Ken Loach, 86, believes his new film will be his last due to old age and declining eyesight
‘Your facilities are declining’: Ken Loach, 86, believes his new film will be his last due to age and declining eyesight
Ken Loach has revealed that he believes his new movie The Old Oak will likely be his last as he doesn’t want to be an “old nag on the Grand National.”
The director, 86, has had a hugely successful career, known for films like Kes and The Wind That Shakes the Barley.
But the filmmaker isn’t sure he’ll ever work on another project again, citing his advanced age and declining eyesight.
He told The Hollywood Reporter“I’m just not sure if I can get back on track. It’s like an old nag in the Grand National. You think, “God, I’m falling at the first gate!”
He added: ‘Movies take a few years and I’m almost 90. And your facilities are declining. Your short-term memory is dying and my eyesight is pretty shit right now, so it’s kind of hard.”
Career: Ken Loach has revealed he believes his new film The Old Oak will likely be his last as he doesn’t want to be ‘an old nag at the Grand National’
He said, “I’m just not sure I can get back on the field. It’s like an old nag in the Grand National. You think, “God, I’m falling at the first gate!”
Written by Paul Laverty, The Old Oak premieres May 15 at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film follows a bar owner in an old mining community who struggles to maintain the business as one of the town’s last public places for people to meet.
Ken was previously on the brink of retirement in 2013 when his producer Rebecca O’Brien suggested his film Jimmy’s Hall be his last.
However, he continued to work and directed I, Daniel Blake in 2016, followed by Sorry We Missed You three years later.
Screenwriter Paul Laverty said he hoped Ken isn’t retiring just yet. He told The Hollywood Reporter, “I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t do anything. I think it’s really in his blood. And he still has a lot to say.’
Ken previously joined Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola in superhero movie bashing, which they labeled “boring.”
The British director claimed that the films “have nothing to do with film art.”
He told Sky, “I think they’re boring. They’re made as a commodity… like hamburgers… It’s about making a commodity that will generate a profit for a big company – it’s a cynical exercise.”
He added: ‘Movies take a few years and I’m almost 90. And your facilities are declining. Your short-term memory is broken and my eyesight is pretty shit right now, so it’s kind of tricky’
The BAFTA award winner added: ‘They are a market exercise and it has nothing to do with the art of filmmaking.’
Scorsese described the Marvel movies as more like theme parks than cinema, even though they were well made.
Coppola, who directed classics like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, revealed he agreed.
But he went further than Scorsese, describing the superhero series as “despicable” and like “watching the same movie over and over again.”