Quotes by Director | Beyond Motive 23/67

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Quotes by Director

"I want to try and work in different genres with different types of actors, on small movies and big movies."

"I want to try and work in different genres with different types of actors, on small movies and big movies."

Sam Mendes, British Director

Movies, Work, Actors, Want

41

"Hindsight is always twenty-twenty."

"Hindsight is always twenty-twenty."

Billy Wilder, American Director

Reflection, Hindsight

41

"I've been to war, and it's not easy to kill. It's bloody and messy and totally horrifying, and the consequences are serious."

"I've been to war, and it's not easy to kill. It's bloody and messy and totally horrifying, and the consequences are serious."

Oliver Stone, American Director

War, Consequences

41

"To be or not to be. That's not really a question."

"To be or not to be. That's not really a question."

Jean-Luc Godard, French Director

41

"I think what happened there was just the budget would be too big to build these sets because nothing really exists here in New York of that period; you have to build it all."

"I think what happened there was just the budget would be too big to build these sets because nothing really exists here in New York of that period; you have to build it all."

Martin Scorsese, American Director

41

"Lord of the Rings made me realize that I'm not interested in doing anyone else's work."

"Lord of the Rings made me realize that I'm not interested in doing anyone else's work."

Ralph Bakshi, American Director

41

"Because if you lived, as I did, several years under Nazi totalitarianism, and then 20 years in communist totalitarianism, you would certainly realize how precious freedom is, and how easy it is to lose your freedom."

"Because if you lived, as I did, several years under Nazi totalitarianism, and then 20 years in communist totalitarianism, you would certainly realize how precious freedom is, and how easy it is to lose your freedom."

Milos Forman, Czechoslovakian Director

41

"Ever since Two Daughters I've been composing my own music."

"Ever since Two Daughters I've been composing my own music."

Satyajit Ray, Indian Director

Music, Daughters

41

"Five years ago, Samira did not want to continue in the regular school system in Iran. To help her with her education, I set up a home school. It wasn't just for my family, it was open to other friends."

"Five years ago, Samira did not want to continue in the regular school system in Iran. To help her with her education, I set up a home school. It wasn't just for my family, it was open to other friends."

Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iranian Director

Home, Education, Family, Friends

41

"I think the book struck me in a few ways that I thought very interesting to pick it as my first martial arts film. It has a very strong female character and it was very abundant in classic Chinese textures."

"I think the book struck me in a few ways that I thought very interesting to pick it as my first martial arts film. It has a very strong female character and it was very abundant in classic Chinese textures."

Ang Lee, Chinese Director

Thought, Character, Film, First

41

"Everybody's a mad scientist, and life is their lab. We're all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos."

"Everybody's a mad scientist, and life is their lab. We're all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos."

David Cronenberg, Canadian Director

Life, Chaos, Madness, Problems

41

"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

41

"David: And you think it can just evaporate? Even if at one time they loved one another?Marx: That's one of the sad truths of existence. Nothing in this world is permanent. Even the characters created by the great Shakespeare will, in millions of years, cease to exist-when the universe runs its course and the lights go out."

"David: And you think it can just evaporate? Even if at one time they loved one another?Marx: That's one of the sad truths of existence. Nothing in this world is permanent. Even the characters created by the great Shakespeare will, in millions of years, cease to exist-when the universe runs its course and the lights go out."

Woody Allen, American Director

Philosophy, Impermanence, Truth, Reality

41

"'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

41

"One of the characteristics of the dream is that nothing surprises us in it. With no regret, we agree to live in it with strangers, completely cut off from our habits and friends."

"One of the characteristics of the dream is that nothing surprises us in it. With no regret, we agree to live in it with strangers, completely cut off from our habits and friends."

Jean Cocteau, French Director

Friendship, Dream, Friends, Habits, Nothing

41

"I consider my films to be poems that are all as personal as my writing and as hand-made."

"I consider my films to be poems that are all as personal as my writing and as hand-made."

James Broughton, American Director

41

"Film is one of the three universal languages, the other two: mathematics and music."

"Film is one of the three universal languages, the other two: mathematics and music."

