Famous Directors, Small Beginnings Pt. II – Before They Became Reputable Directors

Famous Directors, Small Beginnings (Part II) – Because, You Have to Start Somewhere…

Debut Movies of Famous Directors II

Continued from last week’s Famous Directors, Small Beginnings Pt. I, showcasing here are the earliest pieces of works that Hollywood’s most illustrious directors created before they became household names in Tinseltown. Buckle up, fellas, these are movies that few of us even know exist:

George Lucas (Star Wars Franchise, American Graffiti, THX 1138)

• Freiheit (1966) – This film shows a German student escaping across the Berlin Border and being shot to death, while on the soundtrack, various platitudes about dying for freedom can be heard.
• Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB (1967) – While monitored and pursued, a man races to escape through a futuristic labyrinth.

Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread, Magnolia, Boogie Nights)

• Dirk Diggler Story (1988) – A mockumentary which follows the rise and fall of Dirk Diggler, a well-endowed male porn star.
• Cigarettes and Coffee (1993) – Five people’s lives that are curiously intertwined happen to all be at a diner at the same time. An old man gives advice to a young man about his cheating wife and best friend. A newlywed couple argues over the wife losing money in Vegas playing craps. And a hit man buys some coffee and cigarettes and greets the man in his trunk.

Jason Reitman (Juno, Up In The Air, Thank You for Smoking, Labor Day)

• In God We Trust (2000) – A speeding truck sends Robert into purgatory, with the probability of a warm climate. He escapes to Earth and tries to fix things before purgatory catches up with him.
• Gulp (2001) – Francis has just changed his new fish’s water, and the fish is freaking out. Francis calls a pal who tells him the fish needs salt water, not fresh water, and hasn’t long to live; so Francis sets out, fish in fresh water in a plastic bag, to save it. Will the fish drown before Francis gets it to the sea?
• Consent (2004) – Things are going great on Penny and Judah’s first date. They’re lounging on her bed and they lean in for a kiss. Then he stops and asks her if she minds going over a sexual consent form. She has no objections, but asks if he minds if her lawyer looks it over. Soon, over each of their shoulders, their lawyers are in full negotiation.

Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Her, Where The Wild Things Are, Jackass)

• How They Get There (1997) – A guy and a girl play copycat with each other from opposite sides of the street, that is, until a slightly abrupt & uncopyable event occurs.
• I’m Here (2010) – A young robot faces the abrupt loss of his friend.
• The Making of I’m Here (2010) – A look at how the short film I’m Here was made.

Seth MacFarlane (Ted, Ted 2, Family Guy)

• Comedians (1994) – A student film with Syd Butler, Tim Harrington and Seth MacFarlane. Filmed at RISD, 1994.
• Larry and Steve (1996) – A dog is adopted by a moron, and is taken to the store to go shopping.

Charlie Chaplin (The Great Dictator, City Lights, Modern Times, The Kid)

• Caught in the Rain (1914) – When a married couple become separated in the park, Charlie takes up with the lady and is beat up when her husband rejoins her. He takes a room in their hotel, and she sleepwalks into his room so that when her husband returns from his walk he must go out again to look for her. Charlie returns the lady to her room but must climb out onto the window ledge in a downpour.

Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, Crimson Peak)

• Geometria (1987) – A boy is tired of failing geometry, so he summons a demon.

Oliver Stone (Platoon, Savages, Natural Born Killers, Wall Street)

• Last Year in Viet Nam (1971) – The film presents part of Stone’s personal experiences after coming back as a war veteran from the Vietnam war, trying to cope with terrible memories from the front and the recurring sensation of isolation, anguish and alienation he felt while living in New York, still uncertain of what to do with his life.

Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, Sin City, Planet Terror, Spy Kids)

• Bedhead (1991) – Two feuding siblings find their usual mischief augmented when psychic powers are suddenly thrown into the mix.

Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind, Mood Indigo)

• La Lettre (1998) – One evening at the turn of the century, Stephane discusses with his brother the end of the millennium, but also girls, particularly Aurelie, a classmate with whom he is secretly in love. The following day, Aurelie has a letter to give to him.

Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds, Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs)

• My Best Friends Birthday (1987) – It’s Mickey’s Birthday and his girlfriend just left him, so that’s when his friend Clarence shows him a birthday he’ll never forget.

Coen Brothers (The Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, True Grit)

• World Cinema (2007) – A Texas cowboy goes to a movie theatre where he can’t decide what non-American movie to watch and asks a ticket seller to suggest him a decent one.

James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar, Aliens, The Terminator)

• Xenogenesis (1978) – A woman and an engineered man are sent in a gigantic sentient starship to search space for a place to start a new life cycle. Raj decides to take a look around the ship. He comes across a gigantic robotic cleaner. Combat ensues.

Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Chappie, Elysium)

• Alive in Joburg (2005) – An eerie tale of a close encounter of the third kind in Johannesburg.

John Lasseter (Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Cars, Cars 2, A Bugs Life)

• The Adventures of André and Wally B. (1984) – A brainless android wakes up to be taunted by a large bee.

Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator, The Martian)

• Boy and Bicycle (1965) – A teenage boy plays truant from school; and spends his day riding around the town and the deserted beach on his bicycle, letting his mind wander as he imagines he is the only person in the world.

Orson Welles (Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, Don Quixote, The Trial)

• The Hearts of Age (1934) – An old lady sits astride a bell while a man in blackface, wig, and livery pulls the bell rope. From an upper door emerges an old man, dressed as a dandy, who tips his hat to the woman as he walks downstairs grinning. Others leave the same door and walk down the same stairs: a shabby man, a cop, and, several times, the same dandy. The man in blackface hangs himself; the dandy continues to smile. A bell tolls, a grave beckons. In the dark, the dandy plays the piano. Is he Death?

Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity, Children of Men, Y Tu Mamá También, Great Expectations)

• Quartet for the End of Time (1983) – The story of a young man who lives alone in his house, and his indifference and solitude with the world around him.

Alexander Payne (Nebraska, Sideways, About Schmidt, Election)

• Carmen (1985) – The famous opera set in a gas station in the desert.

Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Boyhood, Last Flag Flying, School of Rock)

• Woodshock (1985) – This short documentary chronicles the chaos of the Austin, Texas music festival, “Woodshock ’85.”

Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, Contagion, Solaris)

• Winston (1987) – A short film about a bike shop and sexual attraction Soderbergh made to attract investors for his first full-length film Sex, Lies & Videotape.

Gus Van Sant (Gerry, Milk, My Own Private Idaho)

• Discipline of Do Easy (1982) – Gus Van Sant’s early short film about “The Discipline of D.E.,” which is an extremely efficient way of doing things.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie, The City of Lost Children, Delicatessen)

• Things I Like, Things I Don’t Like (1989) – Featuring muted colours with a sepia black and white, Pinon takes the viewer through various examples of what he “likes and dislikes.

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So, which short films of your favourite directors have you watched already? And which ones did you have no idea about?