He’s been working as a director for over a decade, but 2016 heralds the international break-out for Pablo Larraín. Not only did the Chilean filmmaker’s subversive drama The Club finally get a U.S. release earlier this year — the Berlinale premiere of which led to talking with jury member Darren Aronofsky, who would present him with what would be his Hollywood debut, Jackie — he also has two more features arriving in December. Along with the aforementioned Natalie Portman-led drama coming this week, he also has Chile’s Oscar entry, the formally thrilling Neruda starring Gael García Bernal, hitting theaters two weeks later.
It’s ideal time, then, to take a look at the films that have most influenced him. Culling from his submission of his top 10 films for the latest BFI Sight & Sound poll, his selections are a Film School 101 of formally distinctive landmarks. Featuring classics from Kubrick, Fellini, Coppola, Kurosawa, Hitchcock, Godard, and more, it’s interesting that there’s no formative films from his homeland of South America. Going by this list, perhaps his seamless transition to the world of Hollywood shouldn’t be much of a surprise.
Check out his top 10 films below.
2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)
8½ (Federico Fellini)
Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola)
Ivan’s Childhood (Andrei Tarkovsky)
Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa)
Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder)
Tokyo Story (Ozu Yasujirô)
Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock)
Vivre sa vie (Jean-Luc Godard)
Jackie enters a limited release on December 2 and Neruda on December 16. See an extensive talk with the Larrain above.