After “The Favourite,” released in 2018, Yorgos Lanthimos essentially stepped away from filmmaking for five years. During that time, he relocated from Greece to Los Angeles and focused on extensive development work for three projects.
The payoff was frenetic: after returning from his hiatus, Lanthimos released three films in as many years—“Poor Things,” “Kinds of Kindness,” and “Bugonia.” It’s a prolific run, and judging by his recent comments, he may be ready to step away from directing again, perhaps for a much longer period.
In an interview with Financial Times, Lanthimos promoted his photography exhibition, describing taking pictures as “freeing” compared to the stresses of moviemaking. “You can just walk around with a camera, it is a solitary thing, and kind of meditative in a way. You don’t have to have a concept, you don’t have to have an end goal. You don’t have to find financing.”
That said, what we really want to know is whether he will make more films, and his answer might surprise you.
At this point I am saying, “Will I make more films? I don’t know, we will see.” I need to find again the joy in making films. I want to let it come naturally, instead of pushing myself.
His last film, “Bugonia,” concludes with the end of humanity, and Lanthimos sees it as a metaphor for his own filmmaking career, claiming he will “need a rebirth” before making movies again.
Last year, in an interview with Collider, Lanthimos confessed that he could no longer work at the pace he has maintained over the past few years, admitting that he has officially run out of gas and needs to take a step back.
Well, I can’t keep doing that anymore. That’s what I’m certain of right now. It’s a big mistake. I think I need a break. I’ve said that before in between the other three, but I’m serious now. You can hold me to it. I’m going to take a little break […] you find the will and the strength, but at some point, it runs out. We’re at that point.
I’ve been an admirer of Lanthimos ever since I saw “Dogtooth” in 2009. He’s made a handful of strong films since then, with three of his last four films—“The Favourite,” “Poor Things,” and “Bugonia”—receiving Best Picture nominations.
As far as we know, Lanthimos is stepping away from filmmaking with two projects still in development, which he can, of course, return to if he ever feels like making movies again: an adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh’s provocative novel “My Year of Rest and Relaxation,” and Jean-Patrick Manchette’s short novel “Fatale,” about a female assassin.
Lanthimos’ last four films starred Emma Stone and were shot by cinematographer Robbie Ryan. Together, they have developed a deeply ingrained and distinctive visual style characterized by the consistent use of fisheye lenses and a fluid, roving camera.
What has remained persistent throughout Lanthimos’ work over the past two decades is the way he has taken the iconoclasm of Buñuel’s cinema and infused it with a Kubrickian detachment—a total lack of empathy toward character that the Greek auteur consistently strives for. In the process, he has created a voice entirely his own.
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