When is the Peak of Filmmakers’ Careers? Meet the Auteurs Defying Retirement

“What a drag it is getting old,” Mick Jagger sang on 1966’s “Mother’s Little Helper.”

Age is very much on the mind of directorial legend Quentin Tarantino, nearly 20 years younger than Sir Mick.

The 61-year-old director is prepping what he dubs his 10th and “final” film in his illustrious career. Why final?

The “Pulp Fiction” director insists artists fade with age, and he doesn’t want to leave behind an imperfect film legacy. He explained his thinking in a 2012 interview:

“Directors don’t get better as they get older. Usually the worst films in their filmography are those last four at the end. I am all about my filmography, and one bad film f**** up three good ones.”

And he hasn’t had a change of heart since then.

Sorry, but 2007’s “Death Proof” remains flawed, and 2015‘s “The Hateful Eight” succumbed to his worst instincts.

Still, Tarantino’s body of work has been mostly exceptional, and it’s commendable to exit at the top of one’s game. It explains why Tarantino just scrapped what would have been his final feature, “The Movie Critic,” and hustled back to the proverbial drawing board.

It’s got to be just right, he argues. Except age isn’t always indicative of creative decline.

Clint Eastwood is still going strong at 93, and while 2021’s “Cry Macho” proved anemic, he spent the last decade delivering bravura work like “American Sniper,” “Sully,” “Richard Jewell” and, to a lesser extent, “The Mule.”

Not shabby for an 80-something auteur who came of age as an action hero more than 50 years ago.

Martin Scorsese, 81, just scooped up countless nominations for last year’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” including an Oscar nod for Best Picture. His work remains vital and captivating, hardly the results you’d expect given Tarantino’s age framing.

Critics and audiences alike marveled over 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” directed by the ageless George Miller. The director, now 79, uncorked that sizzling action film on the cusp of his 70th birthday. Some regard the “Mad Max” reboot as one of the best films of the 21st century.

Ridley Scott, 86, isn’t slowing down either, witness his upcoming summer sequel “Gladiator 2.” Results vary with recent Scott fare, but his 2015 film “The Martian” remains a career highlight. He was in his mid-70s during the film’s production.

Other aging auteurs are taking risks that would scary any film school student silly.

Francis Ford Coppola returns from semi-retirement with “Megalopolis,” one of the most intriguing projects from any filmmaker in recent memory. The epic, a dream project for the 85-year-old director, has been described as “bats***” among other dubious phrases from early screenings.

Its commercial prospects are dim and the “Godfather” legend has yet to secure a distributor for the film. It could be the biggest swing of his or any legend’s career.

Meanwhile, Kevin Costner is pushing all his chips in for “Horizon,” a planned four-part western not based on any existing material or IP. The first two installments hit theaters later this year. The 69-year-old has enjoyed an up-and-down career, most notably the latter with “Waterworld.” He still thinks he’s got something vital left to say.

Tarantino’s fears of age, though, aren’t without merit. Coppola hasn’t made a movie of consequence for three decades – 1992’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” is the last film that dented the zeitgeist.

George Lucas, 79, never recaptured the magic of his 1977 space epic “Star Wars,” a dramatic departure from his celebrated 1973 film “American Graffiti.” He directed the saga’s three prequels – all considered inferior to the original trilogy – and never followed through on plans to make smaller, more personal films.

He had enough money to fund them himself. Perhaps he had nothing left to say, cinematically speaking.

The great Brian De Palma’s decline also coincided with Father Time. For De Palma, 83, you have to go all the way back to 1996’s “Mission: Impossible” to recall a project with significant appeal.

His last directorial effort, 2019’s “Domino,” earned less than $1 million while generating brutal reviews.

It still might be better for Tarantino to break his pledge. Few will hold it against him, and chances are following the wonderful “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” his creative tank isn’t empty yet.

He could follow the unofficial Hughes Rule.

Director John Hughes gave us some of the best movies of the ‘80s, including “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” His knack for nailing the teen zeitgeist was unrivaled, but his workload diminished dramatically as he got older.

By the time he died in 2009 at the age of 59, he hadn’t directed a film since 1991’s “Curly Sue,” one of his lesser efforts.

Hughes never announced his retirement, and he certainly could have leveraged his name to keep directing with inferior results. Instead, he either lost his passion or realized he no longer had the spark of his younger self.

He never opined on his quasi-retirement. He just … stopped. Here’s betting Tarantino will know when his muse has left the building.

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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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