"It's common wisdom that a director's best work happens midway through their career, when they've left behind youthful insecurities and mistakes, honed in their craft, and matured their style. It's such a widespread belief that Quentin Tarantino claims his reason for retiring after just one more movie is precisely because he thinks late work, even from great filmmakers, is always subpar.
As with most platitudes, this one has some base in reality, since it is a fact that many filmmakers hit their stride early rather than later. However, it is also a wildly exaggerated and unquestioned belief that ignores the several examples of masterpieces that only came about in the tail end of directors' careers."
