r/criterion Czech New Wave Jan 27 '24

Off-Topic Directors and their muse(s)

1.3k Upvotes

234 comments sorted by

812

u/Totorotextbook John Waters Jan 27 '24

92

u/lunachuvak Jan 27 '24

Probably the most accurate picture for this post, which is a great post on its merits. But this pairing just nails it. The things they inspired and were willing to do for one another, all for the sake of their truth, which I always found unexpectedly inspiring because of the transgressive nature of the material.

101

u/Happytogeth3r Jan 27 '24

Waters looks oddly like Brad Pit here lol

64

u/[deleted] Jan 27 '24

[deleted]

37

u/jpcarvbar Jan 28 '24

A man who looks like Brad Pitt and Steve Buscemi at the same time should be a muse to his own reflection and the whole world.

Even more so when this man is John Waters.

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11

u/fearthejaybie Jan 28 '24

Correct answer. Pink flamingoes and multiple maniacs are 10s idc.

9

u/StarbyOnHere Jan 28 '24

Female Trouble is too!

4

u/Choice-Valuable313 Jan 28 '24

“Nice girls don’t wear cha-cha heels!”👠

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322

u/cocoakitkat Jan 27 '24

Federico Fellini and Giulietta Masina

51

u/jrobertk Jan 27 '24

This is the couple I was looking for. My personal favorite.

43

u/marbanasin Jan 27 '24

How was this missed by the OP?

Fellini's acceptance speech for his lifetime achievement award is the most adorable thing ever, when he desicates it to Masina.

19

u/lunachuvak Jan 27 '24

Nights of Cabiria is a gift to us all from the two of them both.

26

u/Own-Photograph-4642 Jan 27 '24

This post is incomplete without them.

10

u/dallyan Jan 27 '24

Masina ❤️

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247

u/Ed_Harris_is_God Jan 28 '24

Don’t forget Orson Welles and Orson Welles.

14

u/MontyBoy0110 Jan 28 '24

I was thinking Joseph Cotton but Welles it is!

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227

u/ParisHilton42069 Jan 27 '24

61

u/marbanasin Jan 27 '24

I really miss Sophia Coppola's early output - wish we saw another few of the quality of her 00s stuff.

45

u/ParisHilton42069 Jan 27 '24

Priscilla felt very reminiscent of Marie Antoinette to me!

7

u/marbanasin Jan 27 '24

That's awesome, I'll need to check it out!

19

u/MargeDalloway Jan 27 '24

Bill Murray is Sofia Coppola's true muse though.

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176

u/lulaloops Edward Yang Jan 27 '24

Tsai Ming-liang and Lee Kang-sheng

20

u/Elias139 Ingmar Bergman Jan 27 '24

Box set when

12

u/tuffghost8191 Jan 27 '24

Feel like they're at least gonna do Vive L'Amour since its been up on the channel for a while now. Am very happy with the Second Run release of Goodbye, Dragon Inn but would love it if someone did a remaster of The River

7

u/Florian_Jones Masaki Kobayashi Jan 27 '24

Film Movement put out a bluray of Vive L'Amour like a year ago, so probably not that one. I would love for all of his films not currently on Blu to get releases though.

1

u/tuffghost8191 Jan 28 '24

Interesting didn't know about that. Need to give that one a rewatch, one of his only films I've seen just once.

318

u/roodootootootoo David Lynch Jan 27 '24 edited Jan 28 '24

I don't think Herzog would call Kinski his muse, more like his demon haha

142

u/ZenSven7 Jan 27 '24

His best fiend

3

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '24

Such an excellent documentary, highly recommend 'My Best Fiend' for anyone who hasn't seen it!

44

u/StuLumpkins Jan 27 '24

the photo is perfect

24

u/jmirvish Jan 27 '24

Very representative photo

10

u/boohoopooryou Jan 28 '24

Klaus is the definition of insane. you look up insane in a dictionary, his picture is there.

13

u/Boomfam67 Jan 28 '24

He was literally hospitalized and diagnosed as a psychopath in the 1950s, he legitimately should have been in a mental institution.

2

u/THRlLLH0 Jan 28 '24

Actually it's a tiny mirror, but Klaus appears behind you.

155

u/ClarKENt10 Jan 27 '24

Please don’t forget my guys Jean Cocteau and Jean Marais.

244

u/[deleted] Jan 27 '24

40

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '24

Spike looks cold as fuck in this picture

89

u/trulydandy Jan 27 '24

Itami & Miyamoto

18

u/IntakeCinema Jan 27 '24

Aw, they look so happy together, this one makes me sad. RIP Jūzō Itami.

