The American director Brian De Palma will receive an honorary prize during the 72nd edition of the Venice Film Festival (September 2 to 12) and celebrate his 75th birthday. For the occasion, we've decided to revisit the director's film career and bring you his top 5 productions.

Phantom of the Paradise

One year before "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", the producer set to work on a dramatic and kitsch baroque musical inspired by Gaston Leroux's "Phantom of the Opera". This was in 1974 and marked Brian De Palma's first big-screen success following a number of independent movies.

Carrie

Two years later, the director hit box-office success with the big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's fantasy and horror themed novel. Loved by critics, the film gave actress Sissy Spacek a role that would lead to her first Oscar nomination. "Carrie" is also one of John Travolta's first film appearances. Following the movie, Brian De Palma's status as one of Hollywood's most promising young directors had been cemented.

Scarface

De Palma joined the top ranks of Hollywood directors with this gangster story adapted from a previous work; the eponymous film of Howard Hawks released 50 years previously. De Palma had wished to work with Robert De Niro but in the end, it was Al Pacino that would take on the role of Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant who becomes one of the largest drug traffickers in the United States. Before resurfacing as a "cult" movie, "Scarface" was criticized by the public for its violence and use of coarse language (the word "F***" was used 207 times in the movie).

The Untouchables

After several largely unremarkable films like "Body Double" and "Mafia Salad", the director once again found himself in the spotlight. In 1987, he managed to get Robert De Niro on board with him again to play the role of Al Capone in "The Untouchables", a film about a manhunt of Capone by police agent Eliot Ness in Chicago in the 1930s. The movie was a huge success. Sean Connery won an Oscar for his role and the movie introduced two new talents to Hollywood: Andy Garcia and Kevin Costner.

Mission: Impossible

After a number of commercially unsuccessful projects ("Carlito's Way", "Casualties of War" and "The Bonfire of the Vanities"), Brian De Palma once again reached box-office heights in 1996 by directing the large-screen adaptation of the series "Mission: Impossible," replacing Sydney Pollack. Tom Cruise, Jean Reno, Emmanuelle Béart and Ving Rhames starred in the film that grossed 500 million dollars and set the scene for the "Mission: Impossible" franchise.