Quotes by Director | Beyond Motive 52/67

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Quotes by Director

"In the commercial theater, I've been pretty fortunate. The producers that I've worked with have allowed me to define the artistic integrity, the artistic limits of the work."

"In the commercial theater, I've been pretty fortunate. The producers that I've worked with have allowed me to define the artistic integrity, the artistic limits of the work."

Trevor Nunn, English Director

Work, Integrity, Limits, Pretty

38

"The most astonishing joy is to receive from the muses the gift of a whole lyric."

"The most astonishing joy is to receive from the muses the gift of a whole lyric."

James Broughton, American Director

38

"Consciousness is the glory of creation."

"Consciousness is the glory of creation."

James Broughton, American Director

Consciousness, Creation, Glory

38

"If Bush, as I believe, has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction, I cannot not support the policies of his government."

"If Bush, as I believe, has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction, I cannot not support the policies of his government."

Steven Spielberg, American Director

Government, Destruction, Fact, Information

38

"I try not to have favorites, but Barfly is one that I like. My favorite is always the one I just finished."

"I try not to have favorites, but Barfly is one that I like. My favorite is always the one I just finished."

Barbet Schroeder, French Director

38

"I've held onto little musical sketches that I thought could be useful, and the more time that I spend doing them for each film, then the more I have to draw on."

"I've held onto little musical sketches that I thought could be useful, and the more time that I spend doing them for each film, then the more I have to draw on."

Mike Figgis, English Director

Time, Thought, Film

38

"That's what takes people out of the fight half the time. They get hit and half the reaction is your ego is saying, 'I cannot believe that person just lit me up - how humiliating.'"

"That's what takes people out of the fight half the time. They get hit and half the reaction is your ego is saying, 'I cannot believe that person just lit me up - how humiliating.'"

David O. Russell, American Director

Time, People, Ego, Fight

38

"Dance, vaudeville, drama, movies - as a child I loved everything that went on in a theater."

"Dance, vaudeville, drama, movies - as a child I loved everything that went on in a theater."

James Broughton, American Director

Movies, Dance, Drama, Theater

38

"A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there."

"A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there."

Spike Lee, American Director

38

"Clearly, if we'd had the kind of computer graphics capability then that we have now, the Star Gate sequence would be much more complex than flat planes of light and color."

"Clearly, if we'd had the kind of computer graphics capability then that we have now, the Star Gate sequence would be much more complex than flat planes of light and color."

Douglas Trumbull, American Director

Computer, Light, Now

38

"Well, the wonderful thing about making movies, oddly enough, is that they're sort of highly motivated graduate studies in one or another field."

"Well, the wonderful thing about making movies, oddly enough, is that they're sort of highly motivated graduate studies in one or another field."

Sydney Pollack, American Director

38

"You program music with an image and then people are desensitized."

"You program music with an image and then people are desensitized."

Julie Taymor, American Director

38

"Naturally, it is a terrible, despicable crime when, as in Munich, people are taken hostage, people are killed. But probing the motives of those responsible and showing that they are also individuals with families and have their own story does not excuse what they did."

"Naturally, it is a terrible, despicable crime when, as in Munich, people are taken hostage, people are killed. But probing the motives of those responsible and showing that they are also individuals with families and have their own story does not excuse what they did."

Steven Spielberg, American Director

People, Crime, Motives

38

"And in movies you must be a gambler. To produce films is to gamble."

"And in movies you must be a gambler. To produce films is to gamble."

Douglas Sirk, German Director

38

"It is often more important to act than to understand... there are times... when two conflicting opinions, though one happens to be right, are more perilous than one opinion which is wrong."

"It is often more important to act than to understand... there are times... when two conflicting opinions, though one happens to be right, are more perilous than one opinion which is wrong."

John Grierson, British Director

Act, Opinion, Opinions, Right

38

"I would not be able to pen an academic and dry diatribe. I have too much talent for that."

"I would not be able to pen an academic and dry diatribe. I have too much talent for that."

Theo Van Gogh, Dutch Director

38

"My favorite laser disk ever was the laser disk for The Graduate, which had a commentary track that wasn't even the filmmakers, it was a professor, some film criticism guy who just happen to be this amazing commentator who went off into the whole theory of comedy."

