Yorgos Lanthimos

“Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. It's a good Fassbinder. Fassbinder, Fassbinder. It's a good Fassbinder to start with.”

“12 Angry Men. Oh, I watched this twice to show it to Ariane in one day. It's a brilliant film.”

“Salesman. One of the best documentaries ever made. I mean, I can't believe how they managed to do that. And he's like the greatest actor that ever lived. He's so moving. This documentary is so moving. I mean, you couldn't have put it together if you worked on it for years. It's unbelievable.”

“Oh, Mike Leigh's Naked. My favorite Mike Leigh film. David Thewlis is just unbelievable in it.”

“Man Bites Dog. That's a very... But in French it's totally different, so it's not the proper title. What's the proper title in French? C'est arrivé près de chez vous. And it means 'it happened next to you.' Oh, close to you, yeah. I remember watching that when I was quite young. It's '92, I just had finished school and I just saw this film and it was like unlike anything I've seen before. Like a documentary, I didn't know if it was real or whatever was going on. And it's so funny and violent...”

“Le Samouraï. How many versions of that do we have? Melville, an amazing filmmaker. So contemporary still. You watch these films and you think they were filmed yesterday. And Alain Delon is always great.”

“I've seen this film. It's a great Jack Nicholson film again from the '70s. And it's a little bit like Chekhov, isn't it? Yeah.”

“Let's get that Buñuel. Viridiana. You remember that? Yeah, of course. I love all of Buñuel's films.”

“I want to watch this film. I've never watched this film. Things to Come.”

“I watched this film every time just before making a film. Just how he's structured those scenes and how it's filmed and it's so... It looks like it's not narrative but it is. It's just the way he's editing and he's filming. It's just one of a kind.”

“Polanski's Macbeth. I haven't watched it for many years and someone was telling me yesterday that it's brilliant. Josh Safdie was telling me that this is a brilliant film.”

“I want to get all the Bresson. I have them in every version that exists: VHS, DVD, now I'm collecting Blu-ray.”

“Great Bresson. One of my favorite filmmakers ever. The most moving film I've ever seen. I'm ashamed to say, but I cry most of the time that I watch a Bresson film. It's just so moving. It's my favorite one.”

“Well, let’s start with Inland Empire. I rewatched it recently after David Lynch died. I was looking forward to meet him one day. What he said about one of my films is my happiest moment in my film career. He had seen Dogtooth, and he said in an interview that he thought it was really funny. And I’m trying to find the actual clip of the L. A. Times and frame it. If anyone has that, please send it to me.”

“, yes, Carnal Knowledge. Mike Nichols, in general, I think he’s an incredible filmmaker, both visually and the performances in this film. It could be quite tricky because the characters play themselves over a long period of time. It could feel kind of silly, but they… they do a great job out of it and they’re all incredible in this film.”

“And since we talked about Mike Nichols, Elaine May. We actually watched this film with Emma Stone before we made Bugonia. John Cassavetes is one of my favorite filmmakers ever, and this film by Elaine May has somehow both of their geniuses combined. And, of course, Peter Falk, also incredible. There’s something about this film, it feels so raw and crazy and intense, and I think it’s just, like, the perfect collaboration. Mikey and Nicky by Elaine May.”

“Black God, White Devil. I have heard so many things about this film and this filmmaker. And I haven’t watched any of them. I mean, I’ve watched clips, and it looks tremendous, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, so I’m looking forward to watch this.”

“I mean, everyone knows this film, Persona, by Bergman, but I have a very fond memory watching a print of it in his theater in Fårö, in Sweden, with his chair there kind of having a very strong presence. So it’s a film I always go back to and always remember that day in his cinema.”

“Oh, my favorite filmmaker ever. I couldn’t leave him out, Luis Buñuel. It’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The Phantom of Liberty, and That Obscure Object of Desire. I mean, I watch them often. And I guess Phantom of Liberty was quite inspiring for Kinds of Kindness, the structure of the three different films that are not necessarily related. And this looks like a bargain.”