Better than Kubrick and Welles: Tarantino named the director he considers a genius

When it comes to the best directors in film history, many film fans immediately think of the names Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick or Alfred Hitchcock.

These people really changed the art of cinema, although not all modern directors are willing to call them geniuses.

Take Quentin Tarantino for example. The director of Pulp Fiction is often called a genius, while Tarantino himself has very high standards when it comes to filmmakers from the past.

Tarantino is known for his hatred of the films of Hitchcock, David Lynch and Jean-Luc Godard and his love for the films of John Carpenter, John Woo and Brian De Palma.

But he only called one director a true cinematic genius.

‘I must admit that I came to Joseph von Sternberg very late. I’ve read his autobiography, which in my opinion is one of the best books on film criticism ever written. Now I think that of film geniuses like Kubrick and Welles, my favorite genius is Von Sternberg.” – Tarantino commented.

Yes, Tarantino considers this little-known Austrian-American director an outstanding master of film history. Sternberg made most of his films in the 1930s – film critics often call The Blue Angel, Shanghai Express and Morocco great, but most viewers haven’t even heard the names of these films.

The director’s recognizable style inspired Tarantino to create Inglourious Basterds, in which Diane Kruger consciously resembled Marlene Dietrich, Sternberg’s main muse.

Kinopoisk users consider The Last Order Sternberg’s best film – it was rated 7.7 points. Granted, only 756 viewers watched it.