Quotes by Director | Beyond Motive 47/67

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Quotes by Director

"The very reasons sometimes that you make a film are the reasons for its failure."

"The very reasons sometimes that you make a film are the reasons for its failure."

Sydney Pollack, American Director

40

"Ultimately, it's an illusion that you can understand yourself."

"Ultimately, it's an illusion that you can understand yourself."

Paul Schrader, American Director

40

"We're both very very lazy, and having someone else do half the work is very convenient."

"We're both very very lazy, and having someone else do half the work is very convenient."

Larry Wachowski, American Director

40

"I was starting to become impotent through this diet and couldn't perform. How many people who are taking the little blue pill, if they started to change what they are eating most of the time, could change the way their sex life is?"

"I was starting to become impotent through this diet and couldn't perform. How many people who are taking the little blue pill, if they started to change what they are eating most of the time, could change the way their sex life is?"

Morgan Spurlock, American Director

Change, Diet, Life, Time

40

"Because his basic idea that he got from the study of gall wasps is that everyone's sexuality is unique."

"Because his basic idea that he got from the study of gall wasps is that everyone's sexuality is unique."

Bill Condon, American Director

Creativity, Idea, Sexuality, Study

40

"Well, like any time you're shooting documentary stuff, you've got to be in the moment, and you've got to be able to be in control enough to capture what's happening."

"Well, like any time you're shooting documentary stuff, you've got to be in the moment, and you've got to be able to be in control enough to capture what's happening."

Brian De Palma, American Director

40

"In love, women are professionals, men are amateurs."

"In love, women are professionals, men are amateurs."

Francois Truffaut, French Director

Love, Men, Women, Professionals

40

"I thought I might say something to newsmen that could be turned into a scandal."

"I thought I might say something to newsmen that could be turned into a scandal."

George Stevens, American Director

Thought, Scandal

40

"Hollywood has always been a cage... a cage to catch our dreams."

"Hollywood has always been a cage... a cage to catch our dreams."

John Huston, American Director

Dream, Dreams, Hollywood

40

"As I said earlier, there are no writers who could create a literary vision of the new reality."

"As I said earlier, there are no writers who could create a literary vision of the new reality."

Andrzej Wajda, Polish Director

Vision, Literary, Reality, Writers

40

"Before you approach a production entity or even a potential producer, you should write up a treatment and register your show with the Writers Guild of America."

"Before you approach a production entity or even a potential producer, you should write up a treatment and register your show with the Writers Guild of America."

Penelope Spheeris, American Director

Media, America, Potential, Production, Treatment

40

"The American public does not know poets exist."

"The American public does not know poets exist."

James Broughton, American Director

Economy, Poets, Public

40

"In the past I've made movies that were pretty universally liked. You can't really hate them. You can discard them, but you can't really hate them."

"In the past I've made movies that were pretty universally liked. You can't really hate them. You can discard them, but you can't really hate them."

Ang Lee, Chinese Director

Movies, Hate, Past, Pretty

40

"Wizards was my homage to Tolkien in the American idiom. I had read Tolkien, understood Tolkien, and wanted to do a sort of fantasy for American kids, and that was Wizards."

"Wizards was my homage to Tolkien in the American idiom. I had read Tolkien, understood Tolkien, and wanted to do a sort of fantasy for American kids, and that was Wizards."

Ralph Bakshi, American Director

Movies, Fantasy, Kids

40

"All my movies, like Revenge, are under two hours."

"All my movies, like Revenge, are under two hours."

Tony Scott, British Director

Movies, Revenge

40

"It's like being at the kids' table at Thanksgiving - you can put your elbows on it, you don't have to talk politics... no matter how old I get, there's always a part of me that's sitting there."

"It's like being at the kids' table at Thanksgiving - you can put your elbows on it, you don't have to talk politics... no matter how old I get, there's always a part of me that's sitting there."

John Hughes, American Director

Politics, Being, Kids, Old

40

"I've experienced a private doubt, something that I've kept deeply inside, and then eventually delivered a piece of work that people responded to with huge enthusiasm."

"I've experienced a private doubt, something that I've kept deeply inside, and then eventually delivered a piece of work that people responded to with huge enthusiasm."

Trevor Nunn, English Director

Work, People, Enthusiasm, Doubt

40

"In our film profession you may have Gable's looks, Tracy's art, Marlene's legs or Liz's violet eyes, but they don't mean a thing without that swinging thing called courage."

"In our film profession you may have Gable's looks, Tracy's art, Marlene's legs or Liz's violet eyes, but they don't mean a thing without that swinging thing called courage."

Frank Capra, American Director

Art, Courage, Eyes, Film

40

"I have no spy stories to tell, because I saw no spies. Nor did I understand, at that time, any opposition between American and Russian national interest."

"I have no spy stories to tell, because I saw no spies. Nor did I understand, at that time, any opposition between American and Russian national interest."

Elia Kazan, American Director

Time, Interest, Opposition

40

"I still think like a critic, and I still analyze films like a critic. However, it's not possible to write criticism if you're making films."

"I still think like a critic, and I still analyze films like a critic. However, it's not possible to write criticism if you're making films."

Paul Schrader, American Director

40

"History's just been made for sale to an inside deal."

"History's just been made for sale to an inside deal."

Ken Burns, American Director

40

"To me, length is an artificial and arbitrary factor in a film."

