2. Ingmar Bergman
One of the most literate and philosophical of all film directors, Bergman had a six decade career in films, crafting some of the defining motion pictures of his time. His films heavily focused on religion, philosophy, death and insanity. Bergman's films are the definitive "art house" films as they have almost no mainstream audiences but are revered in critical circles. Bergman started out in the movie business by writing scripts in the early 1940's. He began directing in 1945 and his breakout happened in 1957 when he released both The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries. Bergman's films were notable for approaching topics that would make the audience uncomfortable and to emphasis this, he would often use extreme close ups of the actors. The Seventh Seal is one of the many Bergman films that deal with the existence of God, something which tormented Bergman throughout his life. Few directors have been as influential on subsequent directors as Bergman has. Woody Allen, in particular, believes him to be the all time greatest artist in film and others such as Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Cappola and many others have been strongly influenced by him. Bergman is one of the few directors whose works are analyzed, not just as films, but as works of art. As another director Krzysztof Kieslowski said "This man is one of the few film directorsperhaps the only one in the worldto have said as much about human nature as Dostoyevsky or Camus."
Defining Films: The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), The Virgin Spring (1960), Through a Glass Darkly (1961), The Pleasure Garden (1961), The Silence (1963), Persona (1966), Hour of the Wolf (1968), Shame (1968), Cries and Whispers (1973), Fanny and Alexander (1982)