Filmmaking is more than just an art form: It’s a risky and complicated business that’s rarely all smooth sailing. Though directors typically make movies every few years, or even every year (with some particularly talented ones releasingmore than one film in a single year), there are times when they have to take a bit of a break for one reason or another.
Whether it’s a relatively not-so-long break working on a movie, like the oneJonathan Glazertook to make his Oscar-winning masterpieceThe Zone of Interest; or a much longer break engaging in all sorts of other activities, like the oneAlejandro Jodorowskytook in the ’90s and 2000s; filmmakers often come up with an incredible film after they’ve been gone for a while.
10Jonathan Glazer
10 Years Between ‘Under the Skin’ (2013) and ‘The Zone of Interest’ (2023)
English filmmaker Jonathan Glazer has only made four feature films over the span of the last 24 years, and each of them has something special to offer. Shortly after releasing his third feature, the A24 sci-fi slow-burnerUnder the Skin, Glazer tooknine years of intensive researchand dedicated pre-production to prepare his WWII dramaThe Zone of Interest, one of thebest foreign language Best Picture Oscar nominees.
Based onMartin Amis’s novel of the same title, which Glazer learned about before it was published in 2014,the film is a groundbreaking re-contextualization of the entire war film genre, drawing much of its power from parallels to how the banality of evil is experienced in the modern world. If it takes ten years to make a film that’s as impressive asThe Zone of Interest, it’s undeniably time well spent.
The Zone of Interest
The Zone of Interestcan be streamed on Max in the U.S.
Watch on Max
9Jane Campion
12 Years Between ‘Bright Star’ (2009) and ‘The Power of the Dog’ (2021)
Very often praised as one of the greatest female filmmakers of all time,Jane Campionhas made nine feature films over the course of 38 years. While not all of them have been hits, some are among the most memorable in their genre.Bright Star, for instance, is one of the most interesting romantic dramas of recent years, after which Campion took a whopping twelve years off from filmmaking.
Campion hadgrown disillusioned with film, and instead spent time working on her TV seriesTop of the Lake, which she co-created withGerard Lee. However, as soon as she readThomas Savage’sThe Power of the Dog, she felt the movies calling her back. This is how she ended up making one ofthe best arthouse Westernsmany years later,proving that cinema still has plenty of room for her artistic voice.
The Power of the Dog
The Power of the Dogcan be streamed on Netflix in the U.S.
Watch on Netflix
8Stanley Kubrick
12 Years Between ‘Full Metal Jacket’ (1987) and ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ (1999)
Stanley Kubrickis the kind of auteur who needs no introduction. Praised by many as the single best director ever, he made thirteen features over the course of his 47-year career, most of them amongthe greatest movies of all time. After making inFull Metal Jacketone of the most harrowing war movies of the ’80s, it took him a dozen years to release his thirteenth and final film, the erotic thrillerEyes Wide Shut.
Mysterious and atmospheric,Eyes Wide Shutis a really potent epilogue to the career of such a monumental filmmaker. However, it definitely took a while to get there. The reason was because Kubrick spent this 12-year periodworking on two other films: First, the Holocaust dramaAryan Papers, which never came to fruition; later,A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, for which he eventually had to hand the reins over toSteven Spielberg.
Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shutcan be streamed on AppleTV in the U.S.
Rent on Apple TV
7James Cameron
13 Years Between ‘Avatar’ (2009) and ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ (2022)
There are many things thatJames Cameroncan be called, and “busy” is definitely one of the most accurate. He has made nine features (not counting documentaries) in 42 years, and he’s always actively working on his next project. Case in point: After he released his longtime passion projectAvatarin 2009, he spent the following thirteen years producing other films and intensively preparing the first sequel in the franchise:Avatar: The Way of Water.
For those who enjoyvisually impressive sci-fi films,The Way of Wateris a perfect fit.It’s hardly surprising that it turned out so well, since Cameron and his team spent over a decade working on the project, doing thorough research, writing and re-writing, and making sure that the technology was just right for the movie to look the way the director envisioned.
Avatar: The Way of Water
Avatar: The Way of Watercan be streamed on Disney+ in the U.S.
Watch on Disney+
6David Lean
14 Years Between ‘Ryan’s Daughter’ (1970) and ‘A Passage to India’ (1984)
There have been many directors over the course of cinema’s history who havemastered the art of making epic films, but none have ever seemed to develop an understanding of the genre quite as acute asDavid Lean’s. He directed sixteen features over the span of 42 years, his final two being the romantic dramaRyan’s Daughterand the period pieceA Passage to India.
AfterRyan’s Daughterwas obliterated by many critics at the time of its release,Lean was discouragedfrom making movies for well over a decade, working on other projects in other ways.Once the opportunity to directA Passage to Indiafell on his lap, however, he couldn’t pass it up, and the result was the perfect way to close off his illustrious career.
