Damien Chazelle just won the DGA directing award. For all those wishing for Barry Jenkins to pull off an upset, it just became a little harder based on this latest Chazelle victory. He's on his way to becoming the youngest director to win the Best Director Oscar. Was William Friedkin not far off in his claim that Chazelle is, in fact, the future of cinema? Time will tell, but "Whiplash," and "La La Land," despite the flaws, make a good case for a prodigous talent.
And no, 25 year-old Orson Welles didn't win for "Citizen Kane" back in 1941, instead the award went to John Ford and his underwhelming "How Green Was My Valley." Good God. What made his "Citizen Kane" debut even more impressive was the fact that it was Welles' first feature. Then again, Welles loved Ford so much that he watched "Stagecoach" over and over again to study and prepare for the shoot of "Citizen Kane."
The stats are as follows:
Damien Chazelle "La La Land" (31 Years old)
Norman Taurog "Skippy" (32 Years old)
Lewis Milestone "Two Arabian Knights" (33 Years old)
Sam Mendes "American Beauty" (34 Years old)
Frank Borzage "A Farewell to Arms" (35 Years old)
Lewis Milestone "All Quiet on the Western Front" (35 Years old)
Tony Richardson "Tom Jones" (35 Years old)
Francis Ford Coppola "The Godfather" (36 Years old)