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Quotes by Director

"The Flower of My Secret is definitely more based in true emotions. I also wanted to make something more realistic, but not naturalistic or simple."

"So I like to try to go back and develop pure visual storytelling. Because to me, it's one of the most exciting aspects of making movies and almost a lost art at this point."

"Anyway, he and I worked on the script together, and I must say he was a joy to work with. Very enthusiastic."


"You get trapped by stories. Though I've got this reputation for being out of control, it's not true, it just happens to be a more interesting story than the truth."

"The directing of a picture involves coming out of your individual loneliness and taking a controlling part in putting together a small world. A picture is made. You put a frame around it and move on. And one day you die. That is all there is to it."

"After working for years in Hollywood where the actors have taken over, it was a real relief to get down there and not only have some children, but also have some actors that had no attitude."

"The technology of the time dictated the way things looked."

"Before Sunrise did very well internationally. It made as much in Italy and Korea as it did here."

"Any movie that has that spirit and says things can be changed is worth making."

"And, consequently, the art of propaganda or public information becomes one of the most powerful forms of directive statesmanship."

"Also a great part of Polish industry proved to have existed only to support the Soviet military industry, and it became superfluous and incapable of being transformed into anything else. We did not foresee that or the magnitude of these phenomena."

"Films made in the spirit of the past continued to be made."

"Superman was never previewed because the producers didn't trust Warners with the film."

"So I decided to move that scene in the doctor's office to two-thirds into the movie, after the viewers had come to know Ryan and Ali and share in their happiness."

"The accolades usually come when you're dead or too old to get a job."

"When you shoot a musical, you're shooting to lipsynch tracks, so we had to figure out our choreography and work out what we wanted to do with each number before we did it."
Work,

"The first assistant director is just so important that the choice of that person is critical to the movie."


"They suggested I should introduce an element of reincarnation in the story. At first, I thought that was silly. But then, this whole time dimension began to fascinate me."

"In Finland, getting a university degree is the first thing that you expect your kids to do."


"Some people like to do everything always the same thing. That's another way: To do the same thing."

"My plan is to have a theatre in some small town or something and I'll be manager. Ill be the crazy old movie guy."

"The big difference is the size of the crew and the flexibility of shooting because of the size. I mean, it's crazy. So you can't improvise, you cannot suddenly do something that comes to mind, whereas in a small production you have much more flexibility."

"I don't like to think that maybe I'm just getting old. I'm not too excited about watching a huge explosion. I'm more interested in people and characters."


"Yes, obviously, there's this degree of wanting people to accept other people faiths and philosophies."
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