TSPDT - Brian De Palma

Brian De Palma

TOP 100

►501 Movie Directors: A Comprehensive Guide to the Greatest Filmmakers

See Also

John Carpenter

Michael Cimino

Francis Ford Coppola

Roger Corman

John Dahl

Alfred Hitchcock

John Milius

Barbet Schroeder

Martin Scorsese

Joel Schumacher

Oliver Stone

Quentin Tarantino

Director / Screenwriter / Producer / Editor

1940 -

Born September 11, Newark, New Jersey, USA

Key Production Country: USA

Key Genres: Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Crime, Crime Thriller, Horror, Gangster Film

Key Collaborators: Paul Hirsch (Editor), Stephen H. Burum (Cinematographer), Bill Pankow (Editor), Pino Donaggio (Composer), Jerry Greenberg (Editor), Gregg Henry (Character Player), Robert De Niro (Leading Player), Nancy Allen (Leading Player), David Koepp (Screenwriter), Dennis Franz (Leading Character Player)

Highly Recommended: Blow Out (1981), The Untouchables (1987)

Recommended: Carrie (1976), Scarface (1983)

Worth a Look: Hi, Mom! (1970), Sisters (1973), Phantom of the Paradise (1974), Dressed to Kill (1980), Raising Cain (1992), Carlito's Way (1993), Mission: Impossible (1996)

Links: [ IMDB ] [ TCMDB ] [ All-Movie Guide ] [ Senses of Cinema: Great Directors ] [ Film Reference ] [ Directed by Brian De Palma ] [ De Palma a La Mod ] [ Gerald Peary Interview ] [ Brian De Palma on "Snake Eyes" ] [ Los Angeles Times Article (2006) ] [ Reverse Shot Feature (2006) ] [ Close-Up Film Interview (2008) ]

Books: [ Misogyny in the Movies: The De Palma Question ] [ Double De Palma: A Film Study With Brian De Palma ] [ Brian De Palma: Interviews ] [ Brian De Palma: Authorship as Survival ] [ Brian De Palma ]

DVD's: [ Amazon ]

1,000 Greatest Films: Carrie (1976), Blow Out (1981), Scarface (1983)

21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films: Femme Fatale (2002)


	"Like Hitch, De Palma is famed for his elegant camera movements, shock cutting, use of lurid colour (especially red), and meticulously staged set-pieces of violent action - in short, technique - but unlike the master he lacks originality and ideas...There is a cold, clinical misanthropy (and, indeed, misogyny) to much of De Palma's work, evident in his readiness to subordinate his thinly drawn characters to flashy visual effect." - Geoff Andrew (The Director's Vision, 1999)

	"His early lower-budget thrillers, although superbly manufactured, were too bloody and garish for the average taste and infuriated many critics. But De Palma began gaining respectability with Dressed to Kill (1980) and following several critical setbacks, reached the apex in the late 80s with such high-powered productions as The Untouchables (1987) and Casualties of War (1989). A superb technician, he was finally crafting material worthy of his bold, often dazzling, visual flair." - (The MacMillan International Film Encyclopedia, 1994)

	"'I think that Hitchcock probably has had the best story ideas and cinema ideas in the history of the cinema, and I'm just trying to follow the master a little bit." - Brian De Palma (Directing the Film, 1976)

	"De Palma's early films (Greetings; Hi, Mom) are clever satires on the manners and mores of 1960s youth. His recent efforts are erratic explorations into genre filmmaking.." - William R. Meyer (The Film Buff's Catalog, 1978)