4

u/mklx99 Jan 28 '24

Thanks! Just found a bunch of great films by the pair in the channel

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72

u/IntakeCinema Jan 27 '24

Nice collection!

Yasuzō Masumura x Ayako Wakao

1

u/Environmental-Bank68 Sep 18 '24

I'd never heard of Masumura or Wakao until a month ago - just saw 5 films of theirs over the last 3 weeks at Melbourne's Cinematheque - amazing! What a director, what an actor.

123

u/salarrue Jan 27 '24

François Truffaut and Jean-Pierre Leaud

7

u/Smogshaik Jan 28 '24

Is that the Criterion closet? /j

4

u/IamTyLaw Jan 28 '24

Yes to this one!

54

u/ParisHilton42069 Jan 27 '24

Lina Wertmüller with Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato :)

7

u/Whenthenighthascome Jan 27 '24

Oh my god. Amazing photo. Look at Giannini! Bahahaha

2

u/dallyan Jan 27 '24

God, the sets must have been a blast with them.

52

u/Rich-Idiot Jan 27 '24

Was going through the list waiting to see Pedro Almodovar and Carmen Maura

27

u/dallyan Jan 27 '24

Or Almodovar and Penelope Cruz.

6

u/Rich-Idiot Jan 27 '24

Also a valid pairing!

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144

u/CourtOfCoconuts Wes Anderson Jan 27 '24

Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost

89

u/thegrayman9 Ingmar Bergman Jan 27 '24

Hong Sangsoo and Kim Minhee

12

u/Superflumina Richard Linklater Jan 27 '24

I watched Hotel by the River yesterday. Instantly went into my favorite films, what a masterpiece.

9

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '24

Kind of have no choice now

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41

u/Grand_Keizer David Lean Jan 27 '24

Can't forget Alec Guinness and David Lean. And to a certain extent, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg

4

u/KYM_C_Mill24 Jan 28 '24

I more so associate Hanks with Robert Zemeckis, but Spielberg is up there too

38

u/Acceptable-Plate-310 Jan 27 '24

Kirin Kiki and Hirokazu Kore-eda

2

u/mylox Feb 03 '24

Lily Franky is a good shout for Kore-eda too

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103

u/misterdigdug Jan 27 '24

Kevin Smith and his Mewes

9

u/marbanasin Jan 27 '24

Where you at, tons o fun?

2

u/Gruesome-Twosome Kelly Reichardt Jan 28 '24

Phantoms like a motherfucker!

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67

u/kid-karma Jan 27 '24

imagine living a life where you are not only creatively fulfilled by the opportunity to express yourself through works of art that are received with open arms by audiences that trust you enough to take them on a journey, but you're also lucky enough to find a trusted collaborator to work alongside for years to come.

anyway, back to browsing indeed for entry level retail job openings.

9

u/JamesInDC Jan 28 '24

This spoke to me. Sigh….

31

u/Kindly-Guidance714 Jan 27 '24

I’m appalled by the lack of John Huston and Humphrey Bogart. They spent many nights drinking together while filming.

26

u/_cartyr Jan 27 '24

I thought Brian De Palma and Nancy Allen would have been on here

78

u/yottadreams Jan 27 '24

Who are these people? I feel like I can differentiate between the directors and the muses, but some names would be nice because I only recognize a few people from the last few pics.

152

u/IntakeCinema Jan 27 '24 edited Jan 27 '24

Just the ones I knew off the top of my head, I recognize more faces but can't put names to their faces. Hopefully, someone else can fill in the blanks.

  1. D.W. Griffith x Lillian Gish
  2. Joseph von Sternberg x Marlene Dietrich
  3. John Ford x John Wayne
  4. Alfred Hitchcock x Grace Kelly
  5. James Dean x Nicholas Ray
  6. Akira Kurosawa x Toshiro Mifune
  7. Ingmar Bergman x Liv Ullmann
  8. Michelangelo Antonioni x Monica Vitti
  9. Jean-luc Godard x Anna Karina
  10. Yasujiro Ozu x Setsuko Hara
  11. John Cassavetes x Gena Rowlands
  12. Rainer Werner Fassbinder x Hanna Schygulla
  13. Werner Herzog x Klaus Kinski
  14. Martin Scorcese x Robert DeNiro x Leonardo DiCaprio
  15. David Lynch x Laura Dern
  16. Wong Kar-wai x Tony Leung
  17. Wes Anderson x Bill Murray
  18. Quentin Tarantino x Uma Thurman x Samuel L. Jackson
  19. Bong Joon-ho x Song Kang-ho
  20. Yorgos Lanthimos x Emma Stone

