Quotes by Director | Beyond Motive 62/67

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Quotes by Director

"Could I have worked under a system where there were Draconian controls on my creativity, meaning budget, time, script choices, etc.? Definitely not. I would have fared poorly under the old studio system that guys like Howard Hawks did so well in. I cannot."

"Could I have worked under a system where there were Draconian controls on my creativity, meaning budget, time, script choices, etc.? Definitely not. I would have fared poorly under the old studio system that guys like Howard Hawks did so well in. I cannot."

Michael Mann, American Director

Time, Creativity, Choices, Hawks

25

"The best actors instinctively feel out what the other actors need, and they just accommodate it."

"The best actors instinctively feel out what the other actors need, and they just accommodate it."

Christopher Nolan, British Director

25

"He 's ruthless only because of his ideals. Unfortunately he doesn't succeed. The thing fails and gets out of hand and takes charge of him. Idealism is the only excuse he could have and it's a great excuse."

"He 's ruthless only because of his ideals. Unfortunately he doesn't succeed. The thing fails and gets out of hand and takes charge of him. Idealism is the only excuse he could have and it's a great excuse."

Terence Fisher, British Director

Art, Idealism, Ideals, Succeed

25

"I ran into Isosceles. He had a great idea for a new triangle!"

"I ran into Isosceles. He had a great idea for a new triangle!"

Woody Allen, American Director

Creativity, Idea

25

"One of the reasons I loved working with Tom is people feel they know who he is... I think working with an actor who the audience already has a relationship with actually helps you in a film like this."

"One of the reasons I loved working with Tom is people feel they know who he is... I think working with an actor who the audience already has a relationship with actually helps you in a film like this."

Sam Mendes, British Director

People, Actor, Film

25

"In a way, the history of jazz's development is a small mirror of classical music's development through the centuries. Now jazz is a living form of original music, while classical music has gotten to the end of its cycle in terms of exploring its form."

"In a way, the history of jazz's development is a small mirror of classical music's development through the centuries. Now jazz is a living form of original music, while classical music has gotten to the end of its cycle in terms of exploring its form."

Mike Figgis, English Director

History, Music, Development, End

25

"I had a toy theater and a magic lantern, and when I was eight I built a stage for theatricals in the attic."

"I had a toy theater and a magic lantern, and when I was eight I built a stage for theatricals in the attic."

James Broughton, American Director

Economy, Magic, Theater

25

"I like to work my camera as if it were a musical instrument."

"I like to work my camera as if it were a musical instrument."

Mike Figgis, English Director

25

"I often shoot with scissors in my eyes."

"I often shoot with scissors in my eyes."

Allan Dwan, Canadian Director

25

"There would be a paragraph about some veteran digging tunnels for the Germans in a slave labor camp, or something like that. Finally I decided to look it up and go further into it."

"There would be a paragraph about some veteran digging tunnels for the Germans in a slave labor camp, or something like that. Finally I decided to look it up and go further into it."

Charles Guggenheim, American Director

25

"Certainly Dracula did bring a hell of a lot of joy to a hell of a lot of women. And if this erotic quality hadn't come out we'd have been very disappointed."

"Certainly Dracula did bring a hell of a lot of joy to a hell of a lot of women. And if this erotic quality hadn't come out we'd have been very disappointed."

Terence Fisher, British Director

Woman, Women, Quality, Hell, Joy

25

"First I would probably place men at the bottom of the food chain. On a grander scale, I would say they're reacting to change. Feminism has got to be part of that."

"First I would probably place men at the bottom of the food chain. On a grander scale, I would say they're reacting to change. Feminism has got to be part of that."

Neil LaBute, American Director

Food, Men, Change, Feminism

25

"Our feeling is that the most important thing on a set is that actors have enough confidence to try different things. If there's stress or tension, they won't go out on a limb because they won't want to embarrass themselves if they don't feel completely comfortable."

"Our feeling is that the most important thing on a set is that actors have enough confidence to try different things. If there's stress or tension, they won't go out on a limb because they won't want to embarrass themselves if they don't feel completely comfortable."

Peter Farrelly, American Director

Actor, Actors, Confidence, Feeling, Stress

25

"Everything's a lot easier when you work with someone you know just about as well as you know yourself."

"Everything's a lot easier when you work with someone you know just about as well as you know yourself."

Peter Farrelly, American Director

25

"Everyone has a little bit of Howard and Chad in them. I think there's Christine in all men as well."

"Everyone has a little bit of Howard and Chad in them. I think there's Christine in all men as well."

Neil LaBute, American Director

25

"I would love to work with Adam Sandler. Because then all I'd have to do is just turn the camera on and off."

"I would love to work with Adam Sandler. Because then all I'd have to do is just turn the camera on and off."

