The Wednesday 10 : The Top 10 Directorial Debuts of the Decade

One of the most exciting things to do when looking back at the decade that was is finding all the talented new people on the block. Oddly, many of the breakthrough names of the past ten years actually made their directorial debuts in the 90s, like Christopher Nolan and Darren Aronofsky. However, there are plenty of filmmakers who made a mark on the cinema scene in the dawn of this new century, especially with their first outings. As such, this week on the Wednesday 10, a spotlight of the Top 10 Directorial Debuts of the Decade. 

A brief side note before beginning, any directors with previous co-director gigs (Andrew Stanton with A Bug’s Life for example) are exempt from the list. 

10. The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005): It might be hard to remember, but when Judd Apatow made The 40 Year Old Virgin, it wasn’t expected to be a smash-hit. Star Steve Carell was on the latest unsuccessful Americanization of a hit British show (“The Office”), Seth Rogen’s last movie role was as “Eager Cameraman” and Apatow was known as the creator of two critically adored but short-lived television series (“Freaks and Geeks” and “Undeclared”). That Apatow and his crew of comedians would take over American movies for years to come was just one of the surprises. The other was just how damn funny and oddly touching The 40 Year Old Virgin turned out to be. The supporting cast is sensational (Paul Rudd, Catherine Keener, Jane Lynch) but it is really Carell, who co-wrote the film with Apatow, that pushes things to the top. With the help of Apatow’s ability to push sentimentality just to the breaking point without tiptoeing over, Carell proved that a film could center on a sweetheart goofball and still work.

9. Man Push Cart (2005): Arguably the finest new director of the decade, Ramin Bahrani kicked off a unique career with Man Push Cart. Centering on a former Pakistani rock star that now resorts to selling drinks on the sides of Manhattan roads, Man Push Cart - just like Bahrani’s other films Chop Shop and Goodbye Solo - tells a thoroughly American story, not the type you usually see. Bahrani lingers on the people we pass by on the way to work without noticing, not the people we dream about being. Man Push Cart has been dubbed part of the new subcategory of neo-neo-realism, where traditional story fragments and cinematic techniques are ignored for something grittier. The movie doesn’t linger on flashbacks of its character’s one-time celebrity, instead living directly in the now. He has no time to be nostalgic; there is work to do. A fabulous film by a modern-day Vittorio De Sica. 

8. Hunger (2008): Steve McQueen’s stepped onto the movie scene with an unflinching, unrelenting debut that will turn off a lot of people. Those who wade through it will be reward with one helluva movie. Hunger focuses on the IRA hunger strikes of 1981, led by Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender) in full, brutal detail. Sands and his group claim they deserve to be treated like political prisoners, a request that has been regularly denied. Their days are filled with ferocious beatings and relentless solitude. Largely shot in long takes to emphasize the cruelty and dehumanizing nature of the prison stints, Hunger features glaring lights and deep blacks that are united into a blinding screen presence. The movie’s somber built to its inevitable conclusion never wavers and the overall viewing of McQueen’s composition feels like a sucker punch to the face. 

7. The Station Agent (2003): Thomas McCarthy’s The Station Agent is an enchanting, often hilarious picture that is thoroughly grounded in humanity, and not always the best elements of it. Characters are judgmental, cold and complicated here, and in this rural New Jersey town friendships aren’t made over night, but over weeks, often with a bit of bourbon. McCarthy takes a minimalist approach in his storytelling, letting the narrative bubble forth when its time is ready. Peter Dinklage is terrific as “Fin” McBride, a person whose miniscule size gets gawked at on every corner, but has shed his annoyance over the matter long ago. Dinklage’s performance is layered in intelligence, hope and loneliness, coming out especially in the moments with movie-goddess Patricia Clarkson. McCarthy’s writing and directing could easily lend itself to trite storytelling, thankfully he never falters.