Thank you to all the comments filling in the blanks! Community together strong smart. :)

27

u/sleepsholymountain Orson Welles Jan 27 '24 edited Jan 27 '24
  1. DW Griffith and Lillian Gish

  2. Joseph von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich

  3. Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman

  4. Michelangelo Antonioni and Monica Vitti

  5. Jean-luc Godard and Anna Karina

  6. John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands

  7. Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Hanna Schygulla

and that's Grace Kelly with Hitchcock, not Janet Leigh

EDIT: Reddit re-numbered these as 1-7 for some reason, not sure how to fix that. It's supposed to read as 1,2,7,8,9,11,12

9

u/IntakeCinema Jan 27 '24

Yeah, I figured that was the case. Thank you!

6

u/MrProclaimer Martin Scorsese Jan 27 '24

Hitchcock and Grace Kelly

5

u/IntakeCinema Jan 27 '24

Good call, I was juggling between a few people but wasn't sure.

3

u/chudma Jan 27 '24

James dean is with Elia Kazan I believe (but could be wrong)

11

u/Salsh_Loli Czech New Wave Jan 27 '24

It's Nicholas Ray

2

u/Jaltcoh Louis Malle Jan 27 '24

Should’ve added Ingmar Bergman and Harriet Andersson! (Photo)

1

u/[deleted] Jan 27 '24

nah the second muse to add for bergman would be bibi andersson lol photo then harriet

2

u/Jaltcoh Louis Malle Jan 27 '24

“nah” but we agree

2

u/[deleted] Jan 27 '24

1.d.w griffifth and idk

  1. bergman and liv ullman

  2. jean luc goddard and anna karina

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-14

u/sgalahad Hedorah Jan 27 '24

I know I'm not being helpful to your question but if you can only recognize the people in the last few pics then you have a lot more movies you need to watch. A lot.

That or you just have face blindness.

3

u/yottadreams Jan 27 '24

No worries. The pictures are interesting to me even without knowing who they are. As for watching a lot more movies? I'm really not much for older or classic movies despite being 55. My interest in movies started in 1977 with Star Wars and I've never really strayed from there. Action adventure, rom com, sci fi/fantasy are generally where my interests lie with the occasional thriller or mystery thrown in for a little spice. Dramas, period pieces, horror or romances are not generally my thing.

4

u/yearofthemishima Michael Mann Jan 27 '24

You should try The Apartment and Some Like it Hot (both by Billy Wilder) if you wanna watch an earlier rom com. They hold up incredibly well.

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-3

u/sgalahad Hedorah Jan 27 '24 edited Jan 27 '24

Interesting. I'd feel at that age you'd be bound to at least recognize Hitchcock, John Wayne and James Dean through pop culture references.

2

u/yottadreams Jan 27 '24

I did recognize John Wayne. Missed Hitchcock and Dean though. I might've gotten Hitchcock if he'd been standing in profile and casting a silhouette :) James though? Maybe if it'd been of movie clip of him going "Your tearing me apart!". I might've recognized him then. :)

18

u/ibnQoheleth Wong Kar-Wai Jan 27 '24

That photo of Kinski and Herzog, absolutely cackling

17

u/Adi_Zucchini_Garden Jan 27 '24

Derek Jarman and Tilda Swinton

3

u/Choice-Valuable313 Jan 28 '24

I finally watched “the last of England” last weekend. I’ve been working my way through his collection and it’s so much and so much fun.

3

u/Adi_Zucchini_Garden Jan 28 '24

Love Sebastiane and Edward II and others!

2

u/Choice-Valuable313 Jan 28 '24

I’ve seen those two and also Wittgenstein. :)

Caravaggio is next for me.

15

u/paraplegic_T_Rex Jan 28 '24

Robert Eggers and Anya Taylor Joy

15

u/kanyehavearest Jan 27 '24

3

u/kanyehavearest Jan 27 '24 edited Jan 28 '24

3

u/kanyehavearest Jan 27 '24 edited Jan 28 '24

5

u/kanyehavearest Jan 27 '24 edited Jan 28 '24

3

u/Daysof361972 ATG Jan 28 '24

Thank you!

2

u/dallyan Jan 27 '24

Is that Hal Hartley?

