Quotes by Director | Beyond Motive 18/66

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Quotes by Director

"I think television has betrayed the meaning of democratic speech, adding visual chaos to the confusion of voices. What role does silence have in all this noise?"

"I think television has betrayed the meaning of democratic speech, adding visual chaos to the confusion of voices. What role does silence have in all this noise?"

Federico Fellini, Italian Director

Chaos, Confusion, Meaning, Silence

4

"I really, really love directing films."

"I really, really love directing films."

John Frankenheimer, American Director

4

"Yes, but I think if you look at it with a sort of gay sensibility and want everything to be positive about gay life, it could be interpreted as antigay."

"Yes, but I think if you look at it with a sort of gay sensibility and want everything to be positive about gay life, it could be interpreted as antigay."

John Schlesinger, British Director

Life, Positive, Gay, Sensibility

4

"I've spent my life hearing people trying to apologize for music."

"I've spent my life hearing people trying to apologize for music."

Mike Figgis, English Director

Life, Music, People, Hearing

4

"I'd love to sell out completely. It's just that nobody has been willing to buy."

"I'd love to sell out completely. It's just that nobody has been willing to buy."

John Waters, American Director

4

"I've always been able to survive by writing, though."

"I've always been able to survive by writing, though."

John Milius, American Director

4

"A film director has to get a shot, no matter what he does. We're desperate people."

"A film director has to get a shot, no matter what he does. We're desperate people."

Elia Kazan, American Director

4

"Is there something to be said for the writings of the Marquis? Is there something to be said for pornography? And is there something to be said against both? I hope our film is balanced and rich enough to encourage debate and discussion."

"Is there something to be said for the writings of the Marquis? Is there something to be said for pornography? And is there something to be said against both? I hope our film is balanced and rich enough to encourage debate and discussion."

Philip Kaufman, American Director

Hope, Debate, Film, Pornography

4

"What scares me is what scares you. We're all afraid of the same things. That's why horror is such a powerful genre. All you have to do is ask yourself what frightens you and you'll know what frightens me."

"What scares me is what scares you. We're all afraid of the same things. That's why horror is such a powerful genre. All you have to do is ask yourself what frightens you and you'll know what frightens me."

John Carpenter, American Director

4

"Peter Hall was just organizing the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was going to be an ensemble, it was going to be in repertory, it was going to have a home in London as well as in the Midlands, and all of those things were happening at that time."

"Peter Hall was just organizing the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was going to be an ensemble, it was going to be in repertory, it was going to have a home in London as well as in the Midlands, and all of those things were happening at that time."

Trevor Nunn, English Director

Home, Time, Company, London

4

"Usually with this genre the first thing that happens is a good fight sequence to show that you're in good hands. So we broke that rule. I think a lot of that comes from the western audience."

"Usually with this genre the first thing that happens is a good fight sequence to show that you're in good hands. So we broke that rule. I think a lot of that comes from the western audience."

Ang Lee, Chinese Director

4

"I like films to have something inside, I don't mean a message, I mean something from the soul."

"I like films to have something inside, I don't mean a message, I mean something from the soul."

Dario Argento, Italian Director

4

"Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's."

"Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's."

Billy Wilder, American Director

Trust, Instinct, Mistakes

4

"I like to write in a shroud of secrecy because I have to keep finding ways to scare myself."

"I like to write in a shroud of secrecy because I have to keep finding ways to scare myself."

M. Night Shyamalan, American Director

Creativity, Secrecy

4

"I have bad reflexes. I was once run over by a car being pushed by two guys."

"I have bad reflexes. I was once run over by a car being pushed by two guys."

Woody Allen, American Director

4

"Many times I felt like I'd do better than what the director did, but some of them got a little discouraged because they didn't have full charge of making the film, and sometimes there'd be battles of egos."

"Many times I felt like I'd do better than what the director did, but some of them got a little discouraged because they didn't have full charge of making the film, and sometimes there'd be battles of egos."

Ray Harryhausen, American Director

4

"A style is not a matter of camera angles or fancy footwork, it's an expression, an accurate expression of your particular opinion."

"A style is not a matter of camera angles or fancy footwork, it's an expression, an accurate expression of your particular opinion."

Karel Reisz, Czechoslovakian Director

Expression, Fancy, Opinion, Style

4

"Being thrown out of this place is significantly better than being thrown out of a leper colony."

"Being thrown out of this place is significantly better than being thrown out of a leper colony."

Blake Edwards, American Director

4

"I didn't watch much TV as a kid and I don' t watch it now. I don' t find anything beautiful or unique to the medium, and the only thing you can do on TV that you can't do in film is make a continuing story - which is so cool!"

