Quotes by Director | Beyond Motive 32/66

top of page

Quotes by Director

"Too many girls follow the line of least resistance but a good line is hard to resist."

"Too many girls follow the line of least resistance but a good line is hard to resist."

Raoul Walsh, American Director

4

"I love involving actors at all levels - and they have to know that I want to hear their contributions, with dialogue, with story suggestions, with script changes, whatever."

"I love involving actors at all levels - and they have to know that I want to hear their contributions, with dialogue, with story suggestions, with script changes, whatever."

Lasse Hallstrom, Swedish Director

Love, Actors, Want

4

"Fourth Law of Thermodynamics: If the probability of success is not almost one, then it is damn near zero."

"Fourth Law of Thermodynamics: If the probability of success is not almost one, then it is damn near zero."

David R. Ellis, American Director

4

"There are too many souls of wood not to love those wooden characters who do indeed have a soul."

"There are too many souls of wood not to love those wooden characters who do indeed have a soul."

Jean Cocteau, French Director

Love, Soul, Wood

4

"I felt that as long as we were being honest, and that we didn't bend the truth to accomplish another goal, to be entertaining or to be a happy ending, I was confident that we'd be able to tell the story the way it happened."

"I felt that as long as we were being honest, and that we didn't bend the truth to accomplish another goal, to be entertaining or to be a happy ending, I was confident that we'd be able to tell the story the way it happened."

Ted Demme, American Director

Truth, Goal, Being, Ending

4

"Most poets in their youth begin in adolescent sadness. I find it more rewarding to end in gladness."

"Most poets in their youth begin in adolescent sadness. I find it more rewarding to end in gladness."

James Broughton, American Director

Violence, End, Poets, Sadness, Youth

4

"Every actor I think has got their own number of takes that they like, you know. Some actors like to go all day, you know on the one scene and some actors want to take two takes. I personally like four."

"Every actor I think has got their own number of takes that they like, you know. Some actors like to go all day, you know on the one scene and some actors want to take two takes. I personally like four."

Robert Carlyle, Scottish Director

Actor, Actors, Day, Want

4

"I watched Someone to Watch Over Me the other night. I thought it was a really good movie. It's a great movie."

"I watched Someone to Watch Over Me the other night. I thought it was a really good movie. It's a great movie."

Ridley Scott, British Director

4

"So I am getting a little bored with defining one type of film as American and the other European or from somewhere else because the division is no longer true."

"So I am getting a little bored with defining one type of film as American and the other European or from somewhere else because the division is no longer true."

Wim Wenders, German Director

Nationality, American, Film

4

"I think there's only one or two films where I've had all the financial support I needed. All the rest, I wish I'd had the money to shoot another ten days."

"I think there's only one or two films where I've had all the financial support I needed. All the rest, I wish I'd had the money to shoot another ten days."

Martin Scorsese, American Director

Money, Financial, Rest, Support

4

"And when you see it the first time you put the film together, the roughest cut, is when you want to go home and open up your veins and get in a warm tub and just go away. And then it gradually, maybe, works its way back, somewhere toward that spot you were at before."

"And when you see it the first time you put the film together, the roughest cut, is when you want to go home and open up your veins and get in a warm tub and just go away. And then it gradually, maybe, works its way back, somewhere toward that spot you were at before."

Joel Coen, American Director

Home, Time, Film, First

3

"Yeah, I had an idea to make a very scary movie, based on a kind of serial murderer that preys on tourists."

"Yeah, I had an idea to make a very scary movie, based on a kind of serial murderer that preys on tourists."

Brian De Palma, American Director

Creativity, Idea, Tourists

3

"To me, thoughts are fun and art is fun. The strength of our society should not be idle entertainments but the joy of pursuing ideas."

"To me, thoughts are fun and art is fun. The strength of our society should not be idle entertainments but the joy of pursuing ideas."

Philip Kaufman, American Director

Strength, Art, Society, Ideas

3

"You know how you smoke out a sniper? You send a guy out in the open, and you see if he gets shot. They thought that one up at West Point."

"You know how you smoke out a sniper? You send a guy out in the open, and you see if he gets shot. They thought that one up at West Point."

Samuel Fuller, American Director

3

"Most Italians who came to this country are very patriotic. There was this exciting possibility that if you worked real hard, and you loved something, you could become successful."

