaking. He makes movies that revolve around intriguing stories and awesome characters, specializing in the hardest part of screenwriting and directing: world building. He is extremely good at creating and developing the fictional worlds in which his characters and stories live, making his movies incredibly enjoyable to watch.
Edgar Wright — Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, The World’s End
Edgar Wright has an extremely unique and artistic style of directing because of his talent for making action-comedies. This is a pen extremely unlikely combination of genres, but he achieves it like no other. His way of using montages to create comedic situations is extremely creative and fun to watch, showing that he thinks very artistically and also just has a lot of fun when he’s in the director’s chair.
Tim Burton — The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman, BeetleJuice
Tim Burton s widely known for his strange and dark style of directing showcased in films such as “The a Nightmare Before Christmas” and many more. He brings out a dark tone in a comedic and very silly way, balancing eerie themes and bright storylines. He showcases this talent very well in “Beetlejuice”, one of his best and most creative films to date. Tim Burton puts a special mark on each of his movies, making them all immediately recognizable as a Burton films.
Wes Anderson — The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums
Wes Anderson is not only an extremely unique director, but also and extremely amazing director. Most people describe his style as quirky or hipster, but it is much more than just quirky. His very symmetrical and color driven set designs make it hard to look away from the screen, his actors (while they have their own personal style of acting in other films) have a bland yet intriguing aspect to their performances, and just overall, his films are pleasing in almost every way. His dialogue is absolutely hilarious but it can also be dramatic or serious and his editing style is unlike any other film. His characters are all very interesting people yet they are very straightforward and understandable in their actions. No other director is or ever will be as strange and fun as Wes Anderson.