About a month ago I wrote an article dedicated to
the greatest debut films of all time which also got me thinking about the best final films in history. This list was particularly difficult to write because the majority of my favorite filmmakers are still working today so I had to do a little bit of research. The movies I came up with for this list, when viewed beside the debuts by these directors, serve to present well rounded and enormously influential bodies of work. The last movie in a director's career and their first are usually the two most important since they book end their career. If the final film a director ever makes turns out to be the weakest in their catalogue then they will likely be remembered as a former version of who they used to be. That's why ending a career on a high note is incredibly important. It's a shame that some of the greatest filmmakers of all time haven't been able to do this but the 10 I have presented here serve as amazing farewells from some of the best directors who have ever lived. A great filmmaker should have progressed enormously in their lifetime making their last work a reflection of everything they ever made while also showing that they were still trying new things. Their debut film should announce their style and typical themes while their last film should embody all of the ideals of that first movie but in a different way than how they started out. This is an incredibly difficult thing to do and the directors who have pulled it off throughout the years should be celebrated for their amazing achievements. Without further ado I present to you the 10 greatest swan songs in film history.
10. Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot
While Family Plot is a great movie that deserves to be on this list it is severely lacking in Hitchcock's canon which is, ultimately, why it didn't rank higher here. The movie is very strong from a directorial standpoint and the narrative is vintage Hitchcock but, to be his last film, it doesn't measure up to his most acclaimed work. However, one thing it does excellently is show how diverse he was as a director. Hitchcock started making silent films then gradually progressed to sound films and Family Plot is virtually unrecognizable when compared to his first works. Every other movie on this list can stand up with anything else made by their respective directors except for Family Plot. The story does feature some very interesting elements, regarding a fake psychic and a con artist, that help to redeem it though. There is a significant amount of dark humor which is always enjoyable to see in a Hitchcock film and the thriller aspects of the picture do hold up quite well against Hitchcock's previous efforts. While the man was never known as a particularly humorous director when he was working at his best he could find laughter in the most unorthodox of places which is something he never explored as blatantly and as well then in Family Plot. It may be no Vertigo or Psycho but it does stand on its own as a very enjoyable experience.