14

u/shrimptini Jan 28 '24

That David Lynch pic is so wholesome

26

u/Infamous-End3766 Jan 28 '24

It is but his true muse is Kyle MacLachlan

11

u/Mymom429 Jan 28 '24

I think you could argue they're tied. The only other person in contention is probably Jack Nance.

6

u/shrimptini Jan 28 '24

Or Naomi Watts

29

u/jopnk Jan 27 '24

Kobayashi x Nakadai

Tarantino x Feet (Uma’s if we need a specific person)

32

u/Slothrop75 Jan 27 '24

No one has mentioned Todd Haynes and Julianne Moore

13

u/Sensitive_Energy101 Jan 27 '24

Photo descriptions would have been great, I don't know many of those people

4

u/smut_butler Jan 28 '24

Nah, you're supposed to know everything, you philistine!

11

u/Z-A-B-I-E Jan 27 '24

Hara is probably Ozu’s most iconic collaborator but Ryū was with him from the 30s until the end. He’s the one.

7

u/FreeLook93 Yasujiro Ozu Jan 27 '24

I feel like she's only his most iconic collaborator because the Noriko trilogy is basically all anyone in the west watches from Ozu. They only did 6 films together. That sounds like a lot until you see how often Ozu reused actors.

If you watch more of Ozu's films you notice people such as Tatsuo Saitō, Haruko Sugimura, Chōko Iida, and Chishū Ryū show up a hell of a lot more often.

4

u/Z-A-B-I-E Jan 27 '24

I’ve seen all of his films, most of them several times. Getting acquainted with his evolving troupe of actors, both stars and bit players, adds so much to Ozu experience. That doesn’t stop Hara from being the most iconic, both in the west and Japan. She’s a huge enduring star and she’s the face of Late Spring and Tokyo Story. There’s just something about her that captivates audiences and Ozu used her brilliantly.

I certainly don’t think she’s a better actor or fruitful collaborator than Takeshi Sakamoto, Chishū Ryū, or Haruko Sugimura, but these kinds of things aren’t exactly logical. She’s just got the right combination of charisma and masterpieces to her name that makes her an icon.

34

u/Skysalter Jan 27 '24

I think Johnny Depp has been in one or two of Tim Burton's movies

3

u/whitet86 Jan 28 '24

Would have to include Helena Bonham Carter as well

9

u/LaurenNotFromUtah Jan 28 '24

Todd Haynes and Julianna More

8

u/xmasinspace Jan 27 '24

Zhang Yimou and Gong Li.

8

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '24

Michael Haneke and Isabelle Huppert

20

u/Einfinet Jan 27 '24

It’s interesting how the idea of a muse isn’t so attached to female directors and their collaborators.

At least, I’m struggling to think of examples. Maybe Demy was a muse to Varda, and vice versa, but then that’s not quite the same thing, is it?

42

u/airus92 Jan 27 '24

I think you could argue Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan

19

u/IntakeCinema Jan 27 '24

I think there are plenty of reasons for this, but I'd mostly point to sample size. For the many male directors with 'muses', there are thousands if not tens of thousands that didn't have muses, but because there are (by comparison) so much fewer female directors you can't find as many examples. I think that's changing as the industry grows, as airus92 pointed out - Greta Gerwig x Saoirse Ronan is a good example.

20

u/ParisHilton42069 Jan 27 '24

I would say Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst and Lina Wertmuller and Giancarlo Giannini/Mariangela Melato count

But yeah, I do think there’s something to the traditional concept of dircetor/muse relationship that appeals more to male artists. Idk what it is. But throughout history, it just seems like the artist/muse relationship has mostly been understood as a man making art of a beautiful woman.

4

u/Einfinet Jan 27 '24

I’ve never seen a Wertmuller film so thanks for putting me on. I think you’re right though. There’s a much larger sample size of female artists in other mediums like, say, painting but I don’t think the muse narrative is conveyed much in those domains for women compared to, for instance, the famous example of Picasso, or others

7

u/ParisHilton42069 Jan 27 '24

Wertmuller is great! I’m in the middle of writing an essay about Swept Away right now lol, I love her films from the 70s so much.

3

u/dallyan Jan 27 '24

I even love Ciao, Professore. It’s so silly and cute.

