# Great British Film Directors.



## TrevBus (Jun 6, 2013)

This can be who you think are the best or your favorites.
For me, topping any list is David Lean. He is the director of the Film that I feel is the Greatest English Language Film; Lawrence of Arabia. 2nd, would be Carol Reed; The Third Man. 3rd. Alfred hitchcock. Although the majority of his films were USA produced, his early British films were top notch; The Saboteur and The Lady Vanishes.
Those are just 3. Many more can be listed. Have a go.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
(Their collaborations done through their own production company, The Archers studio)
Wrote and directed some of the most uniquely 'British' films which are simultaneously brilliant, beautifully filmed, odd, surreal, funny... and embody something so clearly "British" that they are still known for it. Of many films the following are the better known and outstanding:
_The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
A Canterbury Tale
I know Where I'm Going
A Matter of Life and Death
Black Narcissus
The Red Shoes_


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

It's a brave man who puts Hitchcock 3rd, although David Lean, Carol Reed and P&P are hard to argue with. But Hitchcock has a favoured place in movies: he kind of spans the Atlantic and becomes both British and the best of what Hollywood offers...


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Charlie Chaplin.


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## lunchdress (Apr 20, 2013)

My top three:
Hitchcock
Nicholas Roeg
Carol Reed
(David Lean is no doubt one of the greatest but I'd rather watch Walkabout or Performance over LoA any day)

also:
Kubrick
Stephen Frears
Ken Russell
Powell/Pressburger
Bill Forsyth (Scottish, still counts?)
Mike Leigh

edit to add: Kubrick actually belongs in the top 3, maybe at #1; and forgot Bruce Robinson - directed 'Withnail and I'


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## lunchdress (Apr 20, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> Charlie Chaplin.


Oh yes of course! Now he's over everyone else on my list, ha!


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Terry Gilliam sticks out for me. Possibly retracted if people take issue with his being born in America, but he's certainly more British than *Kubrick* of all people.


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

Powell and Pressburger's film The Red Shoes has been my favorite film for a couple years now. Black Narcissus, Colonel Blimp, A Matter of Life and Death, and Peeping Tom are also great.


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## lunchdress (Apr 20, 2013)

Crudblud said:


> Terry Gilliam sticks out for me. Possibly retracted if people take issue with his being born in America, but he's certainly more British than *Kubrick* of all people.


Yes, I got a little confused; I know that Kubrick is American but I identify him as British for some reason... now he's off my list and Gilliam is on! 

Gilliam could almost be considered more British than Chaplin and Hitchcock, who've made so many of their movies in the US.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

This should have been a short thread--OP nominates *David Lean*, Seconder, Thirder. Meeting adjourned. :tiphat:

Now, if science or someone could just move this thread to where it belongs.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Methinks Ridley Scott is rather excellent


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

More recently I think Boyle and Nolan have contributed enormously to British cinema.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

'The Third Man' is my favourite film - so brilliant, such artistry - so Carol Reed.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Everybody plugs Lean for Lawrence, but in some ways the body of work he put together in the 40's is incredible - In Which we Serve, Blithe Spirit, Brief Encounter, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations. Then there are his other "spectaculars" - Kwai, Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter and Passage to India. Totally agree with Vaneyes - no contest.


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## Ryan (Dec 29, 2012)

Anna Arrowsmith. If you have not seen her work, I highly recommend it.


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## TrevBus (Jun 6, 2013)

Taggart said:


> Everybody plugs Lean for Lawrence, but in some ways the body of work he put together in the 40's is incredible - In Which we Serve, Blithe Spirit, Brief Encounter, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations. Then there are his other "spectaculars" - Kwai, Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter and Passage to India. Totally agree with Vaneyes - no contest.


You are right of course. Not sleighting any Lean's other works, esp. the ones you listed(although I think his last film-'Passage to India', sadly was one of his lesser works), just that I feel LOA stands out. 'Oliver Twist', may be the best filmed version of that novel.


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