TITLES: FIVE MOVIES WITH A SUBVERSIVE ATTITUDE
DIRECTORS AND WRITERS: PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW, BUT SOON MAY
THE BOTTOM LINE: When young directors choose a hero for their first films, the outlaw is in.
THE APPRENTICE PAINTER HONES his rough craft by sketching a bowl of fruit or a reclining nude. The would-be novelist pulls a diary from her dresser and changes the names. But ambitious young filmmakers, with a fondness for old genres and an eye to the box office, take tours of the underworld. When in doubt, go with the gangsters. Not every first-time director can make Citizen Kane;...