Quotes by Director | Beyond Motive 16/66

top of page

Quotes by Director

"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

"I believe in justice, maybe not in this life, but there has to be justice. And if there isn't a God, I think it would be very depressing. I'd prefer to believe there is."

"I believe in justice, maybe not in this life, but there has to be justice. And if there isn't a God, I think it would be very depressing. I'd prefer to believe there is."

David Zucker, American Director

God, Life, Justice

4

"People say I pay too much attention to the look of a movie but for God's sake, I'm not producing a Radio 4 Play for Today, I'm making a movie that people are going to look at."

"People say I pay too much attention to the look of a movie but for God's sake, I'm not producing a Radio 4 Play for Today, I'm making a movie that people are going to look at."

Ridley Scott, British Director

God, People, Attention, Play

4

"I mean they're making remakes of my films and I'm not even dead yet! Why would you want to make a remake?"

"I mean they're making remakes of my films and I'm not even dead yet! Why would you want to make a remake?"

Norman Jewison, Canadian Director

4

"It seems to me that any sensible person must see that violence does not change the world and if it does, then only temporarily."

"It seems to me that any sensible person must see that violence does not change the world and if it does, then only temporarily."

Martin Scorsese, American Director

Change, Violence, World

4

"In Dreams... well, I was slightly overcompensating with that. I was a bit like a director for hire, so maybe I was putting too much imagery that was familiar to me into it."

"In Dreams... well, I was slightly overcompensating with that. I was a bit like a director for hire, so maybe I was putting too much imagery that was familiar to me into it."

Neil Jordan, Irish Director

4

"I've always been interested in films where you can identify with the actors. Where you can be in their shoes and therefore be more involved if they're people that you recognize."

"I've always been interested in films where you can identify with the actors. Where you can be in their shoes and therefore be more involved if they're people that you recognize."

Adrian Lyne, English Director

4

"I will say nothing to an actor that cannot be translated into action."

"I will say nothing to an actor that cannot be translated into action."

Elia Kazan, American Director

Action, Actor, Nothing, Will

4

"When Silence of the Lambs did well commercially it was more than anything. My partner Ed Saxon and I were just so relieved that finally we had made a movie that had made some money!"

"When Silence of the Lambs did well commercially it was more than anything. My partner Ed Saxon and I were just so relieved that finally we had made a movie that had made some money!"

Jonathan Demme, American Director

4

"I have done some short pieces that are not horror."

"I have done some short pieces that are not horror."

Richard King, American Director

4

"You can dress it up, but it comes down to the fact that a movie is only as good as its script."

"You can dress it up, but it comes down to the fact that a movie is only as good as its script."

Curtis Hanson, American Director

4

"Oh, I find it very easy to fall in love."

"Oh, I find it very easy to fall in love."

Sam Peckinpah, American Director

4

"I remember growing up with television, from the time it was just a test pattern, with maybe a little bit of programming once in a while."

"I remember growing up with television, from the time it was just a test pattern, with maybe a little bit of programming once in a while."

Francis Ford Coppola, American Director

Time, Growingup, Programming, Television

4

"When I'm shooting, really the audience I'm thinking the hardest about is that first test screening audience who I want to like the film and that first opening weekend audience."

"When I'm shooting, really the audience I'm thinking the hardest about is that first test screening audience who I want to like the film and that first opening weekend audience."

Jay Roach, American Director

Film, First, Thinking, Want

4

"I guess what's most surprised me in most of the reviews is that they don't seem to get the noir story in the dream sequence, so they analyze it like a straight noir movie."

"I guess what's most surprised me in most of the reviews is that they don't seem to get the noir story in the dream sequence, so they analyze it like a straight noir movie."

Brian De Palma, American Director

4

"I always say the next one is my favorite."

"I always say the next one is my favorite."

Walter Hill, American Director

4

"There are things that Scotsmen get and other people don't get in the dialogue. Scottish characters can be pinpointed by a phrase, targeted very quickly."

