The director Greta Gerwig finds “really inspiring”
Greta Gerwig has become an unparalleled inspiration to young girls with careers behind the camera on their horizon. Since making her directorial debut with her endearing tale of girlhood Lady Bird in 2017, she’s made mammoth strides in the industry with just three films to her name. Last year, she even became the first female director to make $1 billion at the box office.
Between her free-flowing but active directorial style behind the scenes, her intimate and heartfelt on-screen stories, and her resulting success across indie circles and box offices, Gerwig has become a figure to aspire to. In an industry entirely dominated by men, particularly in directorial roles, she has provided a breath of fresh air and hope.
Gerwig may be inspiring countless budding filmmakers to pick up a camera and shoot, but which directors have had the same impact on her? The Barbie filmmaker once shared her love for Hertfordshire-born director Mike Leigh, via Collider, deeming his direction style “really inspiring”.
“I love Mike Leigh,” she enthused, “I find his actors really inspiring and the way he’s such a good storyteller but it’s so subtle, you don’t even realize the story’s being told. I find that really inspiring.” It’s easy to see how this style has influenced Gerwig’s own choices in her filmmaking and why she loves Leigh’s storytelling so much.
From 1997’s Career Girls to 2010’s Another Year, Leigh tells similarly intimate tales of realistic and flawed people. Gerwig displays a penchant for the same kind of story, from the snarky yet sympathetic Lady Bird to the stubbornness of Jo March. She also tells her stories with that same sense of subtlety.
While there’s nothing subtle about the hot pink marketing masterclass that was Barbie, Gerwig’s earlier offerings were far more understated. Lady Bird feels like a collage of memories, quietly charting all the intricacies and difficulties of late teenagehood in a runtime that barely surpasses an hour and a half.
Little Women was just as subtle in its storytelling, guiding viewers by the hand through the little lives of the March sisters. Her soft and nostalgic cinematography style only serves to enhance this subtlety, making her pictures feel warm and familiar, films that could pass you by but never feel insignificant.
It’s easy to see why Gerwig admires Leigh for his filmmaking subtlety, when this is something she has clearly tried to emulate within her own work.
