Quotes by Director | Beyond Motive 15/66

top of page

Quotes by Director

"Designing Woman was written for the screen."

"Designing Woman was written for the screen."

Vincente Minnelli, American Director

5

"Maybe there's a chance to get back to grown-up films. Anything that uses humor and dramatic values to deal with human emotions and gets down to what people are to people."

"Maybe there's a chance to get back to grown-up films. Anything that uses humor and dramatic values to deal with human emotions and gets down to what people are to people."

Robert Altman, American Director

Humor, People, Values, Chance

5

"And it really began with Einstein. We attended his lectures. Now the theory of relativity remained - and still remains - only a theory. It has not been proven. But it suggested a completely different picture of the physical world."

"And it really began with Einstein. We attended his lectures. Now the theory of relativity remained - and still remains - only a theory. It has not been proven. But it suggested a completely different picture of the physical world."

Douglas Sirk, German Director

Now, Relativity, Theory, World

5

"Because there is so little room for expression otherwise, a lot of people love cinema because they find it a way of expressing themselves."

"Because there is so little room for expression otherwise, a lot of people love cinema because they find it a way of expressing themselves."

Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iranian Director

Love, People, Cinema, Expression

5

"It's eighty percent script and twenty percent you get great actors. There's nothing else to it."

"It's eighty percent script and twenty percent you get great actors. There's nothing else to it."

William Wyler, American Director

Actor, Actors, Nothing

5

"I did The Newton Boys and during the whole process of making the film, I may have spent a week in Los Angeles."

"I did The Newton Boys and during the whole process of making the film, I may have spent a week in Los Angeles."

Richard Linklater, American Director

Boys, Film, May

5

"'m a general, I do something. I go out and fight wars and win them."

"'m a general, I do something. I go out and fight wars and win them."

John Milius, American Director

5

"'Star Wars' is fun, its exciting, its inspirational, and people respond to that. It's what they want."

"'Star Wars' is fun, its exciting, its inspirational, and people respond to that. It's what they want."

George Lucas, American Director

Inspirational, People, Fun, Want

5

"Our goal isn't to close Wal-Mart down. It is to make it a better, more humane company toward its employees and the communities it is in."

"Our goal isn't to close Wal-Mart down. It is to make it a better, more humane company toward its employees and the communities it is in."

Robert Greenwald, American Director

Goal, Company, Employees

5

"When I was five. That's when I started to love film."

"When I was five. That's when I started to love film."

Dario Argento, Italian Director

5

"When war comes, two things happen - profits go way, way up and all perishables go way, way down. There becomes a market for them."

"When war comes, two things happen - profits go way, way up and all perishables go way, way down. There becomes a market for them."

Steven Spielberg, American Director

5

"The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order."

"The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order."

Jean Cocteau, French Director

Literature, Order

5

"Seeing a murder on television can help work off one's antagonisms. And if you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some."

"Seeing a murder on television can help work off one's antagonisms. And if you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some."

Alfred Hitchcock, English Director

Work, Help, Murder, Television

5

"If I have to, I'll go and direct theater and talk till the cows come home."

"If I have to, I'll go and direct theater and talk till the cows come home."

Ridley Scott, British Director

Home, Cows, Talk, Theater

5

"The question is: Where would it get you if something that's a little bit ambiguous in the movie is made clear? It doesn't get you anywhere."

"The question is: Where would it get you if something that's a little bit ambiguous in the movie is made clear? It doesn't get you anywhere."

Joel Coen, American Director

5

"We come from a tough, working class background, so we're very tight."

"We come from a tough, working class background, so we're very tight."

Tony Scott, British Director

5

"I think you never forget your childhood, whether it was happy or unhappy."

"I think you never forget your childhood, whether it was happy or unhappy."

Marcel Carne, French Director

Family, Childhood, Forget

5

"Cinema was my rite of passage."

"Cinema was my rite of passage."

John Singleton, American Director

5

"There's no question that Whale's movies are classics. They were wonderful, and successful."

