Quotes by Director | Beyond Motive 20/67

top of page

Quotes by Director

"Poets don't draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently."

"Poets don't draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently."

Jean Cocteau, French Director

14

"Michael Caine is a movie star, but he's also a great actor. I can't say that about every movie star. It's the concentration he has."

"Michael Caine is a movie star, but he's also a great actor. I can't say that about every movie star. It's the concentration he has."

Norman Jewison, Canadian Director

14

"I really feel kind of guilty spending 80 million dollars. People are starving in the world."

"I really feel kind of guilty spending 80 million dollars. People are starving in the world."

Penelope Spheeris, American Director

14

"In every place there are 100 people who can say no and only one person who can say yes. You have to get a good piece of material to the right person."

"In every place there are 100 people who can say no and only one person who can say yes. You have to get a good piece of material to the right person."

Robert Evans, American Director

14

"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

14

"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

14

"So our films had a lot more to them than entertainment value, and I'm glad that a lot of people recognize that now. People realize now the value of them as educational."

"So our films had a lot more to them than entertainment value, and I'm glad that a lot of people recognize that now. People realize now the value of them as educational."

Ray Harryhausen, American Director

People, Entertainment, Now, Value

14

"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

14

"It was only after Pather Panchali had some success at home that I decided to do a second part. But I didn't want to do the same kind of film again, so I made a musical."

"It was only after Pather Panchali had some success at home that I decided to do a second part. But I didn't want to do the same kind of film again, so I made a musical."

Satyajit Ray, Indian Director

Home, Success, Film, Want

14

"To me, watching a movie is like going to an amusement park. My worst fear is making a film that people don't think is a good ride."

"To me, watching a movie is like going to an amusement park. My worst fear is making a film that people don't think is a good ride."

Darren Aronofsky, American Director

People, Fear, Amusement, Film

14

"I really think the biopic thing so rarely works, because people's lives don't have a dramatic shape that can be satisfying."

"I really think the biopic thing so rarely works, because people's lives don't have a dramatic shape that can be satisfying."

Bill Condon, American Director

14

"The end of a picture is always an end of a life."

"The end of a picture is always an end of a life."

Sam Peckinpah, American Director

14

"To us, basing stories on christianity is the same as basing stories on Roman mythology, Native American folklore, or unsubstantiated government conspiracies."

"To us, basing stories on christianity is the same as basing stories on Roman mythology, Native American folklore, or unsubstantiated government conspiracies."

Richard King, American Director

Government, Christianity, Mythology

14

"I mean, the truth of the matter is, I like the failures as much as I like the successes, it's only the world that doesn't like the failures."

"I mean, the truth of the matter is, I like the failures as much as I like the successes, it's only the world that doesn't like the failures."

Sydney Pollack, American Director

14

"Jackie Gleason said that comedy is the most exacting form of dramatic art, because it has an instant critic: laughter."

"Jackie Gleason said that comedy is the most exacting form of dramatic art, because it has an instant critic: laughter."

Chuck Jones, American Director

Art, Comedy, Laughter

14

"At the same time, television theatre became more visibly active."

"At the same time, television theatre became more visibly active."

Andrzej Wajda, Polish Director

Time, Television, Theatre

14

"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

14

"This is my first wuxia movie and I must consider this before trying to make something with my own."

"This is my first wuxia movie and I must consider this before trying to make something with my own."

Zhang Yimou, Chinese Director

Movies, First, Trying

14

"We had no idea what we were in for when we started Blue Sky. We just had an idea of what we wanted to do. When we got to a point where it seemed impossible, we just kept doing it. After 18 years, we have a lot of it done."

"We had no idea what we were in for when we started Blue Sky. We just had an idea of what we wanted to do. When we got to a point where it seemed impossible, we just kept doing it. After 18 years, we have a lot of it done."

Chris Wedge, American Director

Creativity, Idea, Sky, Years

14

"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

14

"I keep referring to them in the plural but all I'm dealing with is Bob. I don't know where Harvey fits in the equation. He was very present at the beginning, winding his brother up. I don't know where he is now."

"I keep referring to them in the plural but all I'm dealing with is Bob. I don't know where Harvey fits in the equation. He was very present at the beginning, winding his brother up. I don't know where he is now."

Terry Gilliam, American Director

Family, Brother, Beginning, Now, Present

14

"People just don't laugh when their family is violated, and you don't shrug it off. You band together and you defend together. It's a funny, primitive instinct."

"People just don't laugh when their family is violated, and you don't shrug it off. You band together and you defend together. It's a funny, primitive instinct."

Phillip Noyce, Australian Director

Family, Funny, People, Instinct

14

"And he said that he wrote the Bond character based on the character of David Niven. That's how he saw Bond."

"And he said that he wrote the Bond character based on the character of David Niven. That's how he saw Bond."

Val Guest, British Director

14

"Art depends on luck and talent."

"Art depends on luck and talent."

Francis Ford Coppola, American Director

Art, Talent, Luck

14

"A lot of actors talk about doing their homework, but very few of them do it."