A Passage to India
A Passage to Indiacan be streamed on Prime Video in the U.S.
Rent on Prime
5Adrian Lyne
20 Years Between ‘Unfaithful’ (2002) and ‘Deep Water’ (2022)
Once upon a time,Adrian Lynewas one of the leading directors in modern erotic thrillers.Fatal AttractiontoIndecent Proposal, he became well-known for his work in the genre, and has made nine features over the last 44 years. AfterUnfaithful, however, Lyne tooka notoriously long twenty-year breakbefore directing his most recent outing: TheBen AffleckandAna De Armas-starringDeep Water.
Though it’s hardly one ofthe best erotic thrillersof recent years, having been received poorly by critics and audiences alike,Deep Waterat the very least offered the freshness of seeing who used to be one of Hollywood’s biggest directors back at the helm of a project. During the twenty-year gap between films, Lyne kept trying and failing to get other projects off the ground. It’s a shame that the one that finally got to see the light of day was underwhelming to most.
Deep Water
Deep Watercan be streamed on Hulu in the U.S.
Watch on Hulu
4Terrence Malick
20 Years Between ‘Days of Heaven’ (1978) and ‘The Thin Red Line’ (1998)
Known for his unapologetically poetic directing style,Terrence Malickis one of the most beloved and acclaimed filmmakers working today. He has released nine feature films over the last 51 years, a career that’s nothing if not deeply impressive. Though he certainly does tend to take his sweet time between one project and the next, it was the gap between his second and third movies that was the most astonishing: A whopping twenty years between the romantic period dramaDays of Heavenand the WWII epicThe Thin Red Line.
AfterDays of Heaven,Malick disappeared from public viewfor years, reportedly turning to his original profession of screenwriting.It wasn’t until near the turn of the century that he returned to the director’s chair with the incredibleThe Thin Red Line, one ofthe best WWII movies ever made, and he hasn’t been gone for more than just a few years ever since.
The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Linecan be streamed on Starz in the U.S.
Watch on Starz
3Alejandro Jodorowsky
23 Years Between ‘The Rainbow Thief’ (1990) and ‘The Dance of Reality’ (2013)
There are plenty of directors who embody the cinematic movements and subgenres that they helped define and re-define, and Alejandro Jodorowskyis one of those directors. One of the main poster children of film surrealism, he has spent his 56-year career making nine bizarre feature films that alwaysleave audiences scratching their heads, but the time he took betweenThe Rainbow Thiefand his semi-autobiographical musical fantasyThe Dance of Realitywas an anomaly.
The thing about Jodorowsky is that he’s an artist of many different skills and interests. These other interests,like tarot cards and comic books, were the ones that he returned to during his 23-year hiatus. Though he did try to get multiple movies made during this time, none of them managed to take off.
The Dance of Reality
The Dance of Realitycan be streamed on Prime Video in the U.S.
2Roy Andersson
25 Years Between ‘Giliap’ (1975) and ‘Songs from the Second Floor’ (2000)
Swedish filmmakerRoy Anderssonis known for the absurdist humor and deeply humanisticand existential themesthat populate his movies. He has made only six features over the span of 54 years — perhaps mainly due to the fact that between his second movie, the crime dramaGiliap, and his third, the black dramedySongs from the Second Floor, he took a quarter of a century off.
AfterGiliapwas a resounding financial and critical flop,Andersson took 25 yearsto focus on working on commercials and Studio 24, a Swedish indie film studio he helped establish in the ’80s.It wasn’t until 1996 that he would begin work onSongs from the Second Floor, which he released four years later to great success. Thankfully, Andersson hasn’t left the scene again.
Songs from the Second Floor
Songs from the Second Floorcan be streamed on Criterion in the U.S.
Watch on Criterion
1Víctor Erice
31 Years Between ‘Dream of Light’ (1992) and ‘Close Your Eyes’ (2023)
Normally, it would be quite shocking to say that a filmmaker has only made four feature films over the course of a staggering 51 years — but not in the case ofVíctor Erice. The Spanish filmmaker, who made in his debut,The Spirit of the Beehive, what is remembered as one of the best and most important movies to ever come out of Spain, took no less than 31 years between his third film,Dream of Light, and his latest,Close Your Eyes.
Close Your Eyesis an exceptional dramatic epic that premiered at Cannes in 2023. The time that passed between its release and that of its predecessor was spent by Erice working on plenty of short films and collaborative projects, on the development of 2002’sThe Shanghai Spell(which he was originally set to direct), and on being part of the jury of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.He certainly kept busy, andClose Your Eyesis an incredible enough film to forgive Erice’s long absence.
Close Your Eyes
Close Your Eyesis not available for streaming or purchase.
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