"There's no question that Whale's movies are classics. They were wonderful, and successful."

Bill Condon, American Director

Movies, Successful, Question

5

"That is a Medieval way of drawing history, in which they do not respect the law and want the rest of the world to respect the law. That's not possible."

"That is a Medieval way of drawing history, in which they do not respect the law and want the rest of the world to respect the law. That's not possible."

Emir Kusturica, Serbian Director

History, Law, Respect, Rest

5

"Money is everywhere but so is poetry. What we lack are the poets."

"Money is everywhere but so is poetry. What we lack are the poets."

Federico Fellini, Italian Director

Money, Poetry, Poets

5

"Now I'm back home, living in London, running my theater. I just want to enjoy all that."

"Now I'm back home, living in London, running my theater. I just want to enjoy all that."

Sam Mendes, British Director

Home, Living, London, Now

5

"We tried to make a movie that had sex and violence because we like sex and violence."

"We tried to make a movie that had sex and violence because we like sex and violence."

Larry Wachowski, American Director

5

"That attitude toward women as objects may have worked for the late Sixties, but it doesn't do so now."

"That attitude toward women as objects may have worked for the late Sixties, but it doesn't do so now."

John Schlesinger, British Director

Attitude, Women, May, Now

5

"I think we all have blocks between us and the best version of ourselves, whether it's shyness, insecurity, anxiety, whether it's a physical block, and the story of a person overcoming that block to their best self. It's truly inspiring because I think all of us are engaged in that every day."

"I think we all have blocks between us and the best version of ourselves, whether it's shyness, insecurity, anxiety, whether it's a physical block, and the story of a person overcoming that block to their best self. It's truly inspiring because I think all of us are engaged in that every day."

Tom Hooper, British Director

Self-Improvement, Anxiety, Day, Insecurity, Inspiring

5

"It's always an enormous pressure when you do a sequel. The demands are so high, and it's expensive."

"It's always an enormous pressure when you do a sequel. The demands are so high, and it's expensive."

Jan de Bont, Dutch Director

5

"If you win the Oscar, you get to go into just about anybody's office for a month."

"If you win the Oscar, you get to go into just about anybody's office for a month."

Chris Wedge, American Director

5

"I did have an offer to direct one of the Alien movies but I wasn't too excited about all the effects work."

"I did have an offer to direct one of the Alien movies but I wasn't too excited about all the effects work."

Walter Hill, American Director

5

"I see myself capable of arrogance and brutality... That's a fierce thing, to discover within yourself that which you despise the most in others."

"I see myself capable of arrogance and brutality... That's a fierce thing, to discover within yourself that which you despise the most in others."

George Stevens, American Director

Life, Arrogance

5

"If I fail, the film industry writes me off as another statistic. If I succeed, they pay me a million bucks to fly out to Hollywood and fart."

"If I fail, the film industry writes me off as another statistic. If I succeed, they pay me a million bucks to fly out to Hollywood and fart."

George A. Romero, American Director

Film, Hollywood, Succeed

4

"My principal job is to make interesting and entertaining films, and I'm not proud of which format or which particular technique I use. I just wanted the film to look good."

"My principal job is to make interesting and entertaining films, and I'm not proud of which format or which particular technique I use. I just wanted the film to look good."

Guy Ritchie, British Director

4

"We feel that what's too far is when you make a joke and somebody gets hurt."

"We feel that what's too far is when you make a joke and somebody gets hurt."

Bobby Farrelly, American Director

4

"You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps. Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it. But what chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly and think about whether it's really a good idea and whether there are other, better ideas."

"You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps. Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it. But what chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly and think about whether it's really a good idea and whether there are other, better ideas."

Stanley Kubrick, American Director

Heart, Idea, Ideas, Chess

4

"The audience too should be respected by being presented with a film as they remember it, and for those who have not seen it, as it was intended to be seen. Anything less is a degradation of the film and its audience."

"The audience too should be respected by being presented with a film as they remember it, and for those who have not seen it, as it was intended to be seen. Anything less is a degradation of the film and its audience."

