Best Decades By Unprolific Directors

[Dillard]

This is going to be a rather silly exercise, but potentially a fun one.

List decades of directors who made 2 or less feature films in that decade and were in some way important or influential nonetheless in those decades.

There will possibly be some debate as to what counts as a film and what doesn't, so use your discretion (as to short films made or co-directing credits, etc.). We'll obviously have to lean on the side of flexibility so that we have enough examples from which to draw.

1. Andrei Tarkovsky in the '80s - Nostalghia (1983) and The Sacrifice (1986)
2. David Lynch in the '00s - Mulholland Drive (2001) and Inland Empire (2006)
3. Jacques Tati in the '50s - M Hulot's Holiday (1953) and Mon Oncle (1958)
4. Coen Bros in the '80s - Blood Simple (1984) and Raising Arizona (1987)
5. Victor Erice in the '70s - Spirit of the Beehive (1973)

[Dukefrukem]

1. James Cameron in the '00s. - Avatar (2009)

[Dillard]

HA. Yeah I realize this is a pretty narrow listing exercise. Perhaps I should broaden it to three films a decade.

[ledfloyd]

Malick in the 70s?

[Dillard]

Yep that's a good one.

[soitgoes...]

Kurosawa in the 70's or 80's
Visconti in the 40's
Gance in the 20s (discounting a couple shorts)

[Adam]

Paul Thomas Anderson in the '00s
George Armitage in the '90s
Jean-Pierre Melville in the '70s

[Boner M]

Excl. shorts:

Bresson in the 80's: Just L'Argent (then nothing until his death in '99)
Tarr in the 90's: Just Satantango
Dreyer in the 40's, 50's and 60's: Day of Wrath, Ordet and Gertrud for each decade
Leos Carax in the 80's: Boys Meets Girl and Mauvais sang (Probably the 90's too, w/ Lovers on the Bridge and Pola X, but I haven't seen the latter yet)
Pialat in the 90's: Van Gogh and La Garcu
A few this decade: Terence Davies with The House of Mirth and Of Time and the City, Andrew Dominik with Chopper and The Assassination of Jesse James...

[Boner M]

Paul Thomas Anderson in the '00s
George Armitage in the '90s
Jean-Pierre Melville in the '70s
Good calls, although I wouldn't count Melville cos he died in '73.

[Boner M]

Fassbinder in the 70's

[Adam]

Kubrick in the 70s/80s/90s is a biggie, I guess

[Raiders]

Andrew Stanton - 2000s (Finding Nemo and WALL-E)
Brad Bird - 2000s (Ratatouille and The Incredibles)
Hayao Miyazaki - 1990s (Princess Mononoke and Porco Rosso; excl. music video On Your Mark)
Alejandro Jodorowsky - 1970s (El Topo and The Holy Mountain)

[StanleyK]

Orson Welles in the 40's
David Lynch in the 00's
Sergio Leone in the 60's/80's

[ledfloyd]

Orson Welles in the 40's
he did 5 films. not exactly unprolific.

[Fezzik]

Andrew Stanton - 2000s (Finding Nemo and WALL-E)
Brad Bird - 2000s (Ratatouille and The Incredibles)



Beat me to it!

Here's some iffy ones. I'm kinda grasping at straws here, since all the ones I could think of off the top of my head were taken:

George Lucas, 1970s: THX-1138 (1971), American Graffiti (1973), Star Wars (1977).

Richard Attenborough (1980s): Gandhi (1982), A Chorus Line (1985), Cry Freedom (1987)

Milos Forman (1980s): Ragtime (1981), Amadeus (1984), Valmont (1989)

[ledfloyd]

kelly reichardt in the 00s: old joy, wendy and lucy

[Boner M]

kelly reichardt in the 00s: old joy, wendy and lucy
I've heard great things about her two 90's films as well; River of Grass and the featurette Ode.

[Dillard]

Here's some others I found:

Mike Nichols in the '60s
Charlie Chaplin in the '40s
Charles Laughton in the '50s
Laurence Olivier in the '40s
Jacques Tati in the '40s and '60s
Victor Erice in the '80s and '90s

[Melville]

Dreyer in the 40's, 50's and 60's: Day of Wrath, Ordet and Gertrud for each decade
According to IMDb, he made a feature-length movie in 1945 called Two People. I was going to ask if you've seen it, but now I notice that the only existent copy of it resides in the Swedish Film Institute archives, so I'm guessing the answer is 'no'.

[Dillard]

So, I've refined the original intent of this thread as such: List decades of directors who made 2 or less feature films in that decade and were in some way important or influential nonetheless in those decades. That's what we seem to be doing anyway.

[soitgoes...]

According to IMDb, he made a feature-length movie in 1945 called Two People. I was going to ask if you've seen it, but now I notice that the only existent copy of it resides in the Swedish Film Institute archives, so I'm guessing the answer is 'no'.It is on KG (with english subs no less), so it is out there to be seen.

[origami_mustache]

Harmony Korine 90s
Theo Angelopoulos 90s

[Melville]

It is on KG (with english subs no less), so it is out there to be seen.
http://bestuff.com/images/images_of_stuff/210x600/jasper-beardly-127810.jpg
What a time to be alive.

[baby doll]

How are we defining unprolific? So far we've had people mention the Coens who make a film almost every year. Sure, they only made two films in the 80s, but they were spaced out three years apart, followed by Miller's Crossing three years later. In total, they made five movies in the 90s, and seven in the previous decade, so they're hardly in the same league as Stanley Kubrick.

On the other hand, then there are filmmakers who disappear for decades at a time, either by choice (Malick, to all appearances) or because their careers tanked for one reason or another (Carax, Cimino, Davies). Really, what does it mean to say that Dreyer had a good decade in the 40s when he made two films (one of which he disowned)? That doesn't sound so hot to me, even if one of the films happens to be a masterpiece.

[Raiders]

I think we mean the director was "unprolific" in that specific decade. In other words, what are the best decades for a director who only made a couple films.