"There are things that Scotsmen get and other people don't get in the dialogue. Scottish characters can be pinpointed by a phrase, targeted very quickly."

Bill Forsyth, Scottish Director

4

"To me the only real star of the movie is the writer. And I work with writers very closely, from outline to first draft and on to the seventh draft, whatever it takes. Then my job is to support the director to make the best movie we can. Some producers try to go past them, but my job is to support them."

"To me the only real star of the movie is the writer. And I work with writers very closely, from outline to first draft and on to the seventh draft, whatever it takes. Then my job is to support the director to make the best movie we can. Some producers try to go past them, but my job is to support them."

Dino De Laurentiis, Italian Director

Work, Draft, First, Job

4

"Some of our most exquisite murders have been domestic, performed with tenderness in simple, homey places like the kitchen table."

"Some of our most exquisite murders have been domestic, performed with tenderness in simple, homey places like the kitchen table."

Alfred Hitchcock, English Director

Journalism, Kitchen, Tenderness

4

"He's wrong. That's why his films look so terrible."

"He's wrong. That's why his films look so terrible."

Bruce Beresford, Australian Director

4

"It took me a long time to film the plastic bag, and then I had to get the cut of the scene right. But if you find it as beautiful as the character does, then suddenly it becomes a different movie, and so did he as a character."

"It took me a long time to film the plastic bag, and then I had to get the cut of the scene right. But if you find it as beautiful as the character does, then suddenly it becomes a different movie, and so did he as a character."

Sam Mendes, British Director

Time, Character, Film, Right

4

"Music has a poetry of its own, and that poetry is called melody."

"Music has a poetry of its own, and that poetry is called melody."

Joshua Logan, American Director

4

"There is a segment of the American population that has been excluded from the national myth, and that should be redressed."

"There is a segment of the American population that has been excluded from the national myth, and that should be redressed."

Edward Zwick, American Director

Philosophy, Myth, Population

4

"I want to question what the outside is and who defines it. I often find those that are considered to be on the outside extremely inspiring."

"I want to question what the outside is and who defines it. I often find those that are considered to be on the outside extremely inspiring."

Mira Nair, Indian Director

Inspirational, Inspiring, Question, Want

4

"I'm very happy with the way I write. I think I do it good. But I've never really considered myself a writer."

"I'm very happy with the way I write. I think I do it good. But I've never really considered myself a writer."

Quentin Tarantino, American Director

Identity, Writer

4

"I think we both have some darkness in us. But when we are together, we tend to concentrate more on the light."

"I think we both have some darkness in us. But when we are together, we tend to concentrate more on the light."

Bobby Farrelly, American Director

Darkness, Light

4

"Years ago I had a house in Sussex, it was like Arcadia, with an old Victorian bridge, a pond and the Downs."

"Years ago I had a house in Sussex, it was like Arcadia, with an old Victorian bridge, a pond and the Downs."

Nicolas Roeg, English Director

4

"I couldn't open up a magazine, you couldn't read a newspaper, you couldn't turn on the TV without hearing about the obesity epidemic in America."

"I couldn't open up a magazine, you couldn't read a newspaper, you couldn't turn on the TV without hearing about the obesity epidemic in America."

Morgan Spurlock, American Director

Health, America, Hearing, Obesity, Open

4

"It's very eclectic, the way one chooses subjects in the movie business, especially in the commercial movie business. You need to develop material yourself or material is presented to you as an assignment to direct."

"It's very eclectic, the way one chooses subjects in the movie business, especially in the commercial movie business. You need to develop material yourself or material is presented to you as an assignment to direct."

John Frankenheimer, American Director

4

"We're producing a movie now, 'The Onion' Movie, and it's very difficult for me to be on the set. If I'm not right in the trenches, it's very difficult for me to watch another director, because I'm not involved and it's not exciting."

"We're producing a movie now, 'The Onion' Movie, and it's very difficult for me to be on the set. If I'm not right in the trenches, it's very difficult for me to watch another director, because I'm not involved and it's not exciting."

David Zucker, American Director

4

"In films murders are always very clean. I show how difficult it is and what a messy thing it is to kill a man."

