Amidst much speculation for his next project, Quentin Tarantino has hinted at the possibility that his tenth project is a directorial venture into TV miniseries. If this idea indeed turns into a reality, this would be the first time that the Reservoir Dogs director would be behind the camera for television.
Previously, some high-profile feature film directors have experimented with the TV format ranging from Ingmar Bergman's Scenes From A Marriage to Mike Flanagan's various horror shows. While there have been directors who made the jump from TV to films (Joe and Anthony Russo's early stint on Arrested Development or Jordan Peele's work on Key & Peele being a notable example), many directors were already established as cinematic auteurs before they played around with a smaller screen.
Spike Lee - She's Gotta Have It (2017-2019)
Stream On Netflix
Spike Lee broke out in the independent film scene from a young age with his black-and-white comedy-drama She's Gotta Have It. Arguably one of the best debut films of modern cinema, Lee decided to revisit his feature in a Netflix series that captured the same amount of vibrant energy and though-provoking satire of the source material albeit with different leads.
DeWanda Wise doubles for Tracy Camilla Johns as the protagonist Nora Darling, a woman who juggles between multiple lovers, all of whom are eccentric in their own ways. With more fleshed-out arcs on the love and life of these characters, She's Gotta Have It enjoyed a critically-acclaimed two season run, adding another amusing entry in Lee's diverse and versatile filmography.
David Lynch - Twin Peaks (1990-2017)
Stream On Showtime Amazon Channel
Breaking out with Eraserhead and following it up with some of the most confusing fantasy movies, David Lynch ended up lending his name to the word "Lynchian." Similarly, a fitting genre-bending entry to the surrealist filmmaker's Lynchian universe is Twin Peaks that started out with two seasons with a movie and a 2017 revival serving as follow-ups.
The release of the mystery drama truly marked a watershed moment in television writing and directing. On the surface, the series might appear as a straightforward investigative serial, but with Lynch handling the writing and directing departments, the show is characterized by randomly offbeat humor, abstract sequences, intentionally campy jabs at American soap operas and a lot more. For some diehard Lynch fans, Twin Peaks even surpasses his other cinematic works!
Ava DuVernay - When They See Us (2019)
Stream On Netflix
Even though Ava DuVernay made her directorial debut with I Will Follow, it was the 2014 historical drama Selma that put her on the map. DuVernay went on to explore the documentary format with 13th and even helmed a Disney adventure A Wrinkle In Time, but it was her first Netflix miniseries When They See Us that display her creative potential to even higher levels.
Dramatizing the events surrounding the Central Park Five (a group of five Black children who were unjustly arrested for the sexual assault of a White woman), the Emmy-nominated drama presented a harrowing and gut-wrenching look at institutional racism and police brutality, bolstered by DuVernay's direction and some fine performances by actors like Jharrel Jerome and John Leguizamo.
Ingmar Bergman - Scenes From A Marriage (1974)
Stream On The Criterion Channel
Before 2021's HBO Max remake, Swedish veteran Ingmar Bergman tried his hand at exploring the intricacies of a dysfunctional relationship with the classic miniseries Scenes From A Marriage. By the time of its release, Bergman had already left a monumental footprint on global cinema with The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries.
Even though he explored different narratives in his career, Bergman had a tendency to focus on struggles of the psyche and further philosophical mediations of the human soul. Scenes From A Marriage bears testimony to this as his dialogue-driven conflicts between a husband and a wife feel more grounded in reality instead of the usually melodramatic husband-wife duels that would dominate mainstream television.
David Fincher - Mindhunter (2017-2019)
Stream On Netflix
Even though writer Joe Penhall created Mindhunter, executive producer David Fincher was one of the biggest names associated with the project with Fincher even directing seven crucial episodes of the psychological crime thriller (including the first episodes of both seasons).