David Zucker, American Director

25

"All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen."

"All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen."

Sidney Lumet, American Director

25

"When I do the music, I make the musicians listen to what's happening in the film. That way they treat the dialogue as if it was a singer."

"When I do the music, I make the musicians listen to what's happening in the film. That way they treat the dialogue as if it was a singer."

Mike Figgis, English Director

Music, Film, Musicians

25

"I don't know what it was, maybe the movie theaters in my immediate surrounding neighbourhood in Burbank, but I never saw what would be considered A movies."

"I don't know what it was, maybe the movie theaters in my immediate surrounding neighbourhood in Burbank, but I never saw what would be considered A movies."

Tim Burton, American Director

25

"Those are fun, especially if they're going to shoot them in four weeks, because you know they're not going to mess with anything you do, so it can be very imaginative."

"Those are fun, especially if they're going to shoot them in four weeks, because you know they're not going to mess with anything you do, so it can be very imaginative."

John Sayles, American Director

25

"I brought the film like a flower to the world."

"I brought the film like a flower to the world."

Claude Chabrol, French Director

25

"When actors are being defensive and defending their position, that is when you get less than good acting."

"When actors are being defensive and defending their position, that is when you get less than good acting."

John Boorman, British Director

Acting, Actors, Being

25

"The script will point you in certain directions and I go the opposite if I can. I try do do one thing and tell a different story with my eyes. I believe what's more interesting is always what's not being said."

"The script will point you in certain directions and I go the opposite if I can. I try do do one thing and tell a different story with my eyes. I believe what's more interesting is always what's not being said."

Robert Carlyle, Scottish Director

Being, Eyes, Will

25

"There was a village watercolour society and they'd come and paint in my field. I watched them from the window, the way they would struggle this way and that to find the perfect moment. God has made every angle on that beautiful, and I felt that tremendously."

"There was a village watercolour society and they'd come and paint in my field. I watched them from the window, the way they would struggle this way and that to find the perfect moment. God has made every angle on that beautiful, and I felt that tremendously."

Nicolas Roeg, English Director

Society, God, Struggle

25

"When you see the films of certain young directors, you get the impression that film history begins for them around 1980."

"When you see the films of certain young directors, you get the impression that film history begins for them around 1980."

Jacques Rivette, French Director

History, Impression, Film

25

"In life, we all learn from everyone."

"In life, we all learn from everyone."

Nicolas Roeg, English Director

25

"Babies don't need fathers, but mothers do. Someone who is taking care of a baby needs to be taken care of."

"Babies don't need fathers, but mothers do. Someone who is taking care of a baby needs to be taken care of."

Amy Heckerling, American Director

Parenting, Babies, Baby, Care, Fathers

25

"When he brought it to me four years ago, Rodney King had just arrived, I was involved in the clean-up of L.A. and I guess it was part of my experience."

"When he brought it to me four years ago, Rodney King had just arrived, I was involved in the clean-up of L.A. and I guess it was part of my experience."

Kathryn Bigelow, American Director

Experience, Years

25

"When I last went to Italy, over two years ago, I had a lot more trouble understanding the language than I used to when I lived there for a year. I used to speak very little but I could understand very well."

"When I last went to Italy, over two years ago, I had a lot more trouble understanding the language than I used to when I lived there for a year. I used to speak very little but I could understand very well."

Marcel Carne, French Director

Language, Italy, Trouble, Understanding

25

"I was very nervous at the beginning of Hotel du Nord."

"I was very nervous at the beginning of Hotel du Nord."

Marcel Carne, French Director

25

"It just seemed to me to be a great story, set back in its time but something that seemed to have relevance for our time. Now that the film is coming out, it looks like we're back in another time where repression of expression is all the rage."

"It just seemed to me to be a great story, set back in its time but something that seemed to have relevance for our time. Now that the film is coming out, it looks like we're back in another time where repression of expression is all the rage."

Philip Kaufman, American Director

Time, Expression, Film, Now

25

"With me it was that defending the Communist Party was something worse than naming the names."

"With me it was that defending the Communist Party was something worse than naming the names."

Edward Dmytryk, American Director

Politics, Names, Party

25

"I believed that I was being forced to sacrifice my family and my career in defense of the Communist Party, from which I had long been separated and which I had grown to dislike and distrust."

"I believed that I was being forced to sacrifice my family and my career in defense of the Communist Party, from which I had long been separated and which I had grown to dislike and distrust."

Edward Dmytryk, American Director

Family, Sacrifice, Being, Career

25

"Egotism is not a good quality. It's not something to be admired or even tolerated. It wouldn't be tolerated in a field commander and it shouldn't be tolerated in a movie director."

