Chloé Zhao’s 10 favourite movies
In 2015, the Chinese-born filmmaker Chloé Zhao released her Malickian and dreamlike indie debut feature, Songs My Brothers Taught Me. The film tells the story of a brother and sister living on a reservation in South Dakota, dealing with the death of their father. The movie debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and received critical acclaim.
Five years later, Zhao’s directorial prowess was honoured on the world stage when she won the Academy Award for ‘Best Picture’ for her part-documentary, part-fiction western drama, Nomadland. The film follows Fern, played by Frances McDormand, a woman who gives up her home after losing her job and becomes a Nomad. Along her journey across the country, Fern meets other Nomads who teach her valuable lessons about life as a Nomad and about herself. The film is based on the non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder.
Recently, Zhao shared ten films that have greatly impacted her as a filmgoer and filmmaker. If you’re expecting a list of the various masterpieces often referenced in these kinds of lists, you’re in for a surprise. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the TV series, gets a mention along with Zack Snyder’s Superman origin story, Man of Steel, a film Zhao says was a big influence when she was about to helm her own comic book superhero flick, Eternals, for Marvel studios.
James Cameron’s cyborg classic, Terminator, is added to the mix, along with Peter Jackson’s Lord of The Rings franchise. Zhao cites these films’ sheer scale and entertainment as factors that excited her to become a director while igniting her love of cinema. Zhao also draws inspiration from excellent European and Asian cinema too, mentioning a Werner Herzog documentary and a less-known but excellent queer drama from Wong Kar-Wai.
It’s true that Zhao’s films are inexplicably connected to the landscape, a crucial element for the filmmaker. The vast wilderness of America almost becomes a secondary character, something the filmmaker evokes through her poetic and sweeping cinematography, often compared heavily to Terrence Malick.
This relationship with the geography of her films and how characters interact with them is something Zhao mentions frequently throughout her lists. She often acknowledges a filmmaker’s ability to build a world or utilise a piece of land within their films. Zhao offers an eclectic and fascinating list, providing great insight into a wonderful director’s creative outlook.
Chloe Zhao’s 10 favourite movies:
The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)
James Cameron’s time-travelling cyborg sci-fi thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the revenge-seeking, leather-clad, bike-riding robot from the future only made the cut. Cameron’s movie was a huge success at the box office, making $80million against its $6m budget, which also put Schwarzenegger on the map as the new face of blockbuster action.
The film became a cult classic and spawned a franchise of Terminator movies. Zhao says it was the first movie she ever saw, opening her eyes to filmmaking and leaving a huge impression on her as a child. “I was like, ‘Holy (expletive), that looks crazy,'” Zhao said.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
OK, this one isn’t a movie, but Zhao is just a huge Buffy fan, and we’ll let it slide. Zhao was one of millions of young girls and women across the globe who were totally hooked on the television series about a young female high school student, Buffy, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, who, outside of class, would fight vampires, werewolves, demons, and any other kind of ghoulish fantasy creature you can think of.
The show was created by Joss Whedon, having tremendous success on television and becoming a cultural phenomenon. “It is a very important show for me,” said Zhao about the show. “It was everything for me for a few years in college. Vampires, witchcraft, teen romance, I mean, what else do you want?”
Into the Abyss (Werner Herzog, 2011)
Werner Herzog has made some of the best arthouse cinema over the last 50 years. Groundbreaking films like Fitzcarraldo and Nosferatu made him one of the most exciting voices in European cinema, and his time making documentaries has been equally praised.
Zhao cites Herzog’s documentary Into the Abyss, an intense and difficult watch at times, which follows two young men, two Texas men convicted of a triple homicide and given the death penalty. “The film is a heavy subject, but that’s not what the film is about,” Zhao said. “That’s the genius of Werner Herzog; it’s always about more. It shows you how much life can shock you and how magnificent it is to be alive in the most bittersweet way.”
Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013)
Bizarrely, Zhao has cited Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel as a huge inspiration. Each to their own, but considering the obscene amount of superhero movies that have commandeered the film market over the last decade, Snyder’s Superman is widely regarded as not one of the better offerings.
However, what Zhao appreciated about Snyder’s movie was the authenticity it applied to the comic book story, and she said it was a key reference when developing her Marvel flick, The Eternals. She even compares Man of Steel to a Terrence Malick movie. “He (Snyder) approached this myth in an authentic and very real way. I remember thinking it was ‘Superman’ by Terrence Malick when I saw the trailer,” Zhao said. “This film left a strong impression on me.”