"My favorite laser disk ever was the laser disk for The Graduate, which had a commentary track that wasn't even the filmmakers, it was a professor, some film criticism guy who just happen to be this amazing commentator who went off into the whole theory of comedy."

Jay Roach, American Director

Comedy, Criticism, Favorite, Film

38

"But when I direct I become possessed, a possession I've never quite understood."

"But when I direct I become possessed, a possession I've never quite understood."

Ted Kotcheff, Canadian Director

Art, Possession

38

"Why if I had half a chance, I could make an entire movie using this stock footage. The story opens on these mysterious explosions. Nobody knows what's causing them, but it's upsetting all the buffalo. So, the military are called in to solve the mystery."

"Why if I had half a chance, I could make an entire movie using this stock footage. The story opens on these mysterious explosions. Nobody knows what's causing them, but it's upsetting all the buffalo. So, the military are called in to solve the mystery."

Ed Wood, American Director

Chance, Military, Mystery

38

"I know this is silly, it's shallow, it's bad, I wish I wasn't this way-but if I meet a girl with no teeth, I just don't want to date her. It's creepy of me, I wish I was a bigger person, but that's my real turn-off."

"I know this is silly, it's shallow, it's bad, I wish I wasn't this way-but if I meet a girl with no teeth, I just don't want to date her. It's creepy of me, I wish I was a bigger person, but that's my real turn-off."

Peter Farrelly, American Director

Appearance, Silly, Want

38

"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

37

"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

37

"There are certain actors who are very good at improvising, like Dustin Hoffman and Glenda Jackson."

"There are certain actors who are very good at improvising, like Dustin Hoffman and Glenda Jackson."

John Schlesinger, British Director

37

"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

37

"I remember an article, I can't recall who by, it was after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which said that now the Wall was down, there could be no more class war. Only someone with money could ever say such a thing."

"I remember an article, I can't recall who by, it was after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which said that now the Wall was down, there could be no more class war. Only someone with money could ever say such a thing."

Claude Chabrol, French Director

Money, War, Class, Now

37

"I enjoy total creative control right now. Nobody tells me to make it longer, shorter, better, sexier, more violent, whatever."

"I enjoy total creative control right now. Nobody tells me to make it longer, shorter, better, sexier, more violent, whatever."

Ken Burns, American Director

Control, Now, Right

37

"I began taking liberties a long time ago; now it is standard practice for most directors to ignore the rules."

"I began taking liberties a long time ago; now it is standard practice for most directors to ignore the rules."

Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian Director

Time, Now, Practice, Rules

37

"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

37

"I'm not politically motivated. I used to be - passionately. I used to be very Left wing. Then I went very Right wing, and now I rest somewhere in the middle."

"I'm not politically motivated. I used to be - passionately. I used to be very Left wing. Then I went very Right wing, and now I rest somewhere in the middle."

Guy Ritchie, British Director

Now, Rest, Right

37

"We live in a disposable society. It's easier to throw things out than to fix them. We even give it a name - we call it recycling."

"We live in a disposable society. It's easier to throw things out than to fix them. We even give it a name - we call it recycling."

Neil LaBute, American Director

Society, Name, Recycling

37

"Fear has many faces."

"Fear has many faces."

Nicolas Roeg, English Director

37

"But for me, it feels like a natural extension of what I've been doing: exploring relationships. Here you have two relationships and we can explore how difficult it is for people to be together."

"But for me, it feels like a natural extension of what I've been doing: exploring relationships. Here you have two relationships and we can explore how difficult it is for people to be together."

Neil LaBute, American Director

Relationship, People, Relationships

37

"I did honest television. Real, live, honest television. That's what I did best."

"I did honest television. Real, live, honest television. That's what I did best."

Greg Garrison, American Director

37

"If you had the opportunity and some talent, there was no way you couldn't progress, because it was an open market. There was the advertising world, and there was the documentary world."

"If you had the opportunity and some talent, there was no way you couldn't progress, because it was an open market. There was the advertising world, and there was the documentary world."

Richard Donner, American Director

Talent, Opportunity, Progress, Advertising

37

"I really enjoy the consolation when I'm having to cut loose stuff I love, of saying 'Well, at least it will make it onto DVD.' There's a couple of scenes which I liked very much, but couldn't fit them into the film that are on there."

