Greta Gerwig’s Favorite Movies: 10 Films the Director Wants You to See

“Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” (1975)

In 2017, while promoting her starring role in Mike Mills’ “20th Century Women,” Gerwig spoke to IndieWire and Movies on Demand about her picks for her all-time favorite movies. The first feature she choose was Chantal Akerman’s three-hour long slice of life about a housewife’s daily routine, and one of the defining films in feminist cinema. Gerwig proved to be ahead of her time in choosing “Jeanne Dielman” first; in 2022, it was named the greatest film of all time by Sight & Sound Magazine’s once-a-decade critics poll. 

“Singin’ in the Rain” (1952)

Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly’s beloved musical comedy “Singin’ in the Rain” is the type of film that continues to inspire dozens of directors decades after it was released; look to “Babylon” director Damien Chazelle, for example. Gerwig’s also a fan of the legendary musical, naming it as another favorite during her IndieWire and Movies on Demand interview; we’re guessing she studied up on the film for those “Barbie” musical numbers. 

“Rio Bravo” (1959)

One of Gerwig’s cinematic loves that isn’t necessarily immediately apparent from watching her work is the westerns of John Wayne, particularly those he made with Howard Hawks. The pair’s 1959 classic “Rio Bravo” was another pick from her during her IndieWire and Movies on Demand interview, calling it a movie “she wants to live inside” and saying that “we don’t make those movies now.” 

“Red River” (1948)

Another Howard Hawks and John Wayne collaboration Gerwig mentioned during her IndieWire and Movies on Demand interview, “Red River” stars Wayne as a rancher managing a cattle drive from Texas to Kansas, and the feud he develops with his adopted son (Montgomery Clift).

In a 2012 interview with The Dissolve, Gerwig called Wayne one of her “fascinations” in cinema, and singled his performance in “Red River” out as a favorite: “I find him almost psychically different from movie to movie. He can be really scary in movies like Red River, or he can be very gentle. I like how much time he takes for everything; he really takes his goddamn time to walk, or to talk.”

“The 39 Steps” (1935)

Another IndieWire and Movies on Demand shoutout, Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic British thriller received particularly high praise from Gerwig, who called it “maybe one of the most perfect movies ever made.” The Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll spy film, about an innocent man hoping to clear his name of muder, is great according to Gerwig, “not because of the scope of the movie…it’s just these little details that are like, oh no!” 

“Brief Encounter” (1945)

A classic cinematic heartbreaker, David Lean’s “Brief Encounter” tells the story of two married people (Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard) who fall in love but are too loyal to their spouses to embark upon a full affair. In her IndieWire and Movies on Demand interview, Gerwig referred to the British feature as the “most romantic movie ever made.” 

“The King Of Comedy” (1982)

Todd Phillips isn’t the only director in Hollywood whose favorite Martin Scorcese flick is “The King of Comedy.” 1982’s “The King of Comedy,” which stars Robert De Niro as a deranged comedian and was a famously big influence on 2019’s “Joker,” was the final film mentioned by Gerwig as a favorite during her IndieWire and Movies on Demand interview. 

“Another Year” (2010)

Mike Leigh’s “Another Year,” also a favorite of Ari Aster’s, tells the story of a middle-aged couple across a year in their life. In a 2013 interview to promote “Frances Ha,” Gerwig said she loved the film, and named it as an influence while she and Baumbach were writing the script for their movie. 

“I love that movie; it’s great, it’s the best. The way it’s divided up into seasons – that’s what kind of gave us the inspiration to demarcate the movie into parts from where she lived,” Gerwig said. “I really like in the movie the way there was elapsed time. You’d kind of be figuring out what happened in between these two sections. I just thought it was an amazing movie and I really loved it.”

“Flirting” (1991)

An Australian film about the romance between two outcast teenagers at boarding school, John Duigan’s “Flirting” is best known today for featuring early film roles for Thandiwe Newton and Nicole Kidman. In a 2017 Slate interview, Gerwig named the Aussie flick as a movie that made an impact on her and helped inspire “Lady Bird.” 

“It’s very tender and it’s very good,” Gerwig said. “I remember that was a movie where I was like, ‘Oh, you could do it but it could be real?’ Even though I’ve never been to an Australian boarding school, I have no idea whether that’s real or not.” 

“Pretty in Pink” (1986)

Another teen film that helped inform “Lady Bird” was the John Hughes-scripted “Pretty in Pink,” which stars Molly Ringwald as an outcast teenager looking for love as her high school prom approaches.

In her Slate interview, Gerwig said that the pink dress from Howard Deutch’s feature helped inform the costume design for the “Lady Bird” prom scene. “I loved John Hughes movies,” Gerwig said. “But definitely, of those movies, I would say ‘Pretty in Pink’ is my favorite.”