See if you agree with this: a panel of experts–Peter Bradshaw, Xan Brooks, Molly Haskell, Derek Malcolm, Andrew Pulver, B Ruby Rich and Steve Rose–convened on the Guardian‘s behalf to select the “40 best directors.” Using a 20-point scale, with 20 the best, they graded each artist’s substance, look, craft, orginality, and intelligence. While Walker film audiences should recognize plenty of names, there are some surprises: no Coppola, Kurosawa, Kubrick, or Hitchcock (hmm, while it doesn’t say so, this appears to be a list of living directors.)
And the winners are (in suspense-enhancing order):
40. Gus Van Sant
39. David Fincher
38. Takashi Miike
37. Lars von Trier
35. Larry and Andy Wachowski
34. David O. Russell
33. Pavel Pawlikowski
32. Gaspar Noe
31. Richard Linklater
30. Takeshi Kitano
29. Wes Anderson
28. Michael Moore
27. Ang Lee
25. Spike Jonze
24. Alexander Payne
23. Walter Salles
22. Michael Haneke
21. Paul Thomas Anderson
20. Michael Winterbottom
19. Aki Kaurismaki
18. Tsai Ming Liang
17. Quentin Tarantino
16. Todd Haynes
15. Pedro Almodovar
14. Wong Kar-wai
13. Bela Tarr
12. Lynne Ramsay
11. Lukas Moodysson
10. Terence Davies
8. Hayao Miyazaki
5. Terrence Malick
4. Steven Soderbergh
3. Joel and Ethan Coen
2. Martin Scorsese
1. David Lynch