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Gus Van Sant

American film director, producer, photographer and musician (born 1952)

10.59body-of-work score · ranked #73 of 2631 directors · 10 films in our library

A director's score is the sum of their films' composite canon scores — methodology.

Born
July 24, 1952 · Louisville
Nationality
United States, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Work
film director, photographer, screenwriter, film producer
Reference
Wikipedia · Wikidata
Portrait of Gus Van Sant
LucaFazPhoto · CC BY-SA 4.0

Films in our library, ranked

Ranked by composite canon score across 20+ authoritative lists, awards and polls — our ordering, with every placement citing its evidence on the film's page.

  1. 1
    ElephantMust-See #296

    2003 · United States · drama, thriller

    Palme d'Or winner 2003 · Film Comment year-end poll 2003 #3 · Hoberman's annual top 10 2003 #9

    2.264 citations
  2. 2
    Drugstore Cowboy

    1989 · United States · drama, crime, comedy

    Ebert's annual top 10 1989 #2 · Siskel's annual top 10 1989 #3 · Hoberman's annual top 10 1989 #4

    1.618 citations
  3. 3
    Last Days

    2005 · United States · drama

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 2005 #1 · Hoberman's annual top 10 2005 #2 · Film Comment year-end poll 2005 #16

    1.503 citations
  4. 4
    Good Will Hunting

    1997 · United States · romance, drama

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1997 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1998 #7 · Letterboxd Top 250 #83

    1.486 citations
  5. 5
    Paranoid Park

    2007 · United States / France · drama, thriller

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 2007 #1 · Film Comment year-end poll 2008 #7

    1.332 citations
  6. 6
    Milk

    2008 · United States · biography, drama

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 2008 · Film Comment year-end poll 2008 #10 · Ebert's annual top 10 2008 #null

    0.883 citations
  7. 7
    My Own Private Idaho

    1991 · United States · drama

    National Film Registry (inducted 2024) · NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Hoberman's annual top 10 1991 #7

    0.835 citations
  8. 8
    Gerry

    2002 · United States · drama

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 2004 #6

    0.361 citation
  9. 9
    Mala Noche

    1985 · United States · romance, drama, crime

    Criterion Collection spine #407

    0.161 citation
  10. 10
    To Die For

    1995 · United Kingdom / United States · comedy, drama, crime

    Criterion Collection spine #1213

    0.161 citation

Complete filmography

All 22 directorial credits recorded on Wikidata, in chronological order; films in our library link to their canon-score page.