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The Greatest Directors of All Time

Three hundred directors ranked by the combined canon weight of their films: every credit in our library is scored across 20+ authoritative lists, awards and polls, then summed into one body-of-work number. The top 50 lead with their signature films; ranks 51–300 continue the same ledger below.

Martin Scorsese leads with a combined score of 45.09 across 28 films in our library.

  1. 1
    Martin Scorsese28 films in the library
    45.09

    Goodfellas (1990) · Taxi Driver (1976) · Raging Bull (1980)

  2. 2
    Steven Spielberg28 films in the library
    38.50

    Schindler's List (1993) · E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) · Jaws (1975)

  3. 3
    Jean-Luc Godard39 films in the library
    38.44

    Breathless (1960) · Contempt (1963) · The Image Book (2018)

  4. 4
    Akira Kurosawa26 films in the library
    35.27

    Ikiru (1952) · Seven Samurai (1954) · Rashomon (1950)

  5. 5
    Ingmar Bergman28 films in the library
    34.10

    Wild Strawberries (1957) · Persona (1966) · The Seventh Seal (1957)

  6. 6
    Alfred Hitchcock31 films in the library
    33.59

    Vertigo (1958) · Psycho (1960) · Rear Window (1954)

  7. 7
    Francis Ford Coppola15 films in the library
    31.85

    The Godfather (1972) · Apocalypse Now (1979) · The Godfather Part II (1974)

  8. 8
    Clint Eastwood33 films in the library
    29.13

    Unforgiven (1992) · Million Dollar Baby (2004) · Mystic River (2003)

  9. 9
    Stanley Kubrick12 films in the library
    28.79

    2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) · Dr. Strangelove (1964) · Barry Lyndon (1975)

  10. 10
    William Wyler23 films in the library
    26.06

    The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) · Ben-Hur (1959) · Friendly Persuasion (1956)

  11. 11
    David Lean14 films in the library
    25.95

    Lawrence of Arabia (1962) · The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) · Brief Encounter (1945)

  12. 12
    John Ford27 films in the library
    23.53

    The Searchers (1956) · The Grapes of Wrath (1940) · How Green Was My Valley (1941)

  13. 13
    Billy Wilder20 films in the library
    23.00

    Sunset Boulevard (1950) · The Apartment (1960) · Some Like It Hot (1959)

  14. 14
    Federico Fellini19 films in the library
    22.61

    8½ (1963) · La Dolce Vita (1960) · La Strada (1954)

  15. 15
    Woody Allen21 films in the library
    22.24

    Annie Hall (1977) · Manhattan (1979) · The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

  16. 16
    Luis Buñuel20 films in the library
    22.03

    Viridiana (1961) · Belle de Jour (1967) · The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

  17. 17
    Yasujirō Ozu25 films in the library
    21.77

    Tokyo Story (1953) · Late Spring (1949) · Early Summer (1951)

  18. 18
    Éric Rohmer25 films in the library
    20.41

    The Green Ray (1986) · Claire's Knee (1970) · The Aviator's Wife (1981)

  19. 19
    Joel Coen12 films in the library
    20.40

    No Country for Old Men (2007) · Fargo (1996) · Barton Fink (1991)

  20. 20
    Robert Altman15 films in the library
    20.09

    MASH (1970) · Nashville (1975) · Short Cuts (1993)

  21. 21
    Orson Welles13 films in the library
    19.65

    Citizen Kane (1941) · Touch of Evil (1958) · Othello (1951)

  22. 22
    Ethan Coen11 films in the library
    19.65

    No Country for Old Men (2007) · Fargo (1996) · Barton Fink (1991)

  23. 23
    François Truffaut19 films in the library
    19.59

    The 400 Blows (1959) · Day for Night (1973) · Jules and Jim (1962)

  24. 24
    Charlie Chaplin14 films in the library
    18.72

    City Lights (1931) · Modern Times (1936) · The Gold Rush (1925)

  25. 25
    Paul Thomas Anderson9 films in the library
    18.53

    There Will Be Blood (2007) · One Battle After Another (2025) · Magnolia (1999)

  26. 26
    Michelangelo Antonioni12 films in the library
    18.30

    Blowup (1966) · L'Avventura (1960) · Red Desert (1964)

  27. 27
    David Lynch10 films in the library
    17.53

    Mulholland Drive (2001) · Blue Velvet (1986) · The Elephant Man (1980)

  28. 28
    Quentin Tarantino11 films in the library
    17.45

    Pulp Fiction (1994) · Inglourious Basterds (2009) · Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

