Influence through time: how filmmakers’ legacies influence the industry and culture

By Nina Verrinder

Assessing a filmmaker’s legacy is not an easily surmisable task, and there are many criteria to consider when examining a film or filmmakers’ legacy on both contemporary culture and cinema. I have therefore decided to gather examples of film and filmmaker’s legacies across three categories: its legacy as a storytelling medium, legacy as a cultural influence, and it’s contribution to film techniques and language. I do preface this list by saying that all these films have the capacity to belong to all three groups, however for this list, I am focusing on its leading legacy.

Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein, 1925) is a landmark of Russian revolutionary cinema and left audiences in shock with its jolting imagery (search up ‘The Odessa’ Steps’ scene and see for yourself). It is a prime example of successful pro-revolutionary propaganda, one which utilised film as a powerful medium of persuasion and storytelling. The way in which one could recount history was no longer limited through the medium of books, articles, or word of mouth; it was now available on the big screen in its most brutal form. The legacy of Eisenstein’s work is how he was able to employ film’s potential as a storytelling medium to spur political thought along emotional lines.

The way in which one could recount history was no longer limited through the medium of books, articles, or word of mouth; it was now available on the big screen in its most brutal form

Legacy can also be measured in the way in which a film examines cultural norms and addresses social injustices which is the case with Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Kramer, 1967) where racial prejudice, generational ideological gaps and questions pertaining what it means to be a parent are examined when John Prentice (Sidney Poitier), a black doctor and boyfriend to Joey (Katherine Houghton), goes to dinner with Joey’s white family. This film is one of the first films to question the boundaries of liberal thought in a post-Jim Crow era America, and one of the first to question the capitalistic nature of a child owing their parent. This film also solidifies Sidney Poitier’s legacy as a leading actor of the 1960s. Poitier starred in another film released in the same year, In the Heat of the Night (Jewison, 1967) which also addressed race and racial tensions in America warranting Poitier as leading actor of change, both on the screen and behind the scenes.

When considering which filmmaker’s legacy can be defined as generation defining, a single name comes to my mind, that being the ‘Master of Suspense’ himself, Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock’s psychological thrillers defined a generation of people, who were going through immense cultural and landscape evolution. His work which spanned nearly 6 decades, beginning in the Golden Age of Hollywood and later sign posting the New Age of Hollywood were prime examples of creating the film language which would later define a genre: what we know today as the ‘Thriller’. Equal credit must also be awarded to his wife Alma Reville who was a foundational creative on Hitchcock’s projects, working as an editor.

Hitchcock’s and Reville’s filmography including Rear Window, Vertigo, and Psycho have been solidified as classic thrillers for their stylized shots including the Vertigo Shot (which is more commonly known as the Dolly Zoom). I was fortunate enough to catch a viewing of Vertigo on the big screen and jumped from fear more times than I’m ready to admit, but don’t take my word for it. According to the British Film Institute, Vertigo is the second most influential film of all time. So subjectively, Hitchcock can be considered a leading figure of film language and techniques, so definitely take a dive into his pessimistic stylistic filmography if you are interested in understanding how the thriller genre came to be.

Hitchcock can be considered a leading figure of film language and techniques

Upon review, this list does lean heavily in the 20th century, which I can only sum up to me being a classics nerd, but it does bring up a good point, which is that a film or filmmaker’s legacy is hard to surmise without the big picture in which to place it. There are plenty of 21st century films which fit into any three of my categories; however, I found myself at a loss trying to define their legacy. Perhaps the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has it right, maybe the key is to wait 25 years before assessing the legacy of a piece of art.

Image: Dezidor via Wikimedia Commons