Every film from non-fiction filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, 95, is a gift. It’s already damn-near miraculous that he managed to direct his last one; “Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros,” which clocked in at 4 hours, and was released in 2023.
In a new interview with IndieWire, in honor of his upcoming retrospective at the Lincoln Center, Wiseman seems to indicate an end of some sort. Due to recent health issues, it’s become almost impossible for him to make another film:
For the last year I’ve been sick on and off, and at the moment I don’t have the energy. Doing one of these films requires an enormous amount of energy both during the shooting and during the editing, and I just don’t have it. I also have to reconcile myself to the fact that I’m 95. I’ve always had tons of energy, but the last couple of years since I finished “Menus-Plaisirs,” which was a couple years ago, my energy level has been down and I have a couple of illnesses that drag it down.
Wiseman is now in his seventh decade of filmmaking. If this is indeed the end for him, then the amount of masterworks is endless and will live on. Some of his most notable films include “Titicut Follies,” “High School,” “Law & Order,” “Hospital,” and “In Jackson Heights.” Seek them out, if you haven’t already.