  29. 29
    Alain Resnais18 films in the library
    17.33

    Last Year at Marienbad (1961) · Hiroshima mon amour (1959) · My American Uncle (1980)

  30. 30
    George Cukor23 films in the library
    17.25

    Gone with the Wind (1939) · My Fair Lady (1964) · The Philadelphia Story (1940)

  31. 31
    Sidney Lumet20 films in the library
    17.24

    12 Angry Men (1957) · Network (1976) · Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

  32. 32
    Louis Malle16 films in the library
    17.04

    Atlantic City (1980) · Au revoir les enfants (1987) · Lacombe, Lucien (1974)

  33. 33
    Shohei Imamura15 films in the library
    16.53

    The Eel (1997) · The Ballad of Narayama (1983) · Black Rain (1989)

  34. 34
    Abbas Kiarostami15 films in the library
    16.50

    Taste of Cherry (1997) · Close-Up (1990) · Where is the Friend's Home? (1987)

  35. 35
    Roman Polanski12 films in the library
    16.28

    Chinatown (1974) · The Pianist (2002) · Tess (1979)

  36. 36
    Robert Bresson11 films in the library
    16.17

    A Man Escaped (1956) · Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) · L'Argent (1983)

  37. 37
    David Cronenberg18 films in the library
    15.90

    A History of Violence (2005) · Crash (1996) · Eastern Promises (2007)

  38. 38
    Elia Kazan13 films in the library
    15.60

    On the Waterfront (1954) · America America (1963) · A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

  39. 39
    Miloš Forman11 films in the library
    15.41

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) · Amadeus (1984) · The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)

  40. 40
    Jean Renoir22 films in the library
    15.37

    La Grande Illusion (1937) · The Rules of the Game (1939) · The River (1951)

  41. 41
    Kenji Mizoguchi19 films in the library
    14.92

    Ugetsu (1953) · Sansho the Bailiff (1954) · The Life of Oharu (1952)

  42. 42
    Yōji Yamada25 films in the library
    14.71

    The Yellow Handkerchief (1977) · My Sons (1991) · The Twilight Samurai (2002)

  43. 43
    Howard Hawks22 films in the library
    14.61

    His Girl Friday (1940) · Rio Bravo (1959) · Bringing Up Baby (1938)

  44. 44
    Ang Lee10 films in the library
    14.36

    Brokeback Mountain (2005) · Sense and Sensibility (1995) · Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

  45. 45
    Fred Zinnemann14 films in the library
    14.04

    A Man for All Seasons (1966) · From Here to Eternity (1953) · Julia (1977)

  46. 46
    Frank Capra11 films in the library
    13.54

    It's a Wonderful Life (1946) · It Happened One Night (1934) · You Can't Take It With You (1938)

  47. 47
    Roberto Rossellini16 films in the library
    13.50

    Rome, Open City (1945) · Paisà (1946) · Il generale della Rovere (1959)

  48. 48
    John Huston19 films in the library
    13.27

    The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) · The Maltese Falcon (1941) · Prizzi's Honor (1985)

  49. 49
    Wim Wenders15 films in the library
    13.22

    Paris, Texas (1984) · Wings of Desire (1987) · The State of Things (1982)

  50. 50
    Luchino Visconti14 films in the library
    13.07

    The Leopard (1963) · Sandra (1965) · Rocco and His Brothers (1960)

