The Film That Changed My Life: 30 Directors on Their Epiphanies in the Dark

Here directors, including Peter Bogdanovich, Kimberly Peirce, Arthur Hiller, and John Waters, explore the film they saw at an especially formative moment, how it influenced their own work—or, in some cases, led them to tell stories through movies themselves—and the effects it had on their thoughts about cinema.

Revealing stories include how after watching Rebel Without a Cause, John Woo started combing his hair like James Dean and even began talking like him; Apocalypse Now inspired Danny Boyle to take risks and make larger-than-life films; and a line in The Wizard of Oz—"Who could ever have thought a good little girl like you could destroy all my beautiful wickedness?"—has become almost a personal mantra or prayer for John Waters.