Here are my picks for the Best Final Movie made by a Great Director, Now Deceased. Number one is Sidney Lumet’s second masterpiece (with “Dog Day Afternoon”), “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” from 2007. This is followed by Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Three Colors: Red,” John Huston’s “The Dead,” David Lean’s “A Passage to India,” Hitchcock’s “Family Plot,” Sirk’s “Imitation of Life,” Robert Aldrich’s “The California Dolls,” Bunuel’s “That Obscure Object of Desire,” Tarkovsky’s “The Sacrifise” and Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut”.
“The California Dolls” was initially released under the title “…All the Marbles.”
*Although Marlon Brando, Charles Laughton, and Jean Vigo made only one full-length feature film each, based on these films alone, they can be rated among the Great Directors, and they are, therefore, included on this list.
1.
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead A+
(Sidney Lumet 2007)
2.
Three Colours Red A+
(Krzysztof Kieslowski 1994)
3.
The Dead A+
(John Huston 1987)
4.
A Passage to India A
(David Lean 1984)
5.
Family Plot A-
(Alfred Hitchcock 1976)
6.
Imitation of Life A-
(Douglas Sirk 1959)
7.
The California Dolls A-
(Robert Aldrich,1981)
8.
That Obscure Object of Desire B+
(Louis Bunuel 1977)
9.
The Sacrifice B+
(Andrei Tarkovsky 1986)
10.
Eyes Wide Shut B+
(Stanley Kubrick 1999)
And Three Once-in-a-Lifetime Efforts:
*L’Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934) A+
*The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955) A+