Despite its abrupt conclusion, Mindhunter is widely lauded as one of the best Netflix original series of all time. While Fincher is accompanied by equally talented filmmakers like Asif Kapadia and Tobias Lindholm, Mindhunter's atmospheric tension, neo-noir visual aesthetic, and emphasis on true crime screams of Fincher's previous filmography, particularly the likes of Se7en, and Zodiac. Without a doubt, the Netflix show seamlessly fits in his pantheon of mind-bending thrillers.
Jane Campion - Top Of The Lake (2013-2017)
Stream On Hulu
Between her first screenwriting Oscar for The Piano and her most recent Best Director win for The Power of the Dog, New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion has had the time to lend her creative vision to four feature films and the TV mystery drama Top of the Lake.
With Campion also serving as the creator, the show finds her sharing directorial duties with Garth Davis (the Australian filmmaker who would achieve further fame with his first film Lion) with the duo even co-directing a few episodes. Set in Sydney, the investigative show tests the psychological limits of detectives involved in heinous crimes. But instead of featuring any shameless shock value, the gritty world of Top of the Lake is bolstered to humanized levels, thanks to a pre-Handmaid's Tale Elisabeth Moss. With a successful debut in 2013, the show's sophomore season China Girl released in 2017.
Lars Von Trier - The Kingdom Trilogy (1994-2022)
Stream On MUBI Amazon Channel
A stalwart among the best foreign film directors, Lars von Trier has made quite a mark with his highly controversial movies like Antichrist, Dogville, Nymphomaniac, and The House that Jack Built. But back in the 90s with von Trier exploring new forms of experimental horror and human drama, he came up with a unique (if not downright strange) miniseries known as The Kingdom.
Colloquially released as Riget, the anthology's setting included a neurosurgical ward at a Copenhagen hospital. With its characteristic wry humor and sepia-colored cinematography, the show dealt with the bizarre misadventures of the patients and hospital staff, some of whom even have supernatural encounters explored to Kafkaesque levels that one would commonly identify the Danish filmmaker with. Riget was followed by two sequel series Riget II that aired in 1997 and the more recent Riget: Exodus from this year.
Alfred Hitchcock - Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1965)
Stream On The Roku Channel
Despite its name, Alfred Hitchcock only directed 18 of the 361 episodes from this iconic anthology series that curated offbeat stories from the horror, drama, and romance genres. Still, the Psycho director's influence is very much present in its decade-long run, be it in terms of the multi-genre approach or some shockingly evil plot twists.
Hitchcock himself serving as the narrator on most of the episodes serves as an added bonus for fans of the iconic director and writer. Given that Hitchcock's filmography can be heavily diverse, including a silent comedy (Champagne), a thriller that pioneered the one-take shot (Rope), and a horror about killer birds (The Birds), Alfred Hitchcock Presents goes down as a fine by-product of his artistic legacy.
Mike Flanagan - The Flanaganverse (2018-)
Stream On Netflix
Easily one of the most original horror directors out there, Mike Flanagan proved his cinematic merit with films like Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Oculus, and Gerald's Game. Praised by horror veterans like Stephen King, Flangan broke out in the scene for his lack of reliance on jump scares and paying attention to psychological trauma, family equations, and other real-world themes.
Starting with 2018's Haunting of Hill House, the streaming space provided Flangan the perfect platform to hone his mastery over the genre further with deeply moving human stories that also boast a healthy dose of supernatural scares. Hill House lead to the genesis of what is popularly referred to as the "Flanaganverse" that includes Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and more recently, The Midnight Club.
Steven Soderbergh - The Knick (2014-2015)
Stream On HBO Max
Steven Soderbergh's best movies are often tales set in contemporary America. But after two decades of directing filmmaking, Soderbergh decided to embrace a period setting instead with the HBO medical thriller The Knick.
With Soderbergh directing all 20 episodes, The Knick shows his versatility with a look at early 20th century medicine that delves into the professional and personal lives of the staff of the Knickerboxer Hospital (AKA The Knick). Facing public backlash, racism, and superstition, the staff face all kinds of challenges, the gravitas of which is brought to life by Soderbergh's talented ensemble led by Clive Owen, Andre Holland, and Eve Hewson.
Source:gamerant.com