Ranks 51–300

the extended canon
  1. 51Claude Chabrol22 films13.01
  2. 52Vittorio De Sica11 films13.00
  3. 53Terrence Malick6 films12.90
  4. 54Andrei Tarkovsky7 films12.88
  5. 55Michael Powell11 films12.65
  6. 56Richard Linklater17 films12.63
  7. 57Hayao Miyazaki11 films12.63
  8. 58Ernst Lubitsch21 films12.50
  9. 59Mike Leigh15 films12.46
  10. 60Hou Hsiao-Hsien13 films12.37
  11. 61Tadashi Imai19 films12.08
  12. 62Michael Curtiz13 films11.64
  13. 63Pedro Almodóvar13 films11.40
  14. 64Carol Reed10 films11.36
  15. 65Leo McCarey13 films11.30
  16. 66Christopher Nolan11 films11.29
  17. 67Kon Ichikawa20 films11.26
  18. 68René Clément8 films11.25
  19. 69Wong Kar-wai8 films11.22
  20. 70Keisuke Kinoshita20 films10.74
  21. 71John Schlesinger9 films10.67
  22. 72Hirokazu Koreeda10 films10.65
  23. 73Gus Van Sant10 films10.59
  24. 74Apichatpong Weerasethakul7 films10.58
  25. 75Emeric Pressburger8 films10.49
  26. 76John Cassavetes10 films10.45
  27. 77Satyajit Ray12 films10.39
  28. 78Lars von Trier11 films10.35
  29. 79Peter Jackson8 films10.13
  30. 80Werner Herzog14 films10.08
  31. 81Bernardo Bertolucci11 films10.07
  32. 82George Stevens11 films9.94
  33. 83Rainer Werner Fassbinder18 films9.94
  34. 84Bong Joon-ho6 films9.94
  35. 85Kaneto Shindō21 films9.91
  36. 86Fritz Lang20 films9.90
  37. 87Jim Jarmusch11 films9.85
  38. 88Spike Lee10 films9.84
  39. 89Vincente Minnelli16 films9.81
  40. 90Steven Soderbergh16 films9.78
  41. 91Carl Theodor Dreyer8 films9.78
  42. 92Agnès Varda10 films9.73
  43. 93Jane Campion8 films9.71
  44. 94Claire Denis13 films9.66
  45. 95Joseph L. Mankiewicz11 films9.60
  46. 96Victor Fleming8 films9.60
  47. 97Chantal Akerman10 films9.58
  48. 98Zhang Yimou10 films9.50
  49. 99Masaki Kobayashi12 films9.20
  50. 100Mike Nichols10 films9.13
  51. 101Michael Haneke6 films8.98
  52. 102Wes Anderson11 films8.97
  53. 103Oliver Stone8 films8.88
  54. 104Alfonso Cuarón6 films8.80
  55. 105Ridley Scott7 films8.74
  56. 106Josef von Sternberg16 films8.50
  57. 107Jean-Pierre Dardenne7 films8.50
  58. 108Luc Dardenne7 films8.50
  59. 109King Vidor13 films8.50
  60. 110Stanley Donen9 films8.45
  61. 111Jacques Rivette13 films8.39
  62. 112Manoel de Oliveira14 films8.37
  63. 113Nagisa Ōshima13 films8.36
  64. 114Thodoros Angelopoulos8 films8.32
  65. 115Jia Zhangke9 films8.30
  66. 116Sam Wood9 films8.28
  67. 117Ken Loach11 films8.27
  68. 118Jonathan Demme12 films8.15
  69. 119Arthur Penn7 films8.14
  70. 120Maurice Pialat8 films8.05
  71. 121Robert Wise10 films7.95
  72. 122Jerzy Skolimowski11 films7.88
  73. 123Kinji Fukasaku11 films7.83
  74. 124David Fincher8 films7.81
  75. 125Takeshi Kitano9 films7.81
  76. 126Robert Zemeckis11 films7.80
  77. 127Todd Haynes9 films7.76
  78. 128Mikio Naruse15 films7.73
  79. 129Hong Sang-soo19 films7.73
  80. 130Bob Fosse5 films7.72
  81. 131Jafar Panahi9 films7.59
  82. 132Aki Kaurismäki8 films7.53
  83. 133Julien Duvivier14 films7.51
  84. 134Brian De Palma18 films7.47
  85. 135Norman Jewison8 films7.42
  86. 136James Ivory6 films7.41
  87. 137Jacques Audiard7 films7.36
  88. 138Otto Preminger14 films7.23
  89. 139James Cameron6 films7.16
  90. 140Wilfred Jackson8 films7.06
  91. 141George Roy Hill6 films7.05
  92. 142Nanni Moretti6 films7.03
  93. 143F. W. Murnau6 films7.03
  94. 144William Friedkin7 films6.99
  95. 145René Clair12 films6.98
  96. 146Pier Paolo Pasolini12 films6.94
  97. 147Satsuo Yamamoto16 films6.92
  98. 148Laurence Olivier3 films6.90
  99. 149Henri-Georges Clouzot6 films6.88
  100. 150Edward Yang4 films6.84
  101. 151Sergio Leone6 films6.81
  102. 152Robert Benton8 films6.80
  103. 153Joseph Losey10 films6.80
  104. 154Peter Weir8 films6.79
  105. 155Ryusuke Hamaguchi5 films6.76
  106. 156Nicholas Ray11 films6.66
  107. 157Stephen Frears11 films6.64
  108. 158Lewis Milestone8 films6.62
  109. 159Costa-Gavras5 films6.62
  110. 160George Lucas6 films6.61
  111. 161Jacques Demy7 films6.61
  112. 162William A. Wellman11 films6.55
  113. 163Kelly Reichardt8 films6.49
  114. 164Gene Kelly5 films6.44
  115. 165Alejandro González Iñárritu5 films6.44
  116. 166Mervyn LeRoy15 films6.42
  117. 167Sam Mendes6 films6.37
  118. 168Guillermo del Toro6 films6.21
  119. 169Masahiro Shinoda12 films6.14
  120. 170Alexander Payne7 films6.13
  121. 171Junji Sakamoto11 films6.04
  122. 172Emir Kusturica4 films6.01
  123. 173Hal Ashby6 films6.01
  124. 174Andrzej Wajda9 films6.00
  125. 175Neil Jordan9 films5.81
