The movie that made David Lean want to retire: “It really had such an awful effect on me”
Even the best directors in cinema history aren’t immune from the odd misfire or two, but David Lean was left so devastated by the failure of one movie that he considered abandoning the industry forever in the aftermath.
Of course, looking at Lean’s esteemed filmography, even his so-called ‘weaker’ efforts are hardly abominable flops that need to be swept under the rug and never spoken of ever again. On the other hand, he was always going to be sent crashing back down to earth at some point, having set the bar so high for himself.
With two Academy Award wins for ‘Best Director’ to his name from 11 nominations in total and a back catalogue of classics to his name stretching back to the 1940s, the mastermind behind Brief Encounter, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Laurence of Arabia, and Doctor Zhivago was well-established among the best in the business. However, one misstep derailed his career entirely for a decade and a half, which gives some indication of just how badly his confidence had been knocked.
Three of those aforementioned all-timers were released consecutively between 1957 and 1964, placing Lean on top of the filmic world as a result. His riveting war drama, epic period piece, and sweeping romance had completely dominated the conversation from a critical and commercial perspective, which realistically meant there was nowhere else to go but down.
The Bridge on the River Kwai was the highest-grossing release of 1957 that won seven Oscars from eight nominations, including ‘Best Picture’, Lawrence of Arabia didn’t make the top ten at the yearly box office but still scooped seven Oscars and another ‘Best Picture’ trophy, with Doctor Zhivago the biggest earner of 1964 that won another five Oscars. The pressure was on, and it turned out Lean wasn’t prepared.
After three astonishing epics in a row, the filmmaker turned his attention to an original story, but Ryan’s Daughter hardly went off without a hitch. The shoot went more than 180 days over schedule, Lean was constantly battling with stars Robert Mitchum and Christopher Jones, while the critical reception was a drastic step down from his previous three films.
This being Lean, though, it was still one of the biggest hits of 1970 that won two Oscars because that’s the sort of quality he turned in even on his most vilified movies, but the response left him so disenfranchised with the business that he questioned whether or not he even had a future worth pursuing.
“They just took the film to bits,” he said in an interview of the vitriolic reception Ryan’s Daughter received. “It really had such an awful effect on me for several years. You begin to think that maybe they’re right. Why on earth am I making films if I don’t have to? It shakes one’s confidence terribly.”
It would be another 14 years before Lean made another film, with A Passage to India turning out to be his last. He didn’t completely exile himself in the interim, but he struggled to get several projects off the ground during that time, and the devastating effect Ryan’s Daughter had on his confidence was undoubtedly one of the reasons why it was a decade and a half before he made his long-awaited return.
