The Film That Changed My Life: 30 Directors on Their Epiphanies in the Dark

by Robert K. Elder

The movie that inspired filmmakers to direct is like the atomic bomb that went off before their eyes. The Film That Changed My Life captures that epiphany. It explores 30 directors’ love of a film they saw at a particularly formative moment, how it influenced their own works, and how it made them think differently.

 

Rebel Without a Cause inspired John Woo to comb his hair and talk like James Dean. For Richard Linklater, “something was simmering in me, but Raging Bull brought it to a boil.” Apocalypse Now inspired Danny Boyle to make larger-than-life films. A single line from The Wizard of Oz--“Who could ever have thought a good little girl like you could destroy all my beautiful wickedness?”--had a direct impact on John Waters. “That line inspired my life,” Waters says. “I sometimes say it to myself before I go to sleep, like a prayer.”

 

In this volume, directors as diverse as John Woo, Peter Bogdanovich, Michel Gondry, and Kevin Smith examine classic movies that inspired them to tell stories. Here are 30 inspired and inspiring discussions of classic films that shaped the careers of today’s directors and, in turn, cinema history.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Media Tie In, Collections, Art, Pop Culture

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Samuel Giordano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks Ashton! Love you!

[Barry Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirty directors: both classic and upcoming, talk about seeing the film that changed their lives. They discuss why it changed them, how and all the reasons it was pivotal to their careers and if they ever met anyone associated with it as their careers progressed. A revealing look at thirty directors and over thirty films as some couldn't narrow it down to one. A feast for cinema buffs. - BH.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

"When they throw the water on the witch, she says, 'Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness.' That line inspired my life. I sometimes say it to myself before I go to sleep, like a prayer." --John Waters, describing the movie that changed his life

Terrific interviews with filmmakers about one (or sometimes two) films that profoundy affected their lives and work. My favorites were Edgar Wright (who picked An American Werewolf in London) and John Waters (who picked The Wizard of Oz.)

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok for what it is, but I was hoping for a bit more...and a bit less examination of quite a few hard-to-find/obscure films. I was also lukewarm on the interview style...I would have preferred the thoughts of the directors unfiltered. I love film and TV commentary, but this book only made it as far as "like" for me.

[Chris Merola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not super useful or interesting.

[Kiera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far from perfect in form, but I love movies and reading what they mean to other people! I could read 600 pages of this.

[Jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read the uncorrected proof of this prior to its publication. thus far i am enjoying it very much. more to come.

this was a consistently interesting read. granted, i am an unabashed cinephile. there were directors interviewed from quite a wide swath of film history, and there were even some i knew nothing about. i was most moved by the clear indication that it is a damn good thing danny boyle has an editor (b/c his mind is constantly ratcheting away at a million miles an hour drawing connections between things and leading to bizarre tangents), and that john waters is one of the more entertaining interviewees i have ever read. kevin smith was kevin smith and i expected as much. the inclusion of "E.T." in the list of films was a laugh at first but the way this guy talked about it made me want to watch it again . . . anyone who knows me and my regard for spielberg knows just how much praise that garnered for the director's ability to evoke a feeling.

this is worth reading if you really really enjoy film and the behind the scenes stories of how they are crafted and the inspirations that spur their creation.

[Dan Jardine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and engaging read that will occasionally surprise you (Richard Linklater choses Scorsese's Raging Bull. Neil Labute tags Truffault's Soft Skin), and often make a whole lotta sense (Atom Egoyan's selection of Bergman's Persona, John Waters goes ga ga over Wizard of Oz). Some directors cannot seem to stop talking (the aforementioned Egoyan has plenty of interesting things to say about Persona) while others appear somewhat tongue-tied(Chris Miller barely seems to get started on Woody Allen's Sleeper before he's suddenly done). Still and all, plenty to keep any film lover turning the page.

[E_h · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly enjoyed reading about the films with which I'm familiar and about the directors I admire. There were a few interviews with directors or about films I'd never heard of, and those were, of course, less compelling. Still, it is fascinating to see how these artists influence and inspire each other. And after reading this book, I'm fairly certain that everyone is influenced and inspired by Martin Scorsese and Orson Welles.

[Carnegie-Stout Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If you love movies and talking about them, you will enjoy browsing this book. It’s like participating in a book club about films."

Read Mirdza's review on the library's blog: http://carnegiestout.blogspot.com/201...

[Cate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I throughly enjoyed this book. I have only seen maybe a few of the movies listed, but am intrigued to see the others. It was interesting to read about other directors and the one film( or sometimes two) that changed their lives!

[Mfaiella2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple idea. Overall, it's great to get that insight into both specific people who are huge in the industry and, more simply, any director/creative. At times the questions felt a bit too scripted; I wish the author could have pushed deeper into the responses.

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like books like this once in a while. They invariably lead me to movies I haven't seen yet or haven't seen in quite some time.

