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Impossible to answer an impossible question. A compromise is thus called for, so that “the impossible becomes possible”, to quote a line by the Russian poet Alexander Blok. So I’ve looked for a filmmaker who would contain, rather than eliminate, all the others. Or, to put it another way, one who represents all of cinema. In the ten films by Dreyer that make up my list almost all the great films of all time can be found. Michael connects very well to Guitry or Fassbinder, Dies Irae to Bresson, Les Fiancés de Glomdalsbruden to Sirk, Griffith or Barnet, Gertrud to Ford or Walsh, Prastankan to Lubitsch or Resnais, Ordet to Ermler or Rohmer, Tva Manniskor to Hitchcock, Naruse, Tullio, Ophuls or Bergman. Etc. What’s more, Dreyer made his films in Denmark, but also in Sweden, France, Norway, Germany, so does not belong to a ‘national’ cinema.