It can be easy to single out certain directors who once made great movies, and then go over some of their more recent efforts and say, “Hey, that stuff isn’t as good as your old stuff,” or, “Shut up and play the hits,” if you’re feeling particularly rude. There are films likeMegalopolis, directed byFrancis Ford Coppola, for example, where some people seem to dig an older director not giving a ****, though others might find it all baffling andperhaps even just plain old bad.
Some might say it’s better off, though, looking at older directors who’ve managed to make something of a particularly high quality late in their careers and, in this instance, some may be right. What follows is a selection of films made by directors who all made acclaimed films when they were younger, andthen, at least a couple of decades on from becoming famous, proved they were able to still deliver the goods(or even exceed their earlier work) with some great late-career efforts.
10’Ran' (1985)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
If you asked someone what the bestAkira Kurosawafilm was,they’d probably saySeven Samurai, which Kurosawa directed exactly halfway through his life (he was 44 years old the year it came out, and he died 44 years after its release). But if you were to ask someone what the second-best Akira Kurosawa film was, there would be a pretty decent chance they’d sayRan, which Kurosawa made well into his 70s.
It’s his grandest and mostvisually impactful film,not to mention one of his most powerful, telling a tragic story about a warlord trying – and failing – to divide his kingdom up among his sons.Ranis a film with staggering colors, a handful of monumental set pieces, and a brutally real story that works surprisingly well withsome of the more theatrical performances.
9’The Irishman' (2019)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Even if he’s made his fair share of gangster movies,Martin Scorsesecontinually finds new things to do while telling stories about people wrapped up in organized crime.Mean Streets,Goodfellas, andThe Departedare all pretty different, as isThe Irishman, which is – to date – his most recent gangster movie, and quite likely his final one, too.
Scorsese looks back on the genre overall with a story of a hitman also looking back on his life,The Irishmanexploring what – if anything – drove him to do what he did, and how much guilt he truly feels for his misdeeds. It’s a harrowing exploration of getting older; one that might only be able to get made so effectively by an older filmmaker. But it’s not all doom and gloom, either,asThe Irishmancan get pretty funny, and itmoves along at a much faster/snappier pacethan many give it credit for.
The Irishman
8’Eyes Wide Shut' (1999)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
AsStanley Kubrickgot later into his career, the waits between his films only lengthened. He went from making several in the 1950s, a bunch in the early 1960s, then just one in the late 1960s, two in the 1970s, and two in the 1980s. The very end of the 1990s saw him releaseEyes Wide Shut, whichended up being his final completed film; one that was finished, but not released, before Kubrick himself passed away.
He went out swinging, though, becauseEyes Wide Shutissubversive, bold, and confoundingin all the ways that many of the best Kubrick films made previously were. It’s a movie with some bold casting decisions, sure, but it stands out most for how dreamy, unsettling, and brutally honest it can be, looking at a loveless sort of love in a thoroughly interesting way. It’s aged in anodd but undeniably strong way since 1999, and will likely continue to do so as more years march on.
Eyes Wide Shut
7’Letters from Iwo Jima' (2006)
Directed by Clint Eastwood
There are a handful of movies you could single out as being strong ones thatClint Eastwooddirected late in his career, owing to just how late the man’s career has gone. Even something as recent asJuror #2(2024) was pretty solid overall, but his last outright masterpiece might’ve been released back in 2006, when Eastwood was still at the impressively old age of 76:Letters from Iwo Jima.
A film that’s bestappreciated alongsideFlags of Our Fathers,Letters from Iwo Jimashowcases the battle of Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective, contrasting against the U.S. experience as seen inFlags of Our Fathers.Letters from Iwo Jimais still inevitably the more powerful of the two,expertly highlighting this idea of victims on both sides of a conflict; humanizing all, regardless of their side in a conflict, and thereby making the fighting itself feel all the more tragic and pointless.
Letters from Iwo Jima
6’The Fabelmans' (2022)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Like with Martin Scorsese andThe Irishman,Steven Spielbergwaited until his 70s before making something that was strongly about looking back at one’s past, though the approach and overall stories found in both differ greatly. Spielberg’s look back in time,The Fabelmans, was more autobiographical and bittersweet, telling the story of a family not unlike his own, centering it on a boy named Sammy Fabelman, who’s something of a stand-in for Spielberg.