[Rubinny · Rating 3 out of 5]

La verdad que me ha decepcionado. El libro va de un notas ("persona") que entrevista a directores de cine con el pretexto de saber cuál es la película que cambió su vida. Suena guay, e interesante. El problema es que el autor le dio la vuelta al jamón un par de años antes de escribir el libro (no sé si me entendéis) —además el libro es de 2011—, entonces los directores que aparecen son más viejos que la tos. Aparte que cuando dicen, «la peli que me cambió la vida», suelen ser, salvo contados casos, una película indie de cine experimental surrealista que hizo un español exiliado en México que era amigo de Dalí (Luis Buñuel). Y ver a un director de estos fumaos hablando del sentido de la vida plasmado en el arte en una secuencia bohemia narrada con notas graves, pues me la puto suda. Salvo esta "gente", hay otros directores que son más conocidos (que me suenan alguna peli vamos, pero nada de la talla de Martin Scorsese o Chris Nolan) que hablan de pelis conocidas (que he visto) y está chulo. Hablan de cómo ven ellos el cine. De cómo entienden este arte, y eso es realmente interesante. Conclusión, si fuesen directores más conocidos molaría más. Pero si eres un cinéfilo friki al fallo que le huele la petaca a cebolla, pues a lo mejor te mola idk.

Ya que estamos voy a dejar una reflexión de cuál es la película que cambió mi vida (jajajajajajaj). Considero que de un tiempo a esta parte me he hecho muy fan del cine y de la producción, así que voy a decir quiénes, porque para mí son personas —no películas—, los que han hecho que me dé cuenta. Porque muchas veces cuando se nos motiva a hacer algo, hay alguien o algo que nos inspira (me voy a callar ya eh, porque esta review al final convalida por un relato de Kafka). Mi reflexión es: Quentin Tarantino me hizo ver lo que es una película impregnada en cada escena con la esencia del director (pongo pelis suyas por si alguien no le llega a la movie que sepa de quién hablo Pulp Fiction, Malditos Bastardos, Érase una vez en Hollywood...), Wes Anderson me demostró que puedes ser original y transgresor con el formato y hacer cosas interesantísimas (este es más friki pero popeo pelicles Gran Hotel Budapest, Asteroid City, Fantastic Mr.Fox,...) y David Fincher (Seven, Zodiac, El club de la lucha, ...) y Christopher Nolan (La edad de oro, Un perro andaluz, Viridiana,...) me enseñaron que se puede hacer cine personal y accesible para cualquiera. Me quité, ya.

PD: vaya por delante que cualquier película de esos cuatro hijos de puta me la como hasta rebozada en mierda de gitano.

[Chris Cox, a librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Q: Give me two movies that impacted your life as a moviegoer?

A: The 1967 Disney Jungle Book was one for sure. I was four or five when it came out and I was just all about it for weeks after I saw it. I think I saw it at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, which is always a great place to see a movie to this day. Toys, games and books from Disney films are nothing new. I had them all from The Jungle Book! I just wanted to be Mowgli and hang out with Balloo the Bear.

Q: Anything else?

A: Yes. The quartet of George Sanders as Shere Khan, Sebastian Cabot as Bagheera, Sterling Holloway as the snake and Phil Harris as Baloo have the top spot in my voice actor Hall of Fame.

Q: What's your second choice?

A: A little different type of film and a few years later it was The Exorcist. That movie was all you heard about at the time it came out. I had to see it, though frankly I wasn't really ready to experience what I saw. I kept bugging my dad to take me to go see it, so he finally took me to Emory Cinema to check it out. It scared the crap out of me! I definitely couldn't sleep that night. Seeing it now, I see how slowly it moves in the first half...and I mean that as a compliment. You couldn't get away with easing into a plot so methodically today I'm pretty sure. The movie originally to me was about the devil and the shock aspects, but today I see it as the story of Father Karras and his loss of faith as the film's center. I still love the movie, but now in a completely different way.

Q: Any criticism of it?

A: I would lop off the last five minutes of it completely. I don't need to be shown what happens and have it explained to me. I think the movie should end with Father Karras.

Q: Any movies from "The Film that Changed my Life" that has inspired you to watch it?

A: I've seen most of them, but the fact that George Romero picked an unlikely candidate in "The Tales of Hoffman" makes me want to check it out. I laughed out loud on a couple of John Water's takes on "The Wizard of Oz." I also need to watch "L'age d'or" as it is so full of images, my one viewing years ago clearly didn't suffice in being able to remember what Guy Maddin was referring to for the most part.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good little read for those who like to learn a little bit more about films that they may love or just be curious about. It helps to note that this was published in 2011, so it's hardly the most "up-to-date" work of this type.

The book features short (5 to 12 pages) interviews with 30 different noted directors, covering 32 different movies that "changed their lives" (two of the directors talk about two such films). Most of the directors are quite famous and still very well know, though there are a few who were perhaps "hot" back in 2011 but whose stars have faded a bit. Doesn't mean they don't have some interesting thoughts on films, though. For my part, I didn't read the interviews about films that I hadn't seen (which was 8 out of the 32, I think), since I just didn't have the context to get much from the interviews.

