New Kids on the Block : 1989 has been a banner year for first-time directors

Debut films can be exciting. In the best of them, there is the feeling of a new sensibility on the move, of minds with fresh agendas to address. What’s astonishing this year has been the record number of (mostly) well-regarded directing or writing-directing debuts we’ve seen, and can still see in most areas; a clutch of them in the last two months alone. It means that among the more aggressively marketed Christmas block-busters, if you shop around, you can still discover the modest and the memorable.

To recap the highest profiles of the group:

Steven Soderbergh: “sex, lies and videotape.” Arriving with the excitement generated by his upset win at Cannes in May still intact, this vision of contemporary American sexuality, in and out of marriage, has held its fascination for audiences here since its opening in August. The 27-year-old writer-director’s strong suit seems to be his almost mesmerizing concentration, his empathy for actors and his flair for the telling nuance. His next film sounds like a departure, a post-apocalypse story, “The Last Ship,” with Sydney Pollack producing, after which we’ll have a better idea where more of Soderbergh’s strengths lie.

Steve Kloves: “The Fabulous Baker Boys.” Someone to watch ever since his screenplay of “Racing With the Moon” five years ago, the 29-year-old Kloves is both writer and director here. His style is gentle and witty, his humor comes from well-sketched characters and he seems as inspired in the look and sound of his film as he is with actors. Mark this as one of the more lavishly promising talents.

Nancy Savoca: “True Love.” She may have had the disadvantage of making her debut at the same time and place as Soderbergh, the U.S. Festival in Park City, Utah, at least in the eyes of distributors-- two independents making films about American sexual mores? However Savoca has a strong, true voice all her own and a nice deadly aim. As she reveals the pitfalls and expectations of a pair of young Bronx Italian-Americans on the eve of their wedding, this 30-year-old is brash, perceptive and witty.

Gus Van Sant: “Mala Noche.” Actually, this is backwards; the 37-year-old Van Sant has already made a stir with his gutsy second film, “Drugstore Cowboy.” To watch the black-and-white, low-budget “Mala Noche” now gives some idea of his style and strengths: It’s a raw, elliptic story of the obsession of a young liquor store clerk for an illegal Mexican immigrant. Van Sant, more than any newcomer except Jane Campion, whose “Sweetie” will show early next year, seems to have a post-modernist’s eye for framing. Both “Cowboy” and “Noche” take place in the Northwest, Van Sant’s home turf and, thus far, his favorite setting.

Charles Lane: “Sidewalk Stories.” Heart, stamina and raw determination are the mark of the soft-spoken Lane, who produced, wrote, directed and starred in this silent film, shot in black-and-white with an eloquent musical score to “speak” for it. The film’s style makes comparisons to Charlie Chaplin inevitable, but Lane, at 31, is a much more passionately political animal and the plight of the homeless is his arena. Underneath what might be easy sentiment is an activist’s toughness and a good eye for the city’s cruelties.

Kenneth Branagh: “Henry V.” This Irish-born actor-producer chooses a quite different tone for his Henry than Olivier’s fiery, inspiring leader, and at 28, makes his directing debut a decade younger. Oddly enough, the stage, not film, may be his strongest medium; his directing style is serviceable, blunt and a bit derivative rather than soaring or musical, but ‘twill serve. This is a case where the second film will tell volumes.

Jim Sheridan: “My Left Foot.” Another of the films from abroad that have made this such a strong season. A subject like this one--writer Christy Brown, so afflicted by cerebral palsy that only his left foot was left to him to express himself--could easily have become treacly. But the 40-year-old Irish-born writer-director, who has an insider’s view of Irish poverty and tenacity, tossed sentiment aside in favor of a rough, honest portrait and a pair of powerful performances: Daniel Day-Lewis’ agonized expressiveness as Christy and Brenda Fricker’s as his mother.

Terence Davies: “Distant Voices, Still Lives.” At 44, the English-born Davies is a late bloomer, and his elegant memory piece, set in working-class London during and just after the Second World War, is not for all tastes. Simply put, however, it is a gem. Look for it to show up on more than one year-end list of notable films and hope that it replays at award memory-jogging time.

Oliver Schmitz: “Mapantsula.” With his fiery actor and co-writer Thomas Mogotlane, South African Schmitz scratched his original script and made his political melodrama guerrilla-fashion, letting us see life in the townships as outsiders rarely do. As a commentator on social injustice, Schmitz, 28, is the raw stuff, somewhat in the mold of the early, pre-Hollywood Costa-Gavras.

Jon Amiel: “Queen of Hearts.” Hard to call Amiel a newcomer after this 41-year-old’s direction of TV’s “The Singing Detective” but “Hearts” is his first film, full of magic, whimsy and flights of fancy. Comedy-fantasy is out of fashion now, but Amiel has a touch that makes it sparkle. A gentle entry, this.

Martin Donovan: “Apartment Zero.” The superabundant style of this 39-year-old first-timer is wildly controversial. Some call it Hitchcockian, others call it spinach. If ever a director needed a hole-proof, fool-proof script, it is Donovan. Interesting to see what will follow “Zero.”

Eddie Murphy: “Harlem Nights.” To wear this many hats--writer-director-star-executive producer--leaves Murphy with no visible excuse for this scabrous clinker. It has no punch, no distinction and worst of all, no class. Box-office receipts are not everything; the 29-year-old Murphy, whose voice was so distinctively his own early on needs to find it again--perhaps by leaving some of the driving to others.

Howard Brookner: “Bloodhounds of Broadway.” The film was reportedly heavily rearranged by its releasing studio, so it may be hard to know what its original trajectory would have been, nor Brookner’s own before his death at the age of 35 this year. His hallmarks seemed to have been high, almost musical-comedy style and a real feeling for period.

So, there you have a list which can only hearten followers of independently produced films. Never forget the words of Variety reporter/reviewer Gene Moskowitz, who said--frequently--that it wasn’t a new director’s first time out that told the story but the second (see “Drugstore Cowboy”). So keep a lookout for what these very different talents do next.