8 Classic Movies Hated By Their Directors

By Padraig Cotter / July 31, 2016

While most fans buy into the myth a film is the sole vision of the director, the truth is it’s the result of a massive team effort. From the director, producers, writers, camera people and all the way down to the guy who grabs the coffee. It’s the director’s job to wrestle with all this chaos and make something true to his vision, but there are a million different ways this can go wrong.

Maybe the studio won’t give them the time or money to do things properly, or they clash with the cast or crew and their control of the movie slips away. This can result in a filmmaker growing to hate their own work, even if everyone else considers it a classic.

It’s important to remember they can’t view their work the way an audience does, and what seems like an inspired creative decision might have been a huge compromise in their eyes. Whatever the reasons, here’s a list of directors who hate their own masterpieces.

8. Woody Allen - Manhattan

Manhattan is a romantic comedy from Woody Allen’s golden period, and deals with – surprise surprise – Allen playing a neurotic nerd having relationship issues. The film is deemed one of Allen’s very best, with even the poster becoming iconic.

Don’t bother telling that to Woody Allen though, who despised the finished movie so much he begged the studio to destroy it, and even offered to direct a replacement movie for free. He thought the movie was a total failure, and he later explained that at that stage in his career he felt he was capable of better work.

The director would later say that The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion was probably his worst movie, and in that particular case, it’s pretty hard to disagree with him.