Favorite first film from great directors

[Digital New Wave]

Hey everyone,

So I was curious to know what is everyone's favorite first film from a great director. For me, I'd say Christopher Nolan's "Following" just because he was able to shoot a feature for 6 grand on B/W film stock & have it still come out brilliantly.

[GuerrillaAngel]

Citizen Kane.

[fernando97echeverria]

Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane"

As well as:

Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless"
Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs"
Christopher Nolan's "Following"
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Amores Perros"
Francois Truffaut's "The 400 Blows"
David Lynch's "Eraserhead"

On a lesser but still impressive note:

Richard Linklater's "Slacker"
Rian Johnson's "Brick"
Larry Clark's "Kids"
Shane Carruth's "Primer"

[Zensteve]

I was going to go with George Miller and Mad Max...

...turns out he did two shorts before then. So dunno if that can count?

[Cracker Funk]

40 Year Old Virgin!!!

[cameronchapman]

I'm a huge Joss Whedon fan, so I'm gonna say Serenity. It was the first film he directed, even though he'd directed Buffy, Angel, and Firefly before that.

[TheJudge]

The Room

By the great Tommy Wiseau. Never has a debut been so deeply human and beautiful, yet so tragic and haunting. Who doesn't remember the heartbreaking line 'You're tearing me apart, Lisa!', or the witty oneliners like 'Oh hi, Mark' and 'Anyway, how's your sex life?'. Not only that, but it also has the greatest scene ever committed to celluloid: The flower shop scene. With so much passion and intellect, one would want it to be a longer film, and yet we have to feel happy that a genius like Wiseau shared a glimpse of his great vision with us. May we always treasure it and hold it in our hearts.

[directorik]

Can’t get much better than “Kane” as a first feature. If I was
forced into just one I guess I’ll stick with Lynch and “Eraserhead”.
But if I can do a list I’d add:
Preston Sturges “The Great McGinty”
David Mamet “House of Games”
Luc Besson “Le Dernier Combat”
John Hughes “Sixteen Candles”
Nicolas Ray “They Live by Night”
Gene Kelly “On the Town”
Mel Brooks “The Producers”
Stewart Gordon “Re-Animator”

[2001 Productions]

Great choices!

I'd add Steven Spielberg: "Duel"