The interviews' short length means that you're never getting a super in-depth analysis of any of these films. Still, there were quite a few really fascinating tidbits about the elements that these directors took away from certain pictures, and how they viewed them. One example that sticks with me is John Landis, in discussing The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, describing his and other famous filmmakers' views on the term "horror" as it is used in their industry. There's a good amount of stuff like that in here for film geeks.

The format of the book certainly makes it really easy to pick up and put down at will, too, making it pretty easy to recommend for those interested in some of the behind-the-camera perspectives on well-known films from history.

[Oliver Blue · Rating 4 out of 5]

76

This book was exceptionally fun! I'd only recommend this to someone if they are a big movie buff. It might be interesting to someone who's not as invested in everything cinema say as I am but I'd suggest that you recommend this to someone who's exceptionally obsessed with cinema and everything related to moviemaking. It's not really telling a story so I won't assess it on storytelling and pacing and other items like that. It's mostly a collection of well-thought-out interviews with 30 of some of the most significant directors of the past couple of decades. Some of the stories were more interesting than others but other than that it was a really fun read! If you are interested in reading this book I'd recommend that you pick it up as I had a great time with it and I hope you do as well. Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

[Angie Andrus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Closer to 3.5 stars. It was interesting, I did enjoy it but it’s not a great group overall. Two people of color, 2 women and one of those is the same person. Mostly white men talking about other white men. Some interviews were incredibly pretentious and annoying, particularly Bogdanovich and Kevin Smith. Their egotistical perceptions of themselves completely shone through. The smartest choice was to end on John Waters talking about The Wizard of Oz. That interview was truly amazing and interesting and insightful. Don’t regret reading it, would just love to see a better version.

[Hedwig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kept this one in the bathroom for a while, and the book's really suitable for that, reading a few questions and answers at a time. The best interview is kept for last, with John Waters discussing Wizard of Oz.

[James Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I care about the director and/or appreciate the film they chose, it’s 5 star level. Unfortunately those moments are few and far between, especially considering the slim pickings amongst interviewees.

[Michelle Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a lover of movies, but definitely not a film buff with all the details, I thought that overall it was an interesting read. There was only one interview I just couldn't get through. It is interesting to see what inspired them to pursue their career and why that was the case.

[JEREMY MARTIN · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little repetitive just because he tends to ask the same questions to everyone so it’s hard to read straight through. But I always love reading about filmmakers and their thoughts on film. Not a great selection of directors either but still solid

[Keith LaFountaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting perspective on directors and the film that influenced them. It doesn't offer much more than interviews with a select group of both independent and studio directors, but it is engaging.

[Brendan]

Rating: 3 1/2

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting insights and great film discussions

[Ang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked to hear from a more diverse group of directors.

[Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book truly inspired me

[RA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good stories about the reasons these directors were affected by significant films. Entertaining and informative - more movies to watch.

[Yvette Kulik · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Film That Changed My Life: 30 Directors on Their Epiphanies in the Dark" by Robert K. Elder is a captivating exploration into the transformative power of cinema.
This book delves into the personal narratives of 30 acclaimed directors, each sharing the profound impact a single film had on their artistic journey.
Elder skillfully weaves together these stories, offering readers a unique and intimate glimpse into the minds of filmmakers who have shaped the cinematic landscape. The narratives not only provide insight into the directors' creative processes but also illuminate the universal magic that happens when a particular film resonates on a deep, personal level.
The book goes beyond a mere collection of anecdotes; it serves as a celebration of the diverse and profound ways in which cinema has influenced the lives and careers of these directors. The passion and enthusiasm conveyed by each filmmaker make "The Film That Changed My Life" a joy to read for both cinephiles and aspiring filmmakers.
Elder's thoughtful curation of these accounts creates a mosaic of inspiration, showcasing the power of storytelling and the transformative potential embedded in the medium of film. Whether you're a devoted film enthusiast or someone new to the world of cinema, this book offers a rich tapestry of experiences that will leave you with a newfound appreciation for the profound impact of movies on the human soul.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a reasonably interesting series of interviews with thirty directors about the movies that they found life-changing. Some of these choices seem
unlikely even with a director's explanation. I have no trouble believing that watching Citizen Kane had a profound effect on Peter Bogdanovich or that seeing Persona influenced the course of Atom Egoyan's life. I suspect (on virtually no evidence) that some of the other choices were made with little thought.

One serious problem with the book is that Robert K. Elder, who conducted the interviews and put the book together, wouldn't allow more than one person to name a particular film. In the introduction to the interview with Henry Jaglom, Elder writes about Jaglom's choice of the film 8½:

Henry Jaglom champions one of the most fought over films in the book. Numerous directors, from Terry Gilliam to Kimberly Pierce, have pointed to Federico Fellini's self-referential masterwork as the film that turned them on to directing.

So "numerous directors" actually talk about "the film that sorta, kinda, almost changed my life."