Frank Capra, American Director

Music, Film, Mathematics

41

"I love doing big movies. It's awesome! You have all these toys. The thing I like about this movie is, like they always say, directors have the biggest train sets! Don't tell anyone, but I'd do this for free."

"I love doing big movies. It's awesome! You have all these toys. The thing I like about this movie is, like they always say, directors have the biggest train sets! Don't tell anyone, but I'd do this for free."

Michael Bay, American Director

41

"The challenge to me as a director was for the audience to see the film as going on in a straight line, so that they did not sense all of these break-ups. I did not want a film to be a collage of all these images."

"The challenge to me as a director was for the audience to see the film as going on in a straight line, so that they did not sense all of these break-ups. I did not want a film to be a collage of all these images."

Pedro Almodovar, Spanish Director

Challenge, Film, Sense, Want

41

"France is a place where the money falls apart in your hands but you can't tear the toilet paper."

"France is a place where the money falls apart in your hands but you can't tear the toilet paper."

Billy Wilder, American Director

41

"First of all, whoever didn't want to be a member of this association or the other association, was branded, you know, like a dangerous individualist, you know, infected by the Western decadence, you know. So everybody joined."

"First of all, whoever didn't want to be a member of this association or the other association, was branded, you know, like a dangerous individualist, you know, infected by the Western decadence, you know. So everybody joined."

Milos Forman, Czechoslovakian Director

Politics, First, Want

41

"Well, Company of Wolves was about that literally, about fairy tales."

"Well, Company of Wolves was about that literally, about fairy tales."

Neil Jordan, Irish Director

Movies, Company

41

"His lack of education is more than compensated for by his keenly developed moral bankruptcy."

"His lack of education is more than compensated for by his keenly developed moral bankruptcy."

Woody Allen, American Director

41

"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

40

"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

40

"As filmmakers, we can show where a person's mind goes, as opposed to theater, which is more to sit back and watch it."

"As filmmakers, we can show where a person's mind goes, as opposed to theater, which is more to sit back and watch it."

Darren Aronofsky, American Director

40

"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

40

"There are certainly laws and elements that make a film more accessible to mainstream audiences. If you've got Tom Cruise as a strongman, I'm sure it would have larger audiences, but it wouldn't have the same substance."

"There are certainly laws and elements that make a film more accessible to mainstream audiences. If you've got Tom Cruise as a strongman, I'm sure it would have larger audiences, but it wouldn't have the same substance."

Werner Herzog, German Director

Entertainment, Audiences, Film, Laws

40

"We live in a society that compels us to go on using these concepts, and we no longer know what they mean."

"We live in a society that compels us to go on using these concepts, and we no longer know what they mean."

Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian Director

40

"Interview with a Vampire was lots of sex, so I'm not sure."

"Interview with a Vampire was lots of sex, so I'm not sure."

Uwe Boll, German Director

40

"Do what you haven't done is the key, I think."

"Do what you haven't done is the key, I think."

Ridley Scott, British Director

40

"It's an entire industry focusing on young male viewers that want action and violence. They sell us something that isn't valid. They're selling films like a product."

"It's an entire industry focusing on young male viewers that want action and violence. They sell us something that isn't valid. They're selling films like a product."

Norman Jewison, Canadian Director

Action, Selling, Violence, Want

40

"That is where the irony of the film comes off, in terms of the language it employs - where he tries desperately to be a 'TV Dad,' to give advice and it's so pat it becomes ridiculous."

"That is where the irony of the film comes off, in terms of the language it employs - where he tries desperately to be a 'TV Dad,' to give advice and it's so pat it becomes ridiculous."

Atom Egoyan, Canadian Director

Family, Dad, Advice, Film, Irony

40

"Sergio Leone was a big influence on me because of the spaghetti westerns."

"Sergio Leone was a big influence on me because of the spaghetti westerns."

Quentin Tarantino, American Director

40

"I always preferred to hang out with the outcasts, 'cause they were cooler; they had better taste in music, for one thing, I guess because they had more time to develop one with the lack of social interaction they had!"