  126. 176Krzysztof Kieślowski6 films5.77
  127. 177Lawrence Kasdan4 films5.72
  128. 178Sydney Pollack7 films5.67
  129. 179Jacques Tati7 films5.67
  130. 180Francesco Rosi8 films5.64
  131. 181Tony Richardson8 films5.63
  132. 182Henry King11 films5.63
  133. 183Kathryn Bigelow5 films5.60
  134. 184Sam Peckinpah8 films5.50
  135. 185Alan J. Pakula4 films5.49
  136. 186Paolo Taviani5 films5.41
  137. 187Vittorio Taviani5 films5.41
  138. 188Terence Davies7 films5.38
  139. 189Víctor Erice4 films5.37
  140. 190Peter Bogdanovich8 films5.34
  141. 191Kei Kumai8 films5.33
  142. 192Paul Mazursky7 films5.31
  143. 193James L. Brooks4 films5.29
  144. 194Max Ophüls8 films5.28
  145. 195Nobuhiko Obayashi12 films5.27
  146. 196Danny Boyle7 films5.26
  147. 197Masayuki Suo4 films5.25
  148. 198Alexander Sokurov7 films5.24
  149. 199Richard Lester10 films5.20
  150. 200Frank Borzage12 films5.18
  151. 201Béla Tarr4 films5.18
  152. 202Ben Sharpsteen4 films5.16
  153. 203Teinosuke Kinugasa8 films5.15
  154. 204Samuel Fuller10 films5.15
  155. 205Philippe Garrel13 films5.11
  156. 206Bertrand Tavernier11 films5.09
  157. 207Jean-Pierre Melville9 films5.06
  158. 208Kiyoshi Kurosawa9 films5.06
  159. 209Kōzaburō Yoshimura11 films5.04
  160. 210Tomu Uchida10 films5.02
  161. 211Michael Moore4 films5.00
  162. 212Marcel Carné6 films4.98
  163. 213Danièle Huillet11 films4.98
  164. 214Jean-Marie Straub11 films4.98
  165. 215Robert Rossen3 films4.97
  166. 216Sofia Coppola4 films4.92
  167. 217Stanley Kramer7 films4.92
  168. 218Michael Cimino4 films4.92
  169. 219Jūzō Itami4 films4.91
  170. 220Albert Serra5 films4.91
  171. 221Rob Reiner7 films4.87
  172. 222Roland Joffé2 films4.87
  173. 223Steve McQueen3 films4.86
  174. 224Barry Levinson7 films4.85
  175. 225Lindsay Anderson5 films4.85
  176. 226Cristian Mungiu4 films4.84
  177. 227Nicolas Roeg6 films4.83
  178. 228Jonathan Glazer4 films4.80
  179. 229Buster Keaton9 films4.79
  180. 230André Cayatte4 films4.78
  181. 231Spike Jonze4 films4.77
  182. 232Tsai Ming-liang8 films4.75
  183. 233John Boorman7 films4.71
  184. 234Gillo Pontecorvo1 film4.69
  185. 235Alan Parker7 films4.65
  186. 236Preston Sturges8 films4.64
  187. 237Bruno Dumont9 films4.61
  188. 238Park Chan-wook6 films4.61
  189. 239Bill Roberts5 films4.61
  190. 240Barry Jenkins3 films4.58
  191. 241Robert Redford4 films4.57
  192. 242Asghar Farhadi3 films4.56
  193. 243Philip Kaufman5 films4.53
  194. 244George Miller5 films4.51
  195. 245Ermanno Olmi4 films4.46
  196. 246Frederick Wiseman13 films4.45
  197. 247Damien Chazelle2 films4.45
  198. 248Blake Edwards14 films4.44
  199. 249Sang-il Lee4 films4.42
  200. 250Nuri Bilge Ceylan4 films4.40
  201. 251Frank Darabont2 films4.38
  202. 252Ron Howard4 films4.37
  203. 253D. W. Griffith11 films4.37
  204. 254Frank Lloyd4 films4.32
  205. 255Patrice Leconte5 films4.31
  206. 256Charles Walters7 films4.29
  207. 257Kenneth Lonergan3 films4.28
  208. 258Leos Carax6 films4.28
  209. 259Curtis Hanson3 films4.27
  210. 260Shō Miyake4 films4.25
  211. 261Raoul Walsh11 films4.23
  212. 262Shinji Sōmai8 films4.22
  213. 263Albert Brooks6 films4.20
  214. 264Terry Gilliam8 films4.20
  215. 265Sean Baker5 films4.16
  216. 266Shirō Toyoda9 films4.15
  217. 267Tim Burton10 films4.13
  218. 268John Madden3 films4.11
  219. 269Ruben Östlund3 films4.10
  220. 270Abdellatif Kechiche3 films4.09
  221. 271Hiroshi Teshigahara6 films4.07
  222. 272Heinosuke Gosho9 films4.07
  223. 273Chloé Zhao3 films4.01
  224. 274Edmund Goulding6 films4.00
  225. 275Richard Attenborough4 films3.99
  226. 276Raúl Ruiz12 films3.98
  227. 277Yōjirō Takita5 films3.97
  228. 278Darren Aronofsky5 films3.96
  229. 279André Téchiné8 films3.95
  230. 280Lucrecia Martel4 films3.93
  231. 281Nikita Mikhalkov4 films3.91
  232. 282Robert Aldrich9 films3.90
  233. 283Edward Dmytryk5 films3.88
  234. 284Norm Ferguson4 films3.88
  235. 285Claude Lanzmann3 films3.88
  236. 286Alf Sjöberg2 films3.87
  237. 287John G. Avildsen2 films3.87
  238. 288Errol Morris7 films3.86
  239. 289Kazuo Kuroki7 films3.83
  240. 290Terry Zwigoff4 films3.82
  241. 291Martin McDonagh2 films3.81
  242. 292Arnaud Desplechin5 films3.80
  243. 293Yuya Ishii5 films3.79
  244. 294Bille August2 films3.78
  245. 295Olivier Assayas10 films3.78
  246. 296Pietro Germi5 films3.78
  247. 297Paul Schrader7 films3.76
  248. 298Paul Verhoeven7 films3.74
  249. 299Stephen Daldry4 films3.74
  250. 300Chen Kaige3 films3.73