"In films murders are always very clean. I show how difficult it is and what a messy thing it is to kill a man."

Alfred Hitchcock, English Director

4

"We love the Stooges, and young kids today don't watch them. They think it's their dad's comedy. So we thought we could reintroduce them to a new audience."

"We love the Stooges, and young kids today don't watch them. They think it's their dad's comedy. So we thought we could reintroduce them to a new audience."

Bobby Farrelly, American Director

Love, Thought, Dad, Comedy

4

"Sexuality is a big issue, but there are others - how much you commit to a relationship, to social obligation, to honesty and being honest with yourself."

"Sexuality is a big issue, but there are others - how much you commit to a relationship, to social obligation, to honesty and being honest with yourself."

Ang Lee, Chinese Director

Honesty, Being, Obligation, Sexuality

4

"I went through a phase where I thought nostalgia was a bad thing."

"I went through a phase where I thought nostalgia was a bad thing."

Dario Argento, Italian Director

Thought, Nostalgia

4

"I started making 8mm films when I was 13, so I've been directing for 21 years."

"I started making 8mm films when I was 13, so I've been directing for 21 years."

Bryan Singer, American Director

4

"You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plow right ahead."

"You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plow right ahead."

George Lucas, American Director

Persistence, Right

4

"It's very important that every movie I do makes money because I want the people that had the faith in me to get their money back."

"It's very important that every movie I do makes money because I want the people that had the faith in me to get their money back."

Quentin Tarantino, American Director

Faith, Money, People, Want

4

"The only thing we don't do together is get in front of an actor and show any indecision at all about what we think. We don't always agree, so we meet privately, then one or the other will approach the actor."

"The only thing we don't do together is get in front of an actor and show any indecision at all about what we think. We don't always agree, so we meet privately, then one or the other will approach the actor."

Bobby Farrelly, American Director

Actor, Indecision, Will

4

"I have a lot of fans who are people of color. I think, if nothing else, I kind of understand that sense of being on the outside looking in, culturally."

"I have a lot of fans who are people of color. I think, if nothing else, I kind of understand that sense of being on the outside looking in, culturally."

Wes Craven, American Director

People, Being, Fans, Nothing

4

"Our mother was a very religious and observant Jew, our father less so. She was kind of driving the religious education, so for us it was more a burden and an obligation when we were kids at that age."

"Our mother was a very religious and observant Jew, our father less so. She was kind of driving the religious education, so for us it was more a burden and an obligation when we were kids at that age."

Joel Coen, American Director

Age, Education, Mother, Father

4

"A pitfall of making a comedy with a studio-and it's also an American cultural thing-is that I get tired of being encouraged to go always for laughs."

"A pitfall of making a comedy with a studio-and it's also an American cultural thing-is that I get tired of being encouraged to go always for laughs."

Alexander Payne, American Director

4

"I suppose directing on set is the most fun because it's a good crack and you feel you're on the battlefield whereas writing is a fairly solitary undertaking."

"I suppose directing on set is the most fun because it's a good crack and you feel you're on the battlefield whereas writing is a fairly solitary undertaking."

Guy Ritchie, British Director

4

"Intellectualism came very late to America. That's why Americans are so proud of it. I found very few real intellectuals in America. But there are so many pseudo-intellectuals."

"Intellectualism came very late to America. That's why Americans are so proud of it. I found very few real intellectuals in America. But there are so many pseudo-intellectuals."

Douglas Sirk, German Director

Intellectual, America, Americans, Intellectuals

4

"I'm satisfied it's very black, meaning 'in the black'."

"I'm satisfied it's very black, meaning 'in the black'."

Robert Conrad, Polish Director

4

"I wanted to make sure that the environment of the shooting itself was not that controlled, and the way to go about that course was to work with as small a crew as possible."

"I wanted to make sure that the environment of the shooting itself was not that controlled, and the way to go about that course was to work with as small a crew as possible."

Atom Egoyan, Canadian Director

Work, Environment

4

bottom of page