Satyajit Ray is among my five favourite directors-John Landis

“I have great affection for Indian public who are great movie-going public”, said the American filmmaker John Landis. He told that Satyajit Ray is among his five favourite directors and his Apu Trilogy was an accomplished piece of art. The director remarked that filmmaking is a craft which in the hands of certain practitioners is lifted to the level of art. He said that in the current system where international conglomerates control the movie making, it is becoming increasingly difficult to experiment. This is evident in heavy reliance on remakes as the management of these big conglomerates is interested in the box office performance in the first few days. ‘Films are 105 years or so old and always it had been film industry or film business…. This has implications for freedom of filmmakers’, the director said. John Landis began his career in the mailroom of 20th Century Fox Studios. With enduring comedies such Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), The Blues Brothers (1980), Trading Places (1983), Spies Like Us (1985), Three Amigos! (1987) and Coming to America (1988), Landis has directed some of the most popular blockbusters of all time. His horror film An American Werewolf in London (1981) enjoys a multigenerational fan following. In 1983, Landis reinvented the concept of music videos with Michael Jackson's Thriller. He has been the executive producer and director of many television series. In 2004, Landis produced and directed Slasher, a feature documentary following a veteran used car salesman, and in 2007, Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project, honouring the career of the famed 'rat pack' comedian Don Rickles which premiered on HBO. Landis was honored with the Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Government in 1985. In February, 2009, the Cinemathéque Français in Paris will honour Landis with a comprehensive career retrospective.