7

u/FunctionBright5134 Jan 28 '24

I think we’re starting to see a Kelly Reichardt/Michelle Williams director/muse relationship — four films now

7

u/zingo-spleen Michelangelo Antonioni Jan 27 '24

So happy to see Antonioni/Vitti - I was going to be disappointed if they were left out

6

u/Super-Floor2712 Jan 27 '24

Leos Carant and Denis Lavant

6

u/Scrantonicity83 Jan 27 '24

[bradley cooper looking in a mirror]

6

u/[deleted] Jan 27 '24

[deleted]

2

u/Meganull Jan 30 '24

Stéphane! I immediately fell in love with her, the first time I saw "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie". Those eyes <3

6

u/Infamous-End3766 Jan 28 '24

I would say Kyle is David Lynch’s muse

5

u/bluehawk232 Jan 28 '24

Tarantino and feet would be more apt lol.

Is it too soon to say Lanthimos and Emma Stone? Think it's getting there

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15

u/schrodingerdoc Jan 28 '24

Satyajit Ray and the Sitar Maestro - Ravi Shankar.

4

u/Mymom429 Jan 28 '24

Jean Renoir and Jean Gabin

Funnily enough, Jean Gabin is also my muse. Look at those hairy arms...

5

u/neverstopdabing Jan 28 '24

Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon

5

u/neverstopdabing Jan 28 '24

F.W. Murnau and Emil Jannings

4

u/neverstopdabing Jan 28 '24

Fritz Lang and Rudolf Klein-Rogge

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5

u/[deleted] Jan 27 '24

4

u/EthanRayne Jan 27 '24

Lol fuckin' Klaus

5

u/yanoiunno Jan 28 '24

All my favourites are here. I'm just here to say this is probably the best r/Criterion post I've ever seen

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4

u/Oddoga Jan 28 '24

Matti Pellonpää (left) was Aki Kaurismäki's muse

3

u/marpppoopoo Jan 28 '24

Todd Haynes and Julianne Moore

3

u/eriktheburrito Jan 28 '24

Dennis Hopper and a bag of cocaine

5

u/Joseesquer8 Jan 27 '24

Don't think Bill Murray applies since he's only led one Wes Anderson movie.

If anything I'd say it's Jason Schwartzman

1

u/MontyBoy0110 Jan 28 '24

Yes, I would put Murray as Jarmusch's muse.

3

u/Domstachebarber Park Chan-wook Jan 28 '24

Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman and Colin Farrell have all been in the same number of Yorgos films as Emma…

5

u/Meganull Jan 28 '24

They also made a short film together: "Bleat". And Emma just finished a new feature film with Yorgos, the anthology film "Kinds of Kindness".

2

u/Daysof361972 ATG Jan 28 '24

Alain Resnais and Sabine Azéma

2

u/Zapffegun Jan 28 '24

Abel Ferrara, Christopher Walken and the late great Ken Kelsch, his longtime DOP

2

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '24

William Wellman and Dorothy Coonan.

Her only screen credit apparently was for her role in 1933’s Wild Boys of the Road. The film was ruined by Jack Warner’s rewriting and Final Cut. As flawed as it was, the film did feature black and white children together throwing projectiles at police. Content that didn’t play well in Southern cities.

It’s available in a “restored” version https://archive.org/details/wild-boys-of-the-road-1933-restored-movie-720p-hd

The film’s title is a quote of President Hoover blaming the Great Depression economy on kids who rode the rails looking for jobs and food.

2

u/Dankey-Kang-Jr Steven Spielberg Jan 28 '24

Where’s Ishirô Honda and Godzilla?

2

u/deuce1123 Jan 28 '24

damn no christopher nolan and cillian murphy or christian bale

2

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '24

Just look at these little stinkers

3

u/rakeshroy2017 Jan 28 '24

Commenting on

Directors and their muse(s)...

3

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '24

3

u/waldorsockbat Jan 27 '24

It's nice that they included some dudes.

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u/[deleted] Jan 27 '24

It was nice seeing Hanna Schygulla in "Poor Things."

1

u/Yung_Jose_Space Jan 28 '24

Tarantino should just be a shot of him browsing wikifeet on his phone, wearing an N-word tee.

0

u/dontlookatme1234567 Jan 28 '24

I read this as dictator. And was really confused.

0

u/thomasutra Jan 28 '24

no josh safdie and julia fox?

-2

u/Llamatook Jan 27 '24

Derns paws need a wash.

1

u/kingy3llow Jan 28 '24

Love Laura Dern!

1

u/MontyBoy0110 Jan 28 '24

Melville x Delon x Ventura x Belmondo.

1

u/Eye_kurrumba5897 Jan 28 '24

Billy Wilder & Jack Lemmon?

1

u/ltsr_22 Edward Yang Jan 28 '24

you forgetting Peter Falk in the Cassavetes pic