"To me, length is an artificial and arbitrary factor in a film."

Frank Darabont, American Director

40

"Now, it's almost impossible to go out and do a film about a new form of music."

"Now, it's almost impossible to go out and do a film about a new form of music."

Penelope Spheeris, American Director

Music, Film, Now

40

"A film that is bleached tends to have a more realistic quality."

"A film that is bleached tends to have a more realistic quality."

Lasse Hallstrom, Swedish Director

40

"I was both very successful and very left; the living demonstration of how you could be on the left and still be in the gossip columns and be envied for the money you made."

"I was both very successful and very left; the living demonstration of how you could be on the left and still be in the gossip columns and be envied for the money you made."

Elia Kazan, American Director

Money, Successful, Gossip, Living

40

"I simply wanted to state that during this little slice of history, this is what happened and these were the good sides of it, these were the more dangerous sides of it, and this was the result."

"I simply wanted to state that during this little slice of history, this is what happened and these were the good sides of it, these were the more dangerous sides of it, and this was the result."

Roland Joffe, English Director

History, Result, State

40

"HATE, even if it's making money. is an underground movie, that's how it was made. It's a film about police brutality in the largest sense, it's about the whole of society and not just about the hood."

"HATE, even if it's making money. is an underground movie, that's how it was made. It's a film about police brutality in the largest sense, it's about the whole of society and not just about the hood."

Mathieu Kassovitz, French Director

Society, Money, Film, Hate

40

"Even in high school I was very interested in history - why people do the things they do. As a kid I spent a lot of time trying to relate the past to the present."

"Even in high school I was very interested in history - why people do the things they do. As a kid I spent a lot of time trying to relate the past to the present."

George Lucas, American Director

History, Time, People, Past

40

"Being a hooker does not mean being evil. The same with a pick-pocket, or even a thief. You do what you do out of necessity."

"Being a hooker does not mean being evil. The same with a pick-pocket, or even a thief. You do what you do out of necessity."

Samuel Fuller, American Director

Being, Evil, Necessity

40

"One of the people that became a major source was Clarence Tripp who worked with Kinsey."

"One of the people that became a major source was Clarence Tripp who worked with Kinsey."

Bill Condon, American Director

40

"The very effect of the education they were given... was to make men think; and, thinking, they became less and less satisfied with the miserable pays they received."

"The very effect of the education they were given... was to make men think; and, thinking, they became less and less satisfied with the miserable pays they received."

John Grierson, British Director

Education, Men, Effect, Thinking

40

"I'm a historian in my own mind."

"I'm a historian in my own mind."

Quentin Tarantino, American Director

40

"It makes it difficult to decide which to go see, since no film about say, some tragic genocide in Africa is going to get a bad review even if it's poorly made."

"It makes it difficult to decide which to go see, since no film about say, some tragic genocide in Africa is going to get a bad review even if it's poorly made."

Terry Zwigoff, American Director

40

"Now I'm back home, living in London, running my theater. I just want to enjoy all that."

"Now I'm back home, living in London, running my theater. I just want to enjoy all that."

Sam Mendes, British Director

Home, Living, London, Now

40

"I've produced my own films for twenty years now - it means I have to talk to less people."

"I've produced my own films for twenty years now - it means I have to talk to less people."

Sydney Pollack, American Director

People, Now, Talk, Years

40

"I think the great artists, especially in literature, have always thought with the heart."

"I think the great artists, especially in literature, have always thought with the heart."

Douglas Sirk, German Director

Thought, Heart, Artists, Literature

40

"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

40

"I think it would be fun to write about movies again."

"I think it would be fun to write about movies again."

Bill Condon, American Director

40

"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

39

"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

39

"Comedy is unusual people in real situations; farce is real people in unusual situations."

"Comedy is unusual people in real situations; farce is real people in unusual situations."

Chuck Jones, American Director

39

"The only lesson to extract from any civil war is that it's pointless and futile and ugly, and that there is nothing glamorous or heroic about it. There are heroes, but the causes are never heroic."

"The only lesson to extract from any civil war is that it's pointless and futile and ugly, and that there is nothing glamorous or heroic about it. There are heroes, but the causes are never heroic."

Anthony Minghella, British Director

War, Causes, Heroes, Nothing

39

"The freshest moments in my films have always been with unknown actors."

"The freshest moments in my films have always been with unknown actors."

John Singleton, American Director

Actor, Actors, Moments

39

"I've become friends with Michael Mann and Oliver Stone; I've seen those guys work and that was great to see."

"I've become friends with Michael Mann and Oliver Stone; I've seen those guys work and that was great to see."

Antoine Fuqua, American Director

Friendship, Work, Friends

39

"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

39

"There were IBM logos designed for the film, and there were IBM design consultants working with Kubrick on the layout of the controls and computer screens."

"There were IBM logos designed for the film, and there were IBM design consultants working with Kubrick on the layout of the controls and computer screens."

Douglas Trumbull, American Director

Design, Computer, Film

39

"It's often wrong to write for specific actors because one ends up using what is least interesting about them, their mannerisms and habits. I prefer not to write for specific people."

"It's often wrong to write for specific actors because one ends up using what is least interesting about them, their mannerisms and habits. I prefer not to write for specific people."

Claude Chabrol, French Director

People, Actors, Habits, Wrong

39

"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

39

"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

39

"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

39

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