George Stevens, American Director

4

"The rise of anime had to happen. If the Japanese could tell better American stories, it would go through the roof. They still tell stories which are very much oriental. I take my hat off to them."

"The rise of anime had to happen. If the Japanese could tell better American stories, it would go through the roof. They still tell stories which are very much oriental. I take my hat off to them."

Ralph Bakshi, American Director

4

"Film has to describe and show."

"Film has to describe and show."

Ralph Bakshi, American Director

4

"The only lesson to extract from any civil war is that it's pointless and futile and ugly, and that there is nothing glamorous or heroic about it. There are heroes, but the causes are never heroic."

"The only lesson to extract from any civil war is that it's pointless and futile and ugly, and that there is nothing glamorous or heroic about it. There are heroes, but the causes are never heroic."

Anthony Minghella, British Director

War, Causes, Heroes, Nothing

4

"Kinsey would identify himself with Galileo in moments of feelings of persecution."

"Kinsey would identify himself with Galileo in moments of feelings of persecution."

Bill Condon, American Director

Emotional, Feelings, Moments, Persecution

4

"I get a great high from writing."

"I get a great high from writing."

Walter Hill, American Director

4

"The freshest moments in my films have always been with unknown actors."

"The freshest moments in my films have always been with unknown actors."

John Singleton, American Director

Actor, Actors, Moments

4

"We went into this with the utmost respect for the source material, but we recognized the need for change."

"We went into this with the utmost respect for the source material, but we recognized the need for change."

Sam Wood, American Director

Change, Respect

4

"Homer is the nice side of Al Bundy with the same intellect. I really like him and Al Bundy."

"Homer is the nice side of Al Bundy with the same intellect. I really like him and Al Bundy."

Uwe Boll, German Director

Intellectual, Intellect

4

"It's always great to discover a new star of tomorrow."

"It's always great to discover a new star of tomorrow."

Brian De Palma, American Director

Discovery, Tomorrow

4

"Those are just some of the people whom we interviewed in the documentary, but that should provide you with a good sense of the credibility of the individuals who bolster the case that this administration lied us into a war."

"Those are just some of the people whom we interviewed in the documentary, but that should provide you with a good sense of the credibility of the individuals who bolster the case that this administration lied us into a war."

Robert Greenwald, American Director

War, People, Credibility, Sense

4

"There was a war crimes trial because an American prisoner had been shot trying to escape. He had obviously been recaptured and shot, and that violated the Geneva Convention."

"There was a war crimes trial because an American prisoner had been shot trying to escape. He had obviously been recaptured and shot, and that violated the Geneva Convention."

Charles Guggenheim, American Director

4

"I long for the days when grosses were not even known. There was no weekend competition."

"I long for the days when grosses were not even known. There was no weekend competition."

Mark Rydell, American Director

Competition, Weekend

4

"There are many talented people who haven't fulfilled their dreams because they over thought it, or they were too cautious, and were unwilling to make the leap of faith."

"There are many talented people who haven't fulfilled their dreams because they over thought it, or they were too cautious, and were unwilling to make the leap of faith."

James Cameron, American Director

Dream, Dreams, Faith, Thought, People

4

"If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on."

"If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on."

Alfred Hitchcock, English Director

Creativity, Idea, Sound

4

"When I was going for my graduate degree, I decided I was going to make a feature film as my thesis. That's what I was famous for-that I had my thesis film be a feature film, which was 'You're a Big Boy Now.'"

"When I was going for my graduate degree, I decided I was going to make a feature film as my thesis. That's what I was famous for-that I had my thesis film be a feature film, which was 'You're a Big Boy Now.'"

Francis Ford Coppola, American Director

Famous, Film, Now

4

"These happy endings all express the weak and sly promise that the world is not rotten and out of joint but meaningful and ultimately in excellent condition."

"These happy endings all express the weak and sly promise that the world is not rotten and out of joint but meaningful and ultimately in excellent condition."

Douglas Sirk, German Director

Optimism, Promise, World

4

bottom of page