Film is to the director what stage is to the actor. The director tells the story, reveals only certain details, and allows the viewer to see what only he/she wants the viewer to see. Because film is a visually oriented medium, it is the director's vision that drives the action more than the actors' presence.
Different directors have different visions. Like any visionary, they are shaped by their past experiences and use them as a springboard for their creations. Very distinct niches in this profession are
Chicago directors. Surely there are many
Chicago directors, but four specific ones who have captured the city and critics for the past three decades are John Hughes, John Landis, Harold Ramis, and Michael Mann.
Teen angst in the 1980's can be great fodder for film, and John Hughes is one
Chicago director who has made a name for himself exploiting it. Hughes was actually born February 18, 1950 in
Lansing,
Michigan but graduated from
Glenbrook North High School in
Northbrook, Illinois. As a
Chicago director, Hughes' resume is remarkably shorter than his screenwriting credits; he has only a short list of seminal works including
Sixteen Candles (1984),
The Breakfast Club (1985), and
Ferris Bueller's Day
Off (1986). However, it is these movies that garnered him the recognition he enjoys as a film director.
Curiously enough, Hughes uses a fictional variation of his childhood
Northbrook, IL in most of his movies. Northbrook's settlement name was Shermerville; Hughes sets most of his stories in
Shermer, IL.
While Hughes tapped into the residual high schooler in us, other
Chicago directors outright abandoned the all too well known "hell with fluorescent lights."
John Landis, born August 3, 1950 in
Chicago, dropped out of high school to work in Fox Studios' mail room. He worked his way up from mail sorter to production assistant to writer/director. He attained critical and public adoration for
Animal House (1978) and went on to other successful projects such as
The Blues Brothers (1980) and
An American Werewolf in London (1981). Being a
Chicago director with a flair for the comic and the terrifying, Landis expanded his vision into outlets and forms including music video (Michael Jackson's "Thriller"), television series, and commercials. And, although being a
Chicago director and high school drop out, Landis is highly decorated for his work by the French Government and the
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
A tribute to the late Stanley Kubrick, Landis borrows the line "See you next Wednesday" from
2001: A Space Odyssey to foreshadow danger in many of his films.
Chicago–a city known for its improv–is bound to produce funny actors. But Harold Ramis did more than act–he directed. Harold Ramis, born November 21, 1944 in the “
Second City,” was one of the earliest members of
Second City. Before his career as a
Chicago director, Ramis was a mental healthcare worker and then a comic writer for
Playboy (both probably the source of his comic genius). Afterwards, he was turned down as an original cast member for "Saturday Night Live" but cast as a member of "SCTV" (Second City TV). In fact, Harold Ramis is among the
Chicago directors who use "SNL" and "SCTV" alumni in films like
Caddyshack (1980),
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), and
Groundhog Day (1993), a trend that seems to have taken off.
Aside from comic antics, films can show us darker sides of the city. When a movie needs an edgy, urban feel, Michael Mann is the
Chicago director for the job. Mann was born in
Chicago on February 5, 1943, attended University of Wisconsin-Madison, but finished at the prestigious
International London Film School. He started his career writing for "Starsky and Hutch" in the mid-70's but quickly moved on to direct James Caan in
Thief (1981),
Manhunter (1986), and a film adaptation of
The Last of the Mohicans (1992). Working widely as a
Chicago director, Mann always kept one foot in television with series like "Miami Vice," which he has recently directed as a feature film.
Mann is one of a few
Chicago directors known for his gritty, unapologetic style and subject matter. Dealing mostly in the crime genre, he is not above using actual ex-convicts as consultants.
Hughes, Landis, Ramis, and Mann are only a small list of
Chicago directors.
Chicago directors have created films in every genre, style, length, and era. In film,
Chicago's talent doesn't end in front of the camera.
Chicago may be called the
Second City, but is second to none in film.
