Stephen Mullen

The Listening Ear

I haven't spent as much time thinking about this as I should - so I am going to keep it fairly simple - pick 20 films from the pool, then round it out with nothing but Japanese films - and mostly Shohei Imamura films at that. I think he is among the very best directors there have been - and none of his films are in this pool? That seems definitively overlooked (though going by the crowds I've seen at screenings of his films, I can't say he's unloved.)

From the pool:

• Colossal Youth (2006) Pedro Costa
• The Intruder (2004) Claire Denis
• A City of Sadness (1989) Hou Hsiao-hsien
• The Puppetmaster (1993) Hou Hsiao-hsien
• The Red and the White (1967) Jancsó Miklós
• Platform (2000) Jia Zhangke
• A Moment of Innocence (1996) Mohsen Makhmalbaf
• Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) Leo McCarey
• The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (1939) Mizoguchi Kenji
• The Loyal 47 Ronin of the Genroku Era (1941) Mizoguchi Kenji
• When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960) Naruse Mikio
• Wife! Be Like a Rose! (1935) Naruse Mikio
• Boy (1969) Oshima Nagisa
• The Ceremony (1971) Oshima Nagisa
• The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936) Jean Renoir
• L'Amour Fou (1969) Jacques Rivette
• Out 1: Spectre (1974) Jacques Rivette
• Saint Francis, God's Jester (1950) Roberto Rossellini
• Chelsea Girls (1966) Andy Warhol & Paul Morrissey
• A Brighter Summer Day (1991) Edward Yang

Plus 10:

• The Pornographer (1966) Imamura Shohei
• The Insect Woman (1963) Imamura Shohei
• Intentions of Murder (1964) Imamura Shohei
• Pigs and Battleships (1961) Imamura Shohei
• A Man Vanishes (1967) Imamura Shohei
• The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987) Hara Kazuo
• Eros Plus Massacre (1969) Yoshida Kiju
• Giants and Toys (1958) Masumura Yasuzo
• Mr. Pu (1953) Ichikawa Kon
• Charisma (1999) Kurosawa Kiyoshi

From the second pool:

• Lies (1999) Jang Sun-woo
• Xiao Wu (1997) Jia Zhangke
• Actress (1992) Stanley Kwan
• Grin Without a Cat (1977) Chris Marker
• Sisters of the Gion (1936) Mizoguchi Kenji
• I Fidanzati (1963) Ermanno Olmi
• The Only Son (1936) Ozu Yasujiro
• Passing Fancy (1933) Ozu Yasujiro
• Youth of the Beast (1963) Suzuki Seijun
• Taipei Story (1985) Edward Yang