Directorial documentaries and crime classics: Richard Linklater’s four favourite movies
With his raw and realistic approach to filmmaking, Richard Linklater has found success with almost every genre he has set his mind to. He started out in the world of coming-of-age flicks, telling stories of slackers and students while prioritising heart and humanity over structure. A couple of decades later, films like Dazed and Confused still remain staples of the genre, but they haven’t entirely defined Linklater as a filmmaker.
Beyond the world of teen comedies, the director has also mastered the slow-burn romance with the Before trilogy. Kicking off in the mid-1990s with Before Sunrise, the films follow two young lovers, played by Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, from a chance meeting on a train with two kids. The films cemented Linklater’s free-flowing, character-focused style, largely focusing on mundane conversations between the two characters.
Perhaps the most random offering in Linklater’s catalogue came in 2003 with School of Rock. Led by Jack Black, it featured a much more straightforward plot than his offerings and would appeal to a wider audience. Since then, he created the ambitious Boyhood, watching a child grow up in real-time, and, most recently, paired action, romance and comedy with Hit Man.
Linklater certainly doesn’t limit himself when it comes to filmmaking, diving into whatever project intrigues him. The same can be said for his watching habits, which span self-focused documentaries, old dramas, and crime classics. The director picked out four of his favourite films during a conversation with Letterboxd, though he admitted that narrowing it down would be a difficult task.
“You know,” Linklater began, “One time I got asked to do a top ten and I turned in a top 200.” Though he limited his picks this time, his choices still demonstrated an impressive range of interests in just four titles, kicking things off with The Long Goodbye. Directed by Robert Altman, the film was released in 1973, and the story was borrowed from a novel by Raymond Chandler.
With a focus on characters and humanity, it’s easy to see why this film particularly took Linklater. The same can be said for his second pick. Going back even further, Linklater shared his love for Vincente Minnelli’s Some Came Running, which featured a star-studded cast including Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. This was another novel adaptation, borrowing from the James Joyce book he penned from his own experiences.
Linklater also shared his admiration for the late French filmmaker Agnès Varda, picking out her 2008 film The Beaches of Agnès as one of his top four. The documentary’s subject of choice was Varda herself, allowing her to tell the story of her own life from both in front of and behind the camera.
The director rounded out his list with a set of absolute classics: The Godfather trilogy. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the crime film seems to find its way onto every list of the greatest films of all time, including Linklater’s. Perhaps more unexpectedly, the director shared his love for the third film in particular, despite admitting that people tend not to like it.
Wide-ranging and unconstrained by genre, Linklater’s favourite films seem to match his own approach to filmmaking. They’re focused on people, on their development over time, and on characters as much as the plot. He shows an appreciation for the greats, both films and filmmakers.
Richard Linklater’s four favourite films:
- Some Came Running (Vincente Minelli, 1958)
- The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, 1973)
- The Godfather trilogy (Francis Ford Coppola)
- The Beaches of Agnès (Agnès Varda, 2008)