"Most Italians who came to this country are very patriotic. There was this exciting possibility that if you worked real hard, and you loved something, you could become successful."

Francis Ford Coppola, American Director

Success, Successful, Possibility, Country

3

"We should all have the opportunity to express what we want to express."

"We should all have the opportunity to express what we want to express."

Richard King, American Director

Opportunity, Want

3

"Kinsey thought that Freud in his own way was as dangerous as the Catholic Church."

"Kinsey thought that Freud in his own way was as dangerous as the Catholic Church."

Bill Condon, American Director

Thought, Church

3

"I draw what I feel, which is no more than doing my job."

"I draw what I feel, which is no more than doing my job."

Ralph Bakshi, American Director

3

"People dance and we have a lot of music and... this might be the closet I get for a while."

"People dance and we have a lot of music and... this might be the closet I get for a while."

Cameron Crowe, American Director

Music, People, Dance

3

"I was very disappointed that Denzel didn't win Best Actor for The Hurricane because I thought he deserved it."

"I was very disappointed that Denzel didn't win Best Actor for The Hurricane because I thought he deserved it."

Norman Jewison, Canadian Director

3

"More people are exposed to movies than to most other forms of art."

"More people are exposed to movies than to most other forms of art."

Richard King, American Director

Art, Movies, People

3

"Slater's a big star and he's been in the business a long time. He's always in a good mood and easygoing but he takes his character very seriously."

"Slater's a big star and he's been in the business a long time. He's always in a good mood and easygoing but he takes his character very seriously."

Uwe Boll, German Director

Business, Time, Character

3

"I've just taken the decision that I'm going to now go full time back into the theater."

"I've just taken the decision that I'm going to now go full time back into the theater."

Trevor Nunn, English Director

Time, Decision, Now, Theater

3

"What I expect of a movie reviewer is that he should love cinema as much as I do."

"What I expect of a movie reviewer is that he should love cinema as much as I do."

Patrice Leconte, French Director

3

"When men have money and power they get turned on, sexually. They get horny as hell. Can't imagine why, though."

"When men have money and power they get turned on, sexually. They get horny as hell. Can't imagine why, though."

Penelope Spheeris, American Director

Man, Men, Money, Power, Hell

3

"In England, I'm a horror movie director. In Germany, I'm a filmmaker. In the US, I'm a bum."

"In England, I'm a horror movie director. In Germany, I'm a filmmaker. In the US, I'm a bum."

John Carpenter, American Director

Identity, England, Germany, Horror

3

"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

3

"I was the hero of the young insurgent working class art movement."

"I was the hero of the young insurgent working class art movement."

Elia Kazan, American Director

3

"Heart of America is a movie I'm very proud of. The young actors are great and the story has impact."

"Heart of America is a movie I'm very proud of. The young actors are great and the story has impact."

Uwe Boll, German Director

Heart, Actors, America

3

"There's a consistency in my work that pops up independent of the limitations of the technology."

"There's a consistency in my work that pops up independent of the limitations of the technology."

Douglas Trumbull, American Director

Technology, Work, Consistency, Limitations

3

"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

3

"I record all of my music with authentic instruments in a studio before we start editing, doing many, many versions. The music shapes the film as we edit so it has an organic relationship to the content."

"I record all of my music with authentic instruments in a studio before we start editing, doing many, many versions. The music shapes the film as we edit so it has an organic relationship to the content."

Ken Burns, American Director

Music, Content, Film

3

"The characters are the result of two things-first, we elaborate them into fairly well-defined people through their dialogue, then they happen all over again, when the actor interprets them."

"The characters are the result of two things-first, we elaborate them into fairly well-defined people through their dialogue, then they happen all over again, when the actor interprets them."

Joel Coen, American Director

People, Actor, Result

3

"We agreed that we cannot let personal political attacks get in the way of doing the very best we can for California's children."

"We agreed that we cannot let personal political attacks get in the way of doing the very best we can for California's children."

Rob Reiner, American Director

Family, Children

3

"We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little, we went insane."

"We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little, we went insane."

Francis Ford Coppola, American Director

3

"A lot of poets too live on the margins of social acceptance, they certainly aren't in it for the money. William Blake - only his first book was legitimately published."

