9. Jean Renoir
One of the first great french directors and son of the famous painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Jean Renoir had a huge influence on the French New Wave and was called "the greatest of all directors" by Orson Welles. Renoir got his start in silent films, making a number of movies in the 1920's. He first gained success after changing to sound films in the 1930's but it wasn't until 1937 that Renoir made his first classic film, Grand Illusion. A film about French POW's in WWI, Grand Illusion was the first foreign language film to be nominated for Best Picture and has long been considered one of the all time great films. The success of Grand Illusion allowed him to make another one of his classic films, 1939's The Rules of the Game. A satire of contemporary French society, the film was a disaster upon release but has since been re-examined by critics and is considered by many to be his best film. in the 1940's, Renoir's success allowed him to move to Hollywood, where he had difficulty finding projects that suited him. Although he remained a respected director, his later output isn't quite as loved as his earlier work. Regardless, Jean Renoir had a massive impact on future filmmakers and both Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game often place highly on lists of best movies.
Defining Films: Grand Illusion (1937), The Rules of the Game (1939)