The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
The New World by Terrence Malick also gets a mention. The film tells the tale of Pocahontas, a Native American princess who finds herself in a dilemma when she falls in love with Captain Smith, an English explorer. The animosity of her tribe towards him compels her to make a challenging choice between her love for Smith and her duty to her people. It’s no surprise that Zhao has found inspiration from Malick, as his floaty, dream-like camera movement and strong themes of nature and the landscape have been associated with a number of Zhao’s movies.
However, it was the heart of this particular story that spoke to Zhao so deeply. “I left home, and I came to a country where I didn’t speak the language,” Zhao said. “So much of my youth is watching people without understanding what they’re saying. There’s one moment in the film that has such a huge impact on me as a filmmaker, the way that he contrasted [Pocahontas]’s imminent passing with the joyous expression she’s giving. He’s captured an essence about mortality and where we belong.”
Wuthering Heights – Andrea Arnold, 2011
Making the fold is British filmmaker Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights, the gothic romance adapted from the novel by Emily Brontë. “She has a very strong sense of place. When you watch Wuthering Heights, you know this filmmaker isn’t just staring at her actors,” said Zhao about the film.
Wuthering Heights beautifully captures the barren and foggy moors of England with stunning photography shot by Robbie Ryan, and it’s clearly this use of the landscape that Zhao is drawn to as almost another character. “She’s constantly looking. ‘What else around us can we capture?’ And the way the characters are interacting with this place says so much about their innocence and love for each other.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson, 2002)
Zhao also cites Peter Jackson’s blockbuster fantasy epic The Lord of The Rings as being a big inspiration, particularly the film’s epic scale. “The landscapes, the epic battles, it makes you fall in love with these characters and root for them in their struggles,” Zhao said.
Jackson shot all three of the films in his home country of New Zealand, beautifully capturing the diverse landscape to bring Middle Earth to life. The Lord of The Rings trilogy has grossed more than $3billion at the global box office and has become one of the most successful franchises of all time.
Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014)
Regarded by Zhao as “ahead of its time”, she picks Christopher Nolan’s space-travelling and time-bending drama Interstellar. Set in a dystopian future, the story follows a farmer and ex-NASA pilot (Matthew McConaughey) who heads up a team of researchers to travel across the galaxy to find a new hospitable planet for life on Earth.
Zhao says the film struck a chord regarding how climate change is affecting our planet today. “I didn’t cry the first time I watched it. But between when that film first came out and where we are in the world, as a human being on this planet, I sobbed by the end this time,” Zhao said. “I think in another 10 years when you watch Interstellar, it’s going to take on a whole different meaning about our relationship with the planet, our planet’s relationship with the cosmos, and what’s the destiny of humanity.”
Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017)
In 2017, Denis Villeneuve reinvigorated the ’80s cyberpunk sci-fi classic Blade Runner, starring Ryan Gosling as Officer K, the new Blade Runner for the Los Angeles Police Department. In typical Villeneuve style, Blade Runner 2049 was a visually stunning feat, proving the filmmaker is ahead of everyone when it comes to merging arthouse aesthetics with blockbuster thrills.
And it’s Villeneuve’s world-building skills that Zhao admired about the film. “Every detail, structure, colours, how this character is interacting with the location,” Zhao said. “All of that says so much about that character.” Villeneuve employed Academy Award-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins to capture the beautiful neon-soaked dystopia, and production designer Alessandra Querzola built the sets. Her efforts were later rewarded with an Academy Award for ‘Best Production Design’ for Blade Runner 2049.
Happy Together (Wong Kar-wai, 1997)
Wong Kar-wai’s ’90s romance had a tremendous impact on Zhao, stating it’s “the film that made me want to make films”. The movie stars long-term collaborators of Kar-wai’s, Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, as a gay couple stranded in Argentina.
It’s an intoxicating human drama, shot in intoxicating luscious monochrome and beautiful saturated colour by the brilliant cinematographer Christopher Doyle. Most would know Wong Kar-wai from his excellent genre-bending Chungking Express and his highly praised In The Mood For Love, but this lesser-known picture, released between those two films, only continues to prove the director’s assured status as one of the best filmmakers around.
