Bill Hader names his favourite arthouse films of all time
A multi-talented icon of modern comedy, American actor and writer Bill Hader is a beloved critical name in modern entertainment, taking his unique style of performance to TV drama and mainstream cinematic comedies. As well as appearing in the Stephen King sequel It: Chapter Two in 2019 with Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy, Hader also took the leading role in HBO’s celebrated comedy Barry, a show which has won nine Primetime Emmys since 2018.
As well as a talented performer, Hader is also a major cinephile, often sitting down with Criterion to discuss some of his favourite movies and filmmakers of all time. Back in 2011, Hader revealed his top ten movies from the exclusive Criterion Collection, taking liberties with his choices as he picked out 20 discs, simply because he couldn’t choose from the staggering amount of films on offer.
Picking out some quality movies, Hader names films from the likes of Terry Jones, Rob Reiner, Terrence Malick, Jim Jarmusch and David Gordon Green, excitedly discussing each one with a great degree of detail.
One of the directors he clearly has a fondness for is the iconic Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, creator of such classics as Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Ran. Having a remarkable impact on the course of 20th-century American cinema, Kurosawa is truly one of the most important directors of all time, creating innovative cinematic techniques that would later be replicated by the likes of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
Speaking about his 1967 movie, Hader comments, “I love Kurosawa’s crime movies. The first half of High and Low is so well told, paced, acted, and shot—and it’s all in one room!”. Continuing, Hader also waxes lyrical about the 1949 movie Stray Dog, adding, “The first lines of Stray Dog are Mifune’s cop reporting that his gun has been stolen. It really grabs you. You immediately know this guy is in deep shit…By the end of this movie, you’ll have the AC cranked!”.
Another one of Hader’s favourites is the lesser-known German-born director Max Ophüls whose brief filmography is dotted with rich innovation, championing complex smooth camera movements, crane and dolly shots, years before they would be mastered. The great European director’s successes came from his synthesis of elegant cinematography together with stories of great romance; the great Stanley Kubrick even named him the “highest of all”.
Speaking about the director’s most accomplished film, The Earrings of Madame de…, Hader stated, “The story of Madame de…on paper doesn’t really interest me, but in the hands of Ophuls, Danielle Darrieux, Charles Boyer, and the great Vittorio De Sica (who’s not only a fantastic director and one of the fathers of neorealism, he’s also damn suave), it’s a movie that truly amazed me. I could watch those dancing scenes for hours”.
Take a look at the full list of Bill Hader’s favourite films, below.
Bill Hader names his favourite arthouse films of all time:
- High and Low (Akira Kurosawa, 1967)
- Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa, 1949)
- Good Morning (Yasujirō Ozu, 1959)
- George Washington (David Gordon Green, 2000)
- The Hit (Stephen Frears, 1984)
- Mona Lisa (Neil Jordan, 1986)
- Dazed and Confused (Richard Linklater, 1993)
- Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson, 1996)
- Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965)
- Sisters (Brian De Palma, 1972)
- The Earrings of Madame de… (Max Ophüls, 1953)
- Le plaisir (Max Ophüls, 1952)
- Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)
- Le doulos (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1962)
- Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder, 1951)
- Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941)
- The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)
- The Steel Helmet (Samuel Fuller, 1951)
- Monty Python’s Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)
- This is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984)