"A lot of actors talk about doing their homework, but very few of them do it."

Tony Scott, British Director

Actor, Actors, Talk

14

"Maybe our telling of the story wasn't as clear as it should have been, but I don't think that's true. In terms of understanding the story, it comes across."

"Maybe our telling of the story wasn't as clear as it should have been, but I don't think that's true. In terms of understanding the story, it comes across."

Joel Coen, American Director

Story, Understanding

14

"Everything Sholom Aleichem talks about in his plays and his short stories is about people, family, man's relationship with his God, the breaking down of tradition."

"Everything Sholom Aleichem talks about in his plays and his short stories is about people, family, man's relationship with his God, the breaking down of tradition."

Norman Jewison, Canadian Director

God, Family, People, Man

14

"I had given up the theater and everything propelled me into entertainment. And I didn't resist it."

"I had given up the theater and everything propelled me into entertainment. And I didn't resist it."

Vincente Minnelli, American Director

Career, Entertainment, Theater

14

"I really, really love directing films."

"I really, really love directing films."

John Frankenheimer, American Director

14

"I think the job of movie reviewing can be really tough. If a film has layers that need to be thought about, it's easy to get missed the first time around."

"I think the job of movie reviewing can be really tough. If a film has layers that need to be thought about, it's easy to get missed the first time around."

Roland Joffe, English Director

Time, Thought, Film, First

14

"How was I going to make a man fly? How was I going to convince the public that an actor could fly?"

"How was I going to make a man fly? How was I going to convince the public that an actor could fly?"

Richard Donner, American Director

Actor, Man, Public

14

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

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

John Milius, American Director

14

"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

14

"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

14

"It's been about ten years since I've worked with actors who knew their lines!"

"It's been about ten years since I've worked with actors who knew their lines!"

John Hughes, American Director

Actor, Actors, Years

14

"When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best - that is inspiration."

"When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best - that is inspiration."

Robert Bresson, French Director

Inspirational, Inspiration

14

"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

14

"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

14

"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

14

"Well it was sent to me, well because almost everything that is written in Baltimore is sent to me. And David Simon, who was a writer for the Baltimore Sun, spent one year following the homicide squad in Baltimore and he chronicled that period of time."

"Well it was sent to me, well because almost everything that is written in Baltimore is sent to me. And David Simon, who was a writer for the Baltimore Sun, spent one year following the homicide squad in Baltimore and he chronicled that period of time."

Barry Levinson, American Director

Time, Sun, Writer

14

"I also wanted to express the strength of cinema to hide reality, while being entertaining. Cinema can fill in the empty spaces of your life and your loneliness."

"I also wanted to express the strength of cinema to hide reality, while being entertaining. Cinema can fill in the empty spaces of your life and your loneliness."

Pedro Almodovar, Spanish Director

Life, Strength, Being, Cinema

14

"You never think the universe will reward your first choice - it just doesn't work like that."

"You never think the universe will reward your first choice - it just doesn't work like that."

Kathryn Bigelow, American Director

Work, Choice, First, Reward

14

"I had a very strong-willed mother, who I totally adored. She was always in control of her life."

"I had a very strong-willed mother, who I totally adored. She was always in control of her life."

Jan de Bont, Dutch Director

Life, Mother, Control

14

"I have nothing against diamonds, or rubies or emeralds or sapphires. I do object when their acquisition is complicit in the debasement of children or the destruction of a country."

"I have nothing against diamonds, or rubies or emeralds or sapphires. I do object when their acquisition is complicit in the debasement of children or the destruction of a country."

Edward Zwick, American Director

Family, Children, Country, Destruction, Nothing

14

"But now I wish I could back to Stockholm to make international films there."

"But now I wish I could back to Stockholm to make international films there."

Lasse Hallstrom, Swedish Director

14

"Hitchcock loves to be misunderstood, because he has based his whole life around misunderstandings."

"Hitchcock loves to be misunderstood, because he has based his whole life around misunderstandings."

Francois Truffaut, French Director

14

"France is the country where the money falls apart and you can't tear the toilet paper."

"France is the country where the money falls apart and you can't tear the toilet paper."

Billy Wilder, American Director

Money, Country, France

14

"Film is a dramatised reality and it is the director's job to make it appear real... an audience should not be conscious of technique."

"Film is a dramatised reality and it is the director's job to make it appear real... an audience should not be conscious of technique."

David Lean, British Director

Film, Job, Reality

14

"With a genre like film noir, everyone has these assumptions and expectations. And once all of those things are in place, that's when you can really start to twist it about and mess around with it."

"With a genre like film noir, everyone has these assumptions and expectations. And once all of those things are in place, that's when you can really start to twist it about and mess around with it."

Larry Wachowski, American Director

Expectation, Expectations, Film

14

"The father's greatest folly is that he believes he can be a much more simple person than he is; he is not really able to deal with his own complexity as a human being."

"The father's greatest folly is that he believes he can be a much more simple person than he is; he is not really able to deal with his own complexity as a human being."

Atom Egoyan, Canadian Director

Family, Father, Being, Complexity, Folly

14

bottom of page