That’s because he became just the third director to win consecutive Academy Awards, something that had previously only been achieved by John Ford for 1940’s The Grapes Of Wrath and 1941’s How Green Was My Valley and Joseph L. Mankiewicz for 1949’s A Letter To Three Wives and 1950’s All About Eve.
While each of Inarritu’s films have been greeted with widespread critical acclaim, it was the back-to-back triumphs of Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance) and The Revenant, which also grossed $103.2 million and $533 million, respectively, that have secured his place in cinematic history.