After Todd Field earned praises and nominations for his 2022 film Tár, the director admits it's likely that he won’t direct a film again. Prior to directing Tár, the last film Field directed was released over 15 years ago. The film he last directed was Little Children starring Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley and Sadie Goldstein, which was released in 2006.
The filmmaker sat down with Cinema Scope to discuss the challenges of helming a film. Field’s critically acclaimed film Tár has earned six Oscars nominations for major categories including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. While he’s directed films before, he admitted that directing a film is quite challenging.
Helming a film takes a toll on the director and he wished he’d pursued a different path. On his interview with Cinema Scope as reported by THR, he said,
“There’s a real challenge in making a film of any size. It’s not for the faint of heart. I wish I was cut out for different stuff, because I probably wouldn’t make more films. It takes a great deal out of me to make a film; I don’t know that I’ll ever make another one.”
Despite the success of Tár, the director wasn’t keen on subjecting himself again to the challenges of directing. So when asked if Tár would be his last film, he said,
“Yes, I think so. I didn’t think about it until just now. It’s highly likely.”
Although he added that he might decide to direct again in the future, he’s also hopeful he gets to do it again. He said,
“I suppose that’s possible. I hope it’s possible.”
Todd Field is Open to Directing Commercials
The actor turned director Todd Field had his directorial feature debut in 2001 with the film In the Bedroom that starred Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl and Marisa Tomei. Although he’s not sure if he’ll ever direct again, he’s certain that he’ll continue writing. Rather than experiencing creative difficulty, the decision to stop directing all boils down to the taxing physical requirement of filming a movie. He’d rather direct commercials since he can easily make them.
Still, the director is not closing his doors. He said,
“But if something is really yours, and really matters — and it had better matter, for the length of time it takes to make a film — you have to give it everything. And as you get older, you realize how valuable time is; there’s only so much time in that hourglass. I’m not in my 20s or 30s anymore — I’ll be 60 in year and a half. You start thinking about these things.”