A director's score is the sum of their films' composite scores in our library — a body-of-work measure, not a single-film peak. Methodology.

What a body-of-work score rewards

Ranking directors by summing their films' composite scores is a deliberate choice with consequences worth stating plainly. It rewards sustained canonical output over a single perfect film: a director with eight films the canon keeps citing outranks one immortal masterpiece and a quiet career. That is why William Wyler — twenty-one library films, three Best Picture winners, decades of awards-season centrality — can sit above directors with louder modern reputations, and why the list is a genuinely different object from a "favorite auteurs" poll. It measures the depth of the shelf, not the height of the peak.

Reading the surprises

The instructive entries are the ones that feel wrong. Studio-era craftsmen rank high because the awards apparatus of their time was thorough and the registries have had ninety years to canonize them. Directors who worked in fits — a Dreyer, a Vigo — rank lower than their reputation among critics, because a body-of-work sum structurally punishes small filmographies. And living directors climb in real time: every new festival prize or poll appearance adds points to a career total that historical figures can only gain through rediscovery. None of this is a bug to apologize for; it is what "measured by the whole record" actually looks like, and the per-director film citations let you check every step of the arithmetic.

Where to go from here

Four directors on this list have full ranked filmographies on this site — Kubrick, Hitchcock, Scorsese, Nolan — and more are coming as the library deepens. For the top fifty, the three films cited beside each name are their highest-scoring works and the fastest way in; ranks 51–300 continue the same body-of-work measure as a compact ledger, each name linking straight to its filmography. If you want the version of this question the critics answer directly, the Sight & Sound directors' poll (one of our tier-3 sources) asks four hundred filmmakers to name the greatest films ever made — comparing its verdicts with this page's arithmetic is a short education in how canons are built.