"A lot of poets too live on the margins of social acceptance, they certainly aren't in it for the money. William Blake - only his first book was legitimately published."

Jim Jarmusch, American Director

Money, Acceptance, First, Poets

3

"To find a script that works with provocative ideas is hard to find."

"To find a script that works with provocative ideas is hard to find."

John McTiernan, American Director

Creativity, Ideas, Provocative

3

"I think the more the actor lets you know what he thinks of the character, the less the audience cares - like a comedian who laughs at his own jokes."

"I think the more the actor lets you know what he thinks of the character, the less the audience cares - like a comedian who laughs at his own jokes."

Neil LaBute, American Director

Character, Actor, Jokes

3

"There arose a belief in style - and in banality. Banality encompassed politics, too, because it was a common belief that politics were not worthy of art."

"There arose a belief in style - and in banality. Banality encompassed politics, too, because it was a common belief that politics were not worthy of art."

Douglas Sirk, German Director

Art, Politics, Belief, Style

3

"If you respect the audience enough, they can take onboard many things."

"If you respect the audience enough, they can take onboard many things."

Nick Park, British Director

3

"If anything, if you can get somebody interested in something and get them excited, that's great. You should be praised for having opened the debate and having asked the right questions."

"If anything, if you can get somebody interested in something and get them excited, that's great. You should be praised for having opened the debate and having asked the right questions."

Oliver Stone, American Director

Debate, Questions, Right

3

"It's difficult working with very rich actors, because inevitably they become a little spoilt, and the managers and agents tend to control things more than is healthy."

"It's difficult working with very rich actors, because inevitably they become a little spoilt, and the managers and agents tend to control things more than is healthy."

Mike Figgis, English Director

Control, Actors, Managers

3

"If I really considered myself a writer, I wouldn't be writing screenplays. I'd be writing novels."

"If I really considered myself a writer, I wouldn't be writing screenplays. I'd be writing novels."

Quentin Tarantino, American Director

Writing, Writer

3

"Truly great actors carry their characters in silence with them. They communicate without words the relationships that predate the movie."

"Truly great actors carry their characters in silence with them. They communicate without words the relationships that predate the movie."

Sam Mendes, British Director

Relationship, Actors, Relationships, Silence, Words

3

"Right after I did 'The Fountain,' I wanted to go make a documentary or something that was less constructed - more natural. I was searching for a project, and sniffing around, 'The Wrestler' fit right in."

"Right after I did 'The Fountain,' I wanted to go make a documentary or something that was less constructed - more natural. I was searching for a project, and sniffing around, 'The Wrestler' fit right in."

Darren Aronofsky, American Director

Film, Project, Right

3

"That's the most beautiful thing that I like about boxing: you can take a punch. The biggest thing about taking a punch is your ego reacts and there's no better spiritual lesson than trying to not pay attention to your ego's reaction."

"That's the most beautiful thing that I like about boxing: you can take a punch. The biggest thing about taking a punch is your ego reacts and there's no better spiritual lesson than trying to not pay attention to your ego's reaction."

David O. Russell, American Director

Attention, Ego, Spiritual, Trying

3

"I think that many people in history who had power were bumped off because they had power."

"I think that many people in history who had power were bumped off because they had power."

Oliver Stone, American Director

History, Power, People

3

"You can have a lot of unhappiness by not having money, but the reverse is no guarantee of happiness."

"You can have a lot of unhappiness by not having money, but the reverse is no guarantee of happiness."

Philip Kaufman, American Director

Happiness, Money, Unhappiness

3

"If leaders in the space program had at its beginning in the 1940s, pointed out the benefits to people on earth rather than emphasizing the search for proof of evolution in space, the program would have saved $100 billion in tax money and achieved greater results."

"If leaders in the space program had at its beginning in the 1940s, pointed out the benefits to people on earth rather than emphasizing the search for proof of evolution in space, the program would have saved $100 billion in tax money and achieved greater results."

Walter Lang, American Director

Money, People, Beginning, Benefits

3

"The writer, when he is also an artist, is someone who admits what others don't dare reveal."

"The writer, when he is also an artist, is someone who admits what others don't dare reveal."

Elia Kazan, American Director

Creativity, Artist, Writer

3

bottom of page