The Greatest Living Director

Austrian Director Michael Haneke

When discussing the latest films with colleagues and friends, the question often comes: what current filmmaker seems to be producing consistently the best films? Obviously, this is a matter of taste, as there are many genres of film that one can be attached to, and if a filmmaker stays within his or her specialty, it can be seen as a limitation. Stanley Kubrick and Billy Wilder are two examples of filmmakers who worked in many different genres but were able to maintain their individual styles. On the other hand, Hitchcock mostly created thrillers, and John Ford mostly headed Westerns. Does that make them any less great?

So this is a completely biased opinion. If I were asked right now, at this moment, whom I think is making the most original, intellectual, consistently innovative films, whose films I also enjoy for their challenging subject matter and thought-provoking themes, I‘d have to say the Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke. A triple threat auteur who writes, produces and directs almost all his films, Haneke has a distinctive, recognizable style, no matter what story he chooses to tell. Whether it be in the political thriller vein, such as “Code Unknown” or in a after-holocaust future, as with “The Time Of The Wolf”, or 1920’s Germany, the setting for “The White Ribbon”, his political agenda is  consistent, and his statements are his own. This is what true art is supposed to do: be an expression of an individual but also invite  discussion.


Here’s a Leopard’s list of recommended Haneke films:

Benny’s Video (1997)
Haneke’s first theatrical feature after a long career in television, Benny’s Video concerns a privileged young man named Benny who is obessesed with video and death. His obsession leads to tragedy and its aftermath.

Caché (2005)
His first film in French and featuring international star Juliette Binoche, Caché chronicles a troubled couple who receive a mysterious package which contains troubling images that may or may not unlock secrets of the past.

Funny Games (1997) & Funny Games U.S. (2007)
Virtually the same film, only one in German and the other in English with American stars (Naomi Wolf, Michael Pitt), Funny Games is a mysterious meditation on violence and media and their depiction in movies. A well to do family travels to their vacation home only to be victimized by two grotesquely polite young men.