"I didn't watch much TV as a kid and I don' t watch it now. I don' t find anything beautiful or unique to the medium, and the only thing you can do on TV that you can't do in film is make a continuing story - which is so cool!"

David Lynch, American Director

4

"I couldn't have been happier with the relationship we had with Disney, it couldn't have been easier."

"I couldn't have been happier with the relationship we had with Disney, it couldn't have been easier."

Joel Coen, American Director

4

"Entertainment today constantly emphasises the message that things are wonderful the way they are. But there is another kind of cinema, which says that change is possible and necessary and it's up to you."

"Entertainment today constantly emphasises the message that things are wonderful the way they are. But there is another kind of cinema, which says that change is possible and necessary and it's up to you."

Wim Wenders, German Director

Change, Cinema, Entertainment, Today

4

"Well, you know the old line - to be nominated is what it's all about. I think that I've done pretty well - I've had about 46, or 47 nominations from my movies, and my films have won about 12 awards in total, so I don't really have any complaints."

"Well, you know the old line - to be nominated is what it's all about. I think that I've done pretty well - I've had about 46, or 47 nominations from my movies, and my films have won about 12 awards in total, so I don't really have any complaints."

Norman Jewison, Canadian Director

Movies, Awards, Complaints, Old

4

"Kevin, as the whole cast is, just wonderful people and great people, and people who are attracted to this kind of material and accepting the idea of going to Newfoundland and knowing the kind of lack of amenities."

"Kevin, as the whole cast is, just wonderful people and great people, and people who are attracted to this kind of material and accepting the idea of going to Newfoundland and knowing the kind of lack of amenities."

Lasse Hallstrom, Swedish Director

4

"Without obsession, life is nothing."

"Without obsession, life is nothing."

John Waters, American Director

Life, Nothing, Obsession

4

"We are going to finish this picture just the way I want it... because you cannot compromise an artist's vision."

"We are going to finish this picture just the way I want it... because you cannot compromise an artist's vision."

Ed Wood, American Director

Vision, Artist, Compromise, Want

4

"Although I write screenplays, I don't think I'm a very good writer."

"Although I write screenplays, I don't think I'm a very good writer."

George Lucas, American Director

Writing, Writer

4

"What's really interesting about that is that a lot of these words that were incendiary in their time now seem almost harmless and laughable, because they have this archaic quality."

"What's really interesting about that is that a lot of these words that were incendiary in their time now seem almost harmless and laughable, because they have this archaic quality."

Philip Kaufman, American Director

Time, Quality, Now, Words

4

"I'm Godless. I've had to make my God, and my God is narrative filmmaking."

"I'm Godless. I've had to make my God, and my God is narrative filmmaking."

Darren Aronofsky, American Director

4

"The funny thing is all these school shootings that we have, always happen in very religious communities. Maybe it's because the centre of their lives is a big fat nothing and it's just a fantasy and there's nothing there. I think maybe that might have something to do with it."

"The funny thing is all these school shootings that we have, always happen in very religious communities. Maybe it's because the centre of their lives is a big fat nothing and it's just a fantasy and there's nothing there. I think maybe that might have something to do with it."

Matthew Bright, American Director

Fun, Funny, Fantasy, Nothing, Religious

4

"In 1918, when I was 6 or 7 years old, radio was just coming into use in the Great War."

"In 1918, when I was 6 or 7 years old, radio was just coming into use in the Great War."

Chuck Jones, American Director

War, Old, Years

4

"If you are looking for a producer, try to contact established producers. Don't let the fear of theft paralyze you, or you will never get anywhere with it."

"If you are looking for a producer, try to contact established producers. Don't let the fear of theft paralyze you, or you will never get anywhere with it."

Penelope Spheeris, American Director

Fear, Theft, Will

4

"When we do a movie with the studios, they wouldn't be asking us to do it, I don't think, if it was a movie they wanted to get into themselves. What you see is what you get with us, so they let us do what we want to do."

"When we do a movie with the studios, they wouldn't be asking us to do it, I don't think, if it was a movie they wanted to get into themselves. What you see is what you get with us, so they let us do what we want to do."

Joel Coen, American Director

4

"I grew up certain for a while that I was going to be an anthropologist, until film turned my head."

"I grew up certain for a while that I was going to be an anthropologist, until film turned my head."

Ken Burns, American Director

4

"I'm a former hippie, so clothes are important to me - your clothes defined you in that period. I guess clothes still defines people. But, I change a lot. I'm in my Brooks Brothers period now."