6. Capote (2005): With only the little known documentary The Cruise under his belt, director Bennett Miller did a rare thing; he made a genuinely engaging biopic. Based on Gerald Clarke’s biography and with a screenplay by Dan Futterman, Capote skips the standard idea of movies about famous people, ignoring summing up an entire person’s life into two hours. Instead, Bennett Miller narrowed in on the key moment in the infamous writer’s life; the several years Truman Capote spent writing In Cold Blood. With a wonderful cast, including Philip Seymour-Hoffman’s award winning turn and sharp supporting work by Catherine Keener, Chris Cooper, Bruce Greenwood and Clifton Collins Jr., Miller crafted a movie cloaked in anguish and regret. A world where a man is overcome with an obsession that can only end horrifically. Stark in presentation, you can feel the cold prairie winds gushing along the fields in Miller’s film. By never overselling its celebrity or notoriety, Capote stands tall over other biopics, which insist on screaming their importance to the masses.

5. In Bruges (2008): Martin McDonagh’s film has already been pointed out in one decade retrospective so far, and the praise isn’t about to stop. Reenergizing the blokes with pistols and beer genre, In Bruges is one of the funniest films of recent years, while also featuring a surprising amount of heart. McDonagh effortlessly weaves together the occasionally macabre humor with genuine spots of pain, remorse and even thrills. All of these fragments collide in a finale, beautifully shot during a haunting nighttime parade in the titular city. With In Bruges, McDonagh made the transition from stage to screen look like a cakewalk. 

4. Michael Clayton (2007): Quite possibly the quintessential George Clooney film, Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton deserves its reputation as the finest John Grisham movie ever made. That it wasn’t actually based on a Grisham novel is beside the point. Gilroy’s land of lawyers, businessmen and both sides of the law is an entrancing two hours, loaded with quiet twists and character-based theatrics. Clooney has never been better, playing a man whose charm and wit can only get him so far, as he buries his career over and over again; “Fast” Eddie Felson in a suit. Gilroy, who also wrote the script, pitches it all a notch below the Hollywood thriller, giving extra impact to major decisions, such as the scene where Tilda Swinton (who is absolutely perfect) gives up her morality to lock up a case. The gesture isn’t malevolent; it rings as anxious and is possibly a superb picture’s strongest move.

3. The Triplets of Belleville (2003): In a decade where animated films proved their range beyond a child audience, one of the finest pictures to emerge came from French filmmaker Sylvain Chomet. In telling the almost dialogue-free journey of an elderly woman seeking to rescue her kidnapped grandson during the Tour de France, Chomet revealed an animated style like nothing before. With influences from a bevy of European artists, Chomet made the Triplets of Belleville into a strange tale, where humans have bird-like facial features, cycling is shown as hellishly grueling and the tune of the titular triplets feels like it has been inside our bodies for ages. It is a delightful venture, which works for adults and kids alike, for the same reasons no less. 

2.In the Bedroom (2001): Filmed with the confidence of a veteran, Todd Field’s In the Bedroom is a heartbreaking slice of American melodrama that is hard to shake. Few films with this much yelling and family feuding have ever felt so grounded, refusing to get overtaken by big acting. Field reigns in his mighty ensemble, with Sissy Spacek giving perhaps the finest performance of her career and Tom Wilkinson showing once again that he can do it all. The direction builds an atmosphere of tragedy, where a society frets about being overprotective and not protective enough of our own families. As grief evolves into something vicious, Field never relents, asking the viewer key questions. How far is too far when it comes to our loves ones? What kind of people do we become when life is out of our control? In the Bedrooms inquires about these, but most importantly, leaves the answering of them up to us. 

1.The Lives of Others (2006): Constructed with the ambition, skill and depth of few veteran directors, it is difficult to believe that The Lives of Others is the first film by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. The movie occurs in 1980s East Germany, as a Stasi Agent (the phenomenal Ulrich Muhe) listens in on a couple’s possibly treasonous day-to-day life, before slowly becoming moved by their passion and pain. Donnersmarck, who also wrote the screenplay, handles the vibrant characters with precision, always playing up the reality of the situation. When the tension needs to build, he eases it into the frame, with Muhe’s character arrogantly playing the two lovers like chess pieces against one another. Muhe’s transformation is gradual, sketching into existence through slight gestures, best exemplified when Muhe stumbles across the street to a bar in order to comfort a distraught wife, stating he is an immense fan of her acting, a gesture that reunites the couple and brings the faintest of smiles to a Stasi’s face. The trappings may be Hitchcockian but the feelings are far more akin to Kurosawa. The finest directorial debut of the decade and one of the best films too.