45. The Boulting Brothers (1913 - 1985 (John) - 2001 (Roy)
That's right, before the Coen Brothers and the Dardenne Brothers made it popular for brotherly love to translate into an outpour of films equally shared in writing, directing and producing, the British twin brother combo of John and Ray Boulting beat them to it in the 40s, 50s and 60s. John's and Ray's deal was that one would produce and the other would direct and they would alternate in the roles but when talking about their films, regardless of who the director was and who the producer, there was no separating them. They produced some excellent stuff during their peak, giving a certain Peter Sellers in I'm All Right Jack a career boost and adapting Graham Greene's Brighton Rock into a classic in the late 40s. Both of those films were directed by John and they find their way to the
BFI's 100 Greatest British Films.
Must See: Brighton Rock (1947)
44. Paul Greengrass (1955 - )
Here's a Brit who could probably be passed off as an American at your local airport due to the very Hollywood-friendly movies he's been making, but he's on the list for a good reason and not only because he's actually from Britain (Surrey to be exact). Greengrass burst onto the scene with Bloody Sunday in 2002, a film Ken Loach must have loved and secretly resented at the same time because of how well it depicted the politically intense atmosphere of the 1972 Bloody Sunday shootings in Northern Ireland. However, it is with the Bourne franchise that Greengrass established himself as a bona-fide action filmmaker and introduced the use of the hand-held "shaky" cam approach to action. You might want to hate him for that last part because the style spawned a slew of godawful copycats but when it's Greengrass directing, the shakiness feels controlled and natural.
Must See: The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
43. Jim Sheridan (1949 - )
Someone who won't be appearing in many of these kinds of lists anywhere else, but if he's good enough for one of the greatest actors around then he's good enough to be mentioned among the greatest directors from Britain, we say. Sheridan's films are more influential because of Daniel Day-Lewis and his performances in them, mainly My Left Foot and In The Name of The Father, but forgetting the latest mess he came out with in 2011 (Daniel Craig thriller Dream House) or that he's the man responsible for directing 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' (bare with us here) he has made the shamefully underrated In America, a powerful story of an Irish family immigration to the United States, and directed some of Day-Lewis's finest performances. Personal stories that are held together by the power of family values, Jim Sheridan is a filmmaker beloved by his peers. We're hopeful some of his in-development movies will get him back on track.
Must See: In The Name of the Father (1993)