"I always preferred to hang out with the outcasts, 'cause they were cooler; they had better taste in music, for one thing, I guess because they had more time to develop one with the lack of social interaction they had!"

John Hughes, American Director

Time, Music, Outcasts, Taste

40

"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

40

"Let's put it this way: art house theaters are vanishing. They have almost disappeared completely, and that means there's a shift in what audiences want to see. And they have to be aware of that and be realistic. It's as simple as that."

"Let's put it this way: art house theaters are vanishing. They have almost disappeared completely, and that means there's a shift in what audiences want to see. And they have to be aware of that and be realistic. It's as simple as that."

Werner Herzog, German Director

Art, Audiences, Want

40

"An actor is never so great as when he reminds you of an animal - falling like a cat, lying like a dog, moving like a fox."

"An actor is never so great as when he reminds you of an animal - falling like a cat, lying like a dog, moving like a fox."

Francois Truffaut, French Director

40

"I don't think about Hollywood at all."

"I don't think about Hollywood at all."

Alex Cox, British Director

40

"It was lights, camera, inaction."

"It was lights, camera, inaction."

Terry Gilliam, American Director

Politics, Inaction

40

"When you're working with a smaller budget I suppose one of the things that has to be in your mind when you are writing is that you have to keep the characters down to a minimum."

"When you're working with a smaller budget I suppose one of the things that has to be in your mind when you are writing is that you have to keep the characters down to a minimum."

Atom Egoyan, Canadian Director

40

"When the music and the characters are flawlessly synchronized, the opera develops an emotional force that movies and plays cannot match."

"When the music and the characters are flawlessly synchronized, the opera develops an emotional force that movies and plays cannot match."

Bruce Beresford, Australian Director

Movies, Music, Force, Opera

40

"After Lock, Stock, all these really nasty small town characters came knocking at my door trying to tell me stories, and somehow I ended up with this guy whose brother was feeding people to pigs, and that's what he did to get rid of people."

"After Lock, Stock, all these really nasty small town characters came knocking at my door trying to tell me stories, and somehow I ended up with this guy whose brother was feeding people to pigs, and that's what he did to get rid of people."

Guy Ritchie, British Director

Family, Brother, People, Trying

40

"Only people have been through that miserable time will recall the pass from their deep memory."

"Only people have been through that miserable time will recall the pass from their deep memory."

Zhang Yimou, Chinese Director

Time, People, Deep, Memory

40

"I have come to know Bugs so well that I no longer have to think about what he is doing in any situation."

"I have come to know Bugs so well that I no longer have to think about what he is doing in any situation."

Chuck Jones, American Director

Creativity, Bugs

40

"You know, I think everything I do cinematically for the rest of my life will probably have some direct route back to Jonathan. But I love him to death. He's like my best friend and my big brother."

"You know, I think everything I do cinematically for the rest of my life will probably have some direct route back to Jonathan. But I love him to death. He's like my best friend and my big brother."

Ted Demme, American Director

Friendship, Life, Love, Death, Brother

40

"Technology is not neutral."

"Technology is not neutral."

Godfrey Reggio, American Director

40

"I watched a couple of really bad directors work, and I saw how they completely botched it up and missed the visual opportunities of the scene when we had put things in front of them as opportunities. Set pieces, props and so on."

"I watched a couple of really bad directors work, and I saw how they completely botched it up and missed the visual opportunities of the scene when we had put things in front of them as opportunities. Set pieces, props and so on."

James Cameron, American Director

40

"When you're actually making the film, you're constantly battling to maintain its integrity."

"When you're actually making the film, you're constantly battling to maintain its integrity."

Ted Kotcheff, Canadian Director

Film, Integrity

40

"In Goodfellas they have this one scene where the camera goes down some steps and walks through a kitchen into a restaurant and the critics were all over this as evidence of the genius of Scorsese and Scorsese is a genius."

"In Goodfellas they have this one scene where the camera goes down some steps and walks through a kitchen into a restaurant and the critics were all over this as evidence of the genius of Scorsese and Scorsese is a genius."

Alex Cox, British Director

Genius, Kitchen

40

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