"I really enjoy the consolation when I'm having to cut loose stuff I love, of saying 'Well, at least it will make it onto DVD.' There's a couple of scenes which I liked very much, but couldn't fit them into the film that are on there."

Jay Roach, American Director

Love, Film, Saying, Will

37

"One blob of red in the wrong place and the audience isn't looking at the hero, they're looking at a patch of curtain (or something similar) and your whole effect is lost."

"One blob of red in the wrong place and the audience isn't looking at the hero, they're looking at a patch of curtain (or something similar) and your whole effect is lost."

Terence Fisher, British Director

Media, Effect, Wrong

37

"It's hard to blame someone because they simply don't have time."

"It's hard to blame someone because they simply don't have time."

Roland Joffe, English Director

37

"The filmmaking process is a very personal one to me, I mean it really is a personal kind of communication. It's not as though its a study of fear or any of that stuff."

"The filmmaking process is a very personal one to me, I mean it really is a personal kind of communication. It's not as though its a study of fear or any of that stuff."

David Cronenberg, Canadian Director

Fear, Communication, Study

37

"Advertising was fairly simple work, and I really just wanted a job where I could sit and write every day and not get fired for it like I had at other jobs, but it was fun."

"Advertising was fairly simple work, and I really just wanted a job where I could sit and write every day and not get fired for it like I had at other jobs, but it was fun."

John Hughes, American Director

Work, Advertising, Day, Fun

37

"I'm not one to dwell on rehearsal or preparation."

"I'm not one to dwell on rehearsal or preparation."

Patrice Leconte, French Director

Acting, Preparation

37

"His music was direct from his heart and brain in the purest form possible."

"His music was direct from his heart and brain in the purest form possible."

Joshua Logan, American Director

37

"I felt that if there wasn't going to be a good opportunity, then I would just go back to second units which I love, keep working with great directors, keep learning and knowing that the opportunity would come when the time was right."

"I felt that if there wasn't going to be a good opportunity, then I would just go back to second units which I love, keep working with great directors, keep learning and knowing that the opportunity would come when the time was right."

David R. Ellis, American Director

Time, Love, Opportunity, Learning

37

"When I was young, my idea was to become a filmmaker."

"When I was young, my idea was to become a filmmaker."

Patrice Leconte, French Director

Creativity, Idea

37

"There is a lot of absurdity sometimes, not just in Mormonism but often in other religions that want to pretend that no bad happens in their church, rather than taking care of what bad does happen."

"There is a lot of absurdity sometimes, not just in Mormonism but often in other religions that want to pretend that no bad happens in their church, rather than taking care of what bad does happen."

Neil LaBute, American Director

Church, Absurdity, Care, Want

37

"Out of the total of 11 movies, I got slammed."

"Out of the total of 11 movies, I got slammed."

Tony Scott, British Director

37

"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

37

"Our relationships, relationships between adults, how all those pieces fit together - that's the most complicated thing we all face."

"Our relationships, relationships between adults, how all those pieces fit together - that's the most complicated thing we all face."

Bill Condon, American Director

Relationship, Relationships

37

"I loved the idea of Travolta sitting on the kid's swing, pining away for his girlfriend."

"I loved the idea of Travolta sitting on the kid's swing, pining away for his girlfriend."

Randal Kleiser, American Director

Creativity, Idea, Girlfriend

37

"They are always very lax about putting restrictions on violence for children's movies, which I think is much more harrowing than sexuality for children."

"They are always very lax about putting restrictions on violence for children's movies, which I think is much more harrowing than sexuality for children."

Philip Kaufman, American Director

Movies, Children, Sexuality, Violence

37

"I think we grew up thinking that the funniest things on TV were the old, serious movies. I always liked the Marx Brothers, but the thing that always made us laugh were movies like Zero Hour. That's what inspired us."

"I think we grew up thinking that the funniest things on TV were the old, serious movies. I always liked the Marx Brothers, but the thing that always made us laugh were movies like Zero Hour. That's what inspired us."

David Zucker, American Director

Movies, Brothers, Old, Thinking

37

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