One is always in awe of a filmmaker who makes their first full-length feature with the finesse of a veteran. Some of these names had already cut their professional teeth in television or advertising before going independent.
One is instantly smitten by the mastery in all departments, after one viewing of Ray's classic which boasts filmmaking quality of the highest order, especially of cinematographer Subrata Mitra, also handling a camera for the first time!
Another great example of an inexperienced director-cinematographer duo making their first film. As Welles once said, the fact that he and DoP Gregg Toland were ignorant gave them the freedom to try out different things.
Talk about a classy, minimalist, delightfully twist-laden debut that draws heavily from film noir. The first appearance of a thief named 'Cobb' and that Batman sticker on a door in one scene foretold many things.
Paul Thomas Anderson's work in Hard Eight (aka Sydney) could be easily mistaken for the work of a veteran considering the highly impressive craft on display, especially the Scorsese-influenced camera moves he employed.
Pity this was the first and last film actor Charles Laughton directed — another fantastic example of a singular work from a filmmaker with a singular vision, populated with many memorable monochrome compositions.
Aided by Reginald Rose's robust writing and Boris Kaufman's elegant camera work, Lumet proved that you can make a thoroughly gripping drama with 12 talking heads around a table with not a single boring moment.
Spielberg shot with expert precision the chilling 'duel' between an ordinary executive in a red sedan going about his daily business and a rusty, menacing truck driven by a faceless driver stalking him for unfathomable reasons.
Ritchie's film is a testament to the fact that when you take the most engrossing and extremely hilarious characters (played by newcomers) and place them in the most engrossing and extremely hilarious situations, that's spectacle enough.