Most filmmakers in their 20s try to make short films. It’s rare to make a great short film at that age, but to make a feature film at such is rarer. There’s barely been a blueprint for it.
John Ford had several westerns under his belt by age 25, but no great one. Scorsese was also 25 when he made his 1967 film “Who’s That Knocking at My Door,” but it’s still considered to be one of his weaker films.
Great films by directors under 25 are hard to come by. In fact, it was nearly impossible to find ten titles. But after some heavy research, I managed to concoct this list — originally written for IndieWire way back when I was a freelancer. These are the 10 I came up with:
Jeanne Dielman (Chantal Akerman)
Mommy (Xavier Dolan)
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
Duel (Steven Spielberg)
Hard Eight (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Evil Dead (Sam Raimi)
El Mariachi (Robert Rodriguez)
Boyz n the Hood (John Singleton)
Clerks (Kevin Smith)
George Washington (David Gordon Green)
I reshuffled, subtracted, and added some films. I’m fairly confident about the ten that have been chosen. In fact, it’s made me realize what an impossible task it is to be a filmmaker and hit one out of the ballpark at such a young age.
No wonder then that on this list are some of the most important filmmakers of the last 100 years of cinema: Orson Welles, Steven Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson, Chantal Akerman …
Of course, towering above all is Welles’ masterpiece. The fact that he was just 25 years old when “Citizen Kane” premiered at the Palace theater in 1941 is staggering and almost unheard of for a film this revolutionary and iconic.
Side notes; Stanley Kubrick directed “The Killing” when he was 28, and, I guess, I could have added Harmony Korine’s “Gummo” to this list. Have I missed any important films/filmmakers?
Following “Air,” this is Affleck’s latest stint behind the camera. He has cast himself in the lead role, alongside Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, and Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files”).