"Egotism is not a good quality. It's not something to be admired or even tolerated. It wouldn't be tolerated in a field commander and it shouldn't be tolerated in a movie director."

John Milius, American Director

Quality, Egotism

25

"I don't like James Bond. They made him a super hero, but he is just an agent, a human being. In my movies, secret agents are more realistic, I didn't want to portray them in the most glowing colours."

"I don't like James Bond. They made him a super hero, but he is just an agent, a human being. In my movies, secret agents are more realistic, I didn't want to portray them in the most glowing colours."

King Hu, Chinese Director

Movies, Being, Want

25

"I mean, movies are like your kids or your fingers and toes or something, it's pretty hard to pick favorites."

"I mean, movies are like your kids or your fingers and toes or something, it's pretty hard to pick favorites."

Sydney Pollack, American Director

Movies, Kids, Pretty

25

"Any change in form produces a fear of change, and that has accelerated. Marketing is the death of invention, because marketing deals with the familiar."

"Any change in form produces a fear of change, and that has accelerated. Marketing is the death of invention, because marketing deals with the familiar."

Nicolas Roeg, English Director

Change, Death, Fear, Deals

25

"I take them seriously but I try not to read them. I take them personally, that's why I don't read them. I think people are lying when they say they don't care, that's not true. I take them personally."

"I take them seriously but I try not to read them. I take them personally, that's why I don't read them. I think people are lying when they say they don't care, that's not true. I take them personally."

Antoine Fuqua, American Director

People, Care, Lying

25

"There is no reason why challenging themes and engaging stories have to be mutually exclusive - in fact, each can fuel the other. As a filmmaker, I want to entertain people first and foremost. If out of that comes a greater awareness and understanding of a time or a circumstance, then the hope is that change can happen."

"There is no reason why challenging themes and engaging stories have to be mutually exclusive - in fact, each can fuel the other. As a filmmaker, I want to entertain people first and foremost. If out of that comes a greater awareness and understanding of a time or a circumstance, then the hope is that change can happen."

Edward Zwick, American Director

Change, Time, People, Hope

25

"I make movies I want to see."

"I make movies I want to see."

Neil LaBute, American Director

25

"I have never had a problem with people not being able to understand the words and the meanings in Titus."

"I have never had a problem with people not being able to understand the words and the meanings in Titus."

Julie Taymor, American Director

People, Being, Words

24

"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

24

"For years, I've been wondering what could happen to nuclear submarines when they dive and disappear from the surface of the earth for months, without a trace. No one really knows where they are."

"For years, I've been wondering what could happen to nuclear submarines when they dive and disappear from the surface of the earth for months, without a trace. No one really knows where they are."

Guy Hamilton, British Director

Earth, Months, Years

24

"There is no way I could have ever dared to make a documentary, much less have the money to make a documentary, if it was on 16mm. But, with the magic of digital."

"There is no way I could have ever dared to make a documentary, much less have the money to make a documentary, if it was on 16mm. But, with the magic of digital."

Lloyd Kaufman, American Director

24

"I really do believe that if you don't challenge yourself and risk failing, that it's not interesting."

"I really do believe that if you don't challenge yourself and risk failing, that it's not interesting."

Julie Taymor, American Director

Challenge, Risk

24

"We had our first meeting yesterday, and we just laughed all the way through, so if we can bottle that, then I'll be happy. We just get on, and that's half the battle."

"We had our first meeting yesterday, and we just laughed all the way through, so if we can bottle that, then I'll be happy. We just get on, and that's half the battle."

Allan Carr, British Director

Battle, First, Meeting, Yesterday

24

"People think my work is therapeutic. I don't see it that way. It's not like I'm saving money from a weekly therapy visit by writing down my life."

"People think my work is therapeutic. I don't see it that way. It's not like I'm saving money from a weekly therapy visit by writing down my life."

Neil LaBute, American Director

Life, Money, Work, People

24

"It is impossible to experience one's death objectively and still carry a tune."

"It is impossible to experience one's death objectively and still carry a tune."

Woody Allen, American Director

Death, Experience

24

"Being a kid growing up with Kurosawa films and watching Sergio Leone movies just made me love what it could do to you, and how it could influence you - make you dream."

"Being a kid growing up with Kurosawa films and watching Sergio Leone movies just made me love what it could do to you, and how it could influence you - make you dream."

Antoine Fuqua, American Director

Love, Movies, Dream, Being

24

"If someone offered me a hundred million dollars to make a movie? I would first remind him that there are 850 million people in the world who don't have enough to eat."

"If someone offered me a hundred million dollars to make a movie? I would first remind him that there are 850 million people in the world who don't have enough to eat."

Lloyd Kaufman, American Director

People, First, World

24

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