David Gordon Green

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

David Gordon Green (born April 9, 1975) is an American filmmaker. His films, which are usually coming of age tales set in small rural towns, have been categorized as belonging to the Southern Gothic tradition pioneered by such writers as William Faulkner. Green's dialogue often has an obtuse, semi-poetic quality, reminiscent of Faulkner's writing.

Green was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and grew up in Richardson, Texas. He attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied directing.[1] He made two short films, Pleasant Grove and A Biography of Barrels, prior to his feature film debut, the critically-acclaimed George Washington.

It has been pointed out, even by the director himself, that Green's films take a lot of influence from the works of Terrence Malick (Malick himself served as an executive producer of Green's latest film, 2004's Undertow). Green has suggested that no other director has used voice over narration so well, citing Malick's classic 1978 film Days of Heaven as the principal source of inspiration for Undertow. However, Green's films, particularly All the Real Girls, tend to be more actor-driven.

Despite receiving much critical acclaim for his films, Green has experienced somewhat of a backlash in recent years, some accusing him of being too derivative of other contemporary filmmakers.

He currently lives in New Orleans.