Welcome to golden age of older filmmakers
Oscars prove that generation from 1970s era extending careers
When Hayao Miyazaki was contemplating whether he would come out of retirement in 2016, he put together a curiously self-critical proposal.
“There’s nothing more pathetic than telling the world you’ll retire because of your age, then making yet another comeback,” wrote the filmmaker, now 83. “Doesn’t an elderly person deluding themself that they’re still capable, despite their geriatric forgetfulness, prove that they’re past their best?”
“You bet it does.”
An artist’s prime is much harder to pin down than that of, say, gymnasts or baseball players. A fastball is much easier to gauge than a film. Stanley Kubrick was 70 when he completed “Eyes Wide Shut.” Akira Kurosawa made “Ran” when he was 75. Agnes Varda was 89 when “Faces Places” hit theaters.
But it’s a cruel fact of creative life that the lion’s share of the greatest works by most filmmakers tend to be made earlier in life. Filmmaking, a rough-and-tumble business that requires an army of collaborators and millions in financing, can be a grueling endeavor. Francis Ford Coppola once said it should be done “with all your cards and all your dice and whatever else you’ve got.” It’s not historically been the providence of octogenarians.
We may be living in the golden age of the aged filmmaker, though.
Miyazaki, who fought through his concerns to make “The Boy and the Heron,” is the oldest director ever nominated for best animated film. When it won the Oscar recently, he became the oldest winner by more than two decades. “Napoleon,” nominated for visual effects and production design, is the latest from 86-yearold workaholic Ridley Scott. Michael Mann, 81, also recently released “Ferrari” (much celebrated but unnominated). Wim Wenders, 78, put out one of his very best films in “Perfect Days” (nominated for best international film). Meanwhile, Coppola, 84, completed shooting on his selffinanced “Megalopolis.”
And, of course, Martin Scorsese, 81, had the Osage epic “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which was up for 10 Oscars but took home none. Scorsese is the oldest filmmaker ever nominated for best director.
Is “Killers of the Flower Moon” as good as “Taxi Driver” or “Goodfellas”? That’s a hard question to answer and maybe not the right one to ask. Is it essential? Unquestionably.
Marrying the crime film with the Western, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is engaged in remaking American tropes and cliches. The daring darkness and the nimbleness of the editing (by Thelma Schoonmaker, 84, nominated for her ninth Oscar) suggest filmmakers half their age.