As a direct result of their success, the highest rated directors in the world are under constant pressure to produce the goods in every one of their new films. If they direct a flop and don't even make the cinema listings, it's practically game over. It's a world of tough critics indeed.
The movie-making business is a tough one to crack, but every now and then a rookie director takes the film industry by storm and hits the jackpot at the first time of asking, earning a considerable amount of money and praise in the process.
Who, we ask, made the best directorial debuts without the weight of the world of cinema on their shoulders?
Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941): The world of cinema was blown away by the sheer brilliance of Orson Welles's debut feature length movie. Fans found it simply astonishing that a man of such a tender age could produce such a masterpiece. Indeed, people still revel in what a perfect film Citizen Kane is and Welles continues to influence directors of the modern game, including Tim Burton and Martin Scorcese.
Terry Gilliam's Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975): Terry Gilliam combined with Terry Jones and the rest of the Monty Python crew to produce one of the best British comedies of all time. It was a big-screen adaptation of the popular TV series, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and represented Gilliam's directorial debut. It did not, it's fair to say, disappoint.
Quentin Tarantino: Reservoir Dogs (1992) Just like Gilliam and Welles before him, Tarantino appeared in his directorial debut - and what a directorial debut it turned out to be! It was named as the 'Greatest Independent film of all Time' by Empire magazine and Tarantino proved he was far from a one-trick pony when he followed up Reservoir Dogs with Pulp Fiction, another cult classic of the highest quality.
Frank Darabont: The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Darabont took Stephen King's novella and brought The Shawshank Redemption to a wider audience, although it's fair to say that initially it received mixed reviews. Over time, though, The Shawshank Redemption has firmly become a movie masterpiece that has left the critics purring over Darabont's first directorial attempt.
Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich (1999): Jonze's first collaboration with Charlie Kaufman gained him widespread recognition in the cinematic sphere. Being John Malkovich boasted a great cast and an even better plot, but Jonze really made it his own with his directorial stamp. He has a history of directing, but in the genre of music videos, collaborating with the likes of the Beastie Boys and Fatboy Slim. He directed another excellent film in Adaptation in 2002 following the success of Malkovich three years earlier.
The movie-making business is a tough one to crack, but every now and then a rookie director takes the film industry by storm and hits the jackpot at the first time of asking, earning a considerable amount of money and praise in the process.
Who, we ask, made the best directorial debuts without the weight of the world of cinema on their shoulders?
Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941): The world of cinema was blown away by the sheer brilliance of Orson Welles's debut feature length movie. Fans found it simply astonishing that a man of such a tender age could produce such a masterpiece. Indeed, people still revel in what a perfect film Citizen Kane is and Welles continues to influence directors of the modern game, including Tim Burton and Martin Scorcese.
Terry Gilliam's Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975): Terry Gilliam combined with Terry Jones and the rest of the Monty Python crew to produce one of the best British comedies of all time. It was a big-screen adaptation of the popular TV series, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and represented Gilliam's directorial debut. It did not, it's fair to say, disappoint.
Quentin Tarantino: Reservoir Dogs (1992) Just like Gilliam and Welles before him, Tarantino appeared in his directorial debut - and what a directorial debut it turned out to be! It was named as the 'Greatest Independent film of all Time' by Empire magazine and Tarantino proved he was far from a one-trick pony when he followed up Reservoir Dogs with Pulp Fiction, another cult classic of the highest quality.
Frank Darabont: The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Darabont took Stephen King's novella and brought The Shawshank Redemption to a wider audience, although it's fair to say that initially it received mixed reviews. Over time, though, The Shawshank Redemption has firmly become a movie masterpiece that has left the critics purring over Darabont's first directorial attempt.
Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich (1999): Jonze's first collaboration with Charlie Kaufman gained him widespread recognition in the cinematic sphere. Being John Malkovich boasted a great cast and an even better plot, but Jonze really made it his own with his directorial stamp. He has a history of directing, but in the genre of music videos, collaborating with the likes of the Beastie Boys and Fatboy Slim. He directed another excellent film in Adaptation in 2002 following the success of Malkovich three years earlier.
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