"I'm a former hippie, so clothes are important to me - your clothes defined you in that period. I guess clothes still defines people. But, I change a lot. I'm in my Brooks Brothers period now."

John Hughes, American Director

Change, People, Brooks, Brothers

4

"To do art, one thing should always remember - subjects of people in misery have deep meanings."

"To do art, one thing should always remember - subjects of people in misery have deep meanings."

Zhang Yimou, Chinese Director

Art, People, Deep, Misery

4

"Maybe when I stop making movies, I'll understand my work better."

"Maybe when I stop making movies, I'll understand my work better."

Dario Argento, Italian Director

4

"It took me a long time to realize that you have to have a bit of an interlanguage with actors. You have to give them something that they can act with."

"It took me a long time to realize that you have to have a bit of an interlanguage with actors. You have to give them something that they can act with."

James Cameron, American Director

Time, Act, Actors

4

"In regards to The Haunting, people compared it to the old movie, which is unfair. We didn't have the rights to the movie. I couldn't duplicate a single thing because that would have been legal infringement."

"In regards to The Haunting, people compared it to the old movie, which is unfair. We didn't have the rights to the movie. I couldn't duplicate a single thing because that would have been legal infringement."

Jan de Bont, Dutch Director

Legal, People, Rights, Old

4

"In a mad world, only the mad are sane."

"In a mad world, only the mad are sane."

Akira Kurosawa, Japanese Director

4

"It's the unusual leading man. Most of the Hollywood leading men are powerful and capable and strong, heroes. He has this vulnerability, he's fragile, he struggles to find a way to live from day to day that we can identify with, that we can understand."

"It's the unusual leading man. Most of the Hollywood leading men are powerful and capable and strong, heroes. He has this vulnerability, he's fragile, he struggles to find a way to live from day to day that we can identify with, that we can understand."

Mark Rydell, American Director

Man, Men, Day, Heroes, Hollywood

4

"Previously the same Polish audiences would have been pressured into seeing cinema made for adults, films made by us about those spheres of life that were significant for us and which should be significant for our society."

"Previously the same Polish audiences would have been pressured into seeing cinema made for adults, films made by us about those spheres of life that were significant for us and which should be significant for our society."

Andrzej Wajda, Polish Director

Life, Society, Audiences, Cinema

4

"My films are an extension of my poetry, using the white screen like the white page to be filled with images."

"My films are an extension of my poetry, using the white screen like the white page to be filled with images."

James Broughton, American Director

4

"Don't get married to an actress because they're also actresses in bed."

"Don't get married to an actress because they're also actresses in bed."

Roberto Rossellini, Italian Director

4

"There are always at least five good films at the end of the year to get nominated, but generally speaking nowadays, it's more of the independent films that are recognized."

"There are always at least five good films at the end of the year to get nominated, but generally speaking nowadays, it's more of the independent films that are recognized."

Mark Rydell, American Director

Recognition, End

4

"We made connections between the monsters created by war and the monsters he created, the typical outcast that Whale was attracted to, and the monster in himself, that's inside all of us."

"We made connections between the monsters created by war and the monsters he created, the typical outcast that Whale was attracted to, and the monster in himself, that's inside all of us."

Bill Condon, American Director

4

"Every ten years there is a new generation of actors."

"Every ten years there is a new generation of actors."

Barbet Schroeder, French Director

Actor, Actors, Years

4

"He looked like such a Republican. He dressed like Pee-Wee Herman. But had I known what he had done when I was reading about him, I might have thought different."

"He looked like such a Republican. He dressed like Pee-Wee Herman. But had I known what he had done when I was reading about him, I might have thought different."

Matthew Bright, American Director

Reading, Thought, Republican

4

"Listen, if there's one sure-fire rule that I have learned in this business, it's that I don't know anything about human nature."

"Listen, if there's one sure-fire rule that I have learned in this business, it's that I don't know anything about human nature."

Francis Ford Coppola, American Director

Nature, Business, Humannature

4

"I'll talk about these things, but it's just, you know, you only get so much time and I'm much more interested in what I'm going to be doing next year than in something I did 10 years ago."

"I'll talk about these things, but it's just, you know, you only get so much time and I'm much more interested in what I'm going to be doing next year than in something I did 10 years ago."

Walter Hill, American Director

Time, Talk, Years

4

"In my view, the operas of Carlisle Floyd will find a place in the permanent repertoire."

"In my view, the operas of Carlisle Floyd will find a place in the permanent repertoire."

Bruce Beresford, Australian Director

4

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