Sammy has family troubles and concerns about his parents, but also finds himself discovering a passion for filmmaking, withThe Fabelmansbalancing these two sides of his life, finding happiness, sadness, and self-discovery across the board.Time will tell whether it can count itself as a classicalong the lines of other Spielberg masterpieces, but it already feels like a pretty powerful film, and the sort that older directors are uniquely positioned to make.
The Fabelmans
Directed by George Miller
TheMad Maxmovies made before 2015 were already pretty gonzo, and felt like the works of a younger filmmaker.George Millerwasn’t super young when he made them, but the original trilogy did come out when he was in his mid-30s and then the third came out the year he turned 40. Then, there was a break of 30 years. 2015 came around. George Miller was now 70. Andhe’d made a movie that blew his earlierMad Maxfilms out of the water, craziness-wise.
Mad Max: Fury Roadis justsuch an all-out rush of a filmthat it boggles the mind to think someone who was almost 70 was out there directing it, and didn’t finish the thing until he was literally 70. And then he went out and did it again almost 10 years later, with the similarly grand and kineticFuriosacoming out the year Miller turned 79. Must be something in the water, down under…
Mad Max: Fury Road
4’Once Upon a Time in America' (1984)
Directed by Sergio Leone
Between 1964 and 1971,Sergio Leoneworked quite steadily, putting out five high-quality Westerns (thatColossus of Whatevermovie he made before? It’s forgettable, don’t worry about it).As for his five Westerns, they increased in scope, thematic weight, and – arguably – in quality. Then, after 1971, there was radio silence, all the while Leone prepared what would sadly be his final film:Once Upon a Time in America.
Gone was the Western genre entirely, as this was a brutal crime film that,thanks to its decades-spanning narrative and structure, alsoworked as a gritty coming-of-age movie and anIrishman-style eulogy for a man who lived a rotten life before getting old.Once Upon a Time in Americais immense, and though Leone wasn’t as old when he made it as some of the other previously mentioned directors, it did come out a long time after his other films, and ultimately became a late-career one by default, owing to the director passing away just five years later, having never been able to make a follow-up.
Once Upon a Time in America
3’Fanny and Alexander' (1982)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Fanny and Alexandercame out close to 40 years afterIngmar Bergmanfirst started directing feature films, and though it was far from the last thing he made, it does rank as something that came out during a later stage in his career, and it can also be called one of his very best films. Actually, if you just want to call itone of the greatest movies of all time, that’s really not too much of a hot take or anything.
It’s afamily drama that looks at grief, but always maintains a sense of humanity and hope, preventing things from being too downbeat.Fanny and Alexanderis long and sometimes quite sad, but never is it unapproachable or boring. Sure, there are Bergman films that feel more distinctly “Bergman-esque,” but this would honestly be a good one tostart with for newcomers (length aside).
Fanny and Alexander
2’The Last Duel' (2021)
Directed by Ridley Scott
Now,Ridley Scottis a directorwho’s sometimes viewed as someone who’s “fallen off” to some extent, and yes, a few of his movies from the past 10 to 20 years have been disappointments. Yet within those last 10 to 20 years, Scott did directThe Last Duel, which is up there with his best, and it is also a truly great historical drama with a story – and thematic weight – that still feels relevant.
Structurally,The Last Duelhas a terrible crime play out from three different perspectives, with each contradicting the other until one is revealed as the truth… but what the other people in the story choose to believe is another matter altogether.It all builds to an immensely violent and nailbiting finale, the acting and writing top-notch, all the while Scott reminds viewers why he’s one of the best in the business when it comes to helming action of a medieval variety.
The Last Duel
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Remarkably,Sidney Lumetbegan his feature film directorial career with one of the greatest movies of all time:the courtroom drama12 Angry Men. The way he was able to keep making movies similarly well throughout his career (seeDog Day Afternoon) was impressive, but what was most astounding was how his very last film,Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, ended up being absolutely one of his greatest.
This is a tough, tense, and extremelywell-acted crime thriller (starringPhilip Seymour HoffmanandEthan Hawke), and an exploration of a seemingly simple robbery job that goes wrong with terrible consequences.Before the Devil Knows You’re Deadis a downer of a film, but it’s a truly impressive downer of a movie, and by directing it, Lumet went out on more of a creative high than just about any other aging filmmaker in recent memory.
