Quotes by Director | Beyond Motive 63/67

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Quotes by Director

"I'm very proud of my gold pocket watch. My grandfather, on his deathbed, sold me this watch."

"I'm very proud of my gold pocket watch. My grandfather, on his deathbed, sold me this watch."

Woody Allen, American Director

7

"I feel very comfortable shooting music, and I think you can see that."

"I feel very comfortable shooting music, and I think you can see that."

Taylor Hackford, American Director

7

"Nine out of 10 times these guys will hit it-they'll be on something incredibly funny, but one out of 10, two out of 10, they'll fall flat on their faces. That's what makes them great actors: they take those chances, they don't play it safe."

"Nine out of 10 times these guys will hit it-they'll be on something incredibly funny, but one out of 10, two out of 10, they'll fall flat on their faces. That's what makes them great actors: they take those chances, they don't play it safe."

Peter Farrelly, American Director

Fun, Funny, Faces, Play, Will

7

"Look at Walter Huston in The Devil and Daniel Webster: It's an incredible performance."

"Look at Walter Huston in The Devil and Daniel Webster: It's an incredible performance."

Taylor Hackford, American Director

Performance, Devil

7

"In Goodfellas they have this one scene where the camera goes down some steps and walks through a kitchen into a restaurant and the critics were all over this as evidence of the genius of Scorsese and Scorsese is a genius."

"In Goodfellas they have this one scene where the camera goes down some steps and walks through a kitchen into a restaurant and the critics were all over this as evidence of the genius of Scorsese and Scorsese is a genius."

Alex Cox, British Director

Genius, Kitchen

7

"You have to really work with someone who you think is going to be a collaborator, who you think understands what you want to do with this movie and how you want to do it."

"You have to really work with someone who you think is going to be a collaborator, who you think understands what you want to do with this movie and how you want to do it."

John Frankenheimer, American Director

7

"One of the reasons to do documentaries is that. There's more sense of creating something, more sense of my own soul in the documentaries than in movies, because I don't write the movies I do."

"One of the reasons to do documentaries is that. There's more sense of creating something, more sense of my own soul in the documentaries than in movies, because I don't write the movies I do."

Michael Apted, British Director

Movies, Soul, Sense

7

"The way that a handful of corporations in Los Angeles dictate how our stories are told creates a real poverty of imagination and it's a big problem."

"The way that a handful of corporations in Los Angeles dictate how our stories are told creates a real poverty of imagination and it's a big problem."

Alex Cox, British Director

Imagination, Corporations, Poverty

7

"We're not as materialistic and income-tax conscious as we think. At the moment our superstitions are tucked away, but come out sometimes in strange ways sex crimes, black masses."

"We're not as materialistic and income-tax conscious as we think. At the moment our superstitions are tucked away, but come out sometimes in strange ways sex crimes, black masses."

Terence Fisher, British Director

7

"The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself."

"The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself."

Taylor Hackford, American Director

Music, Attention, Job, Sense

7

"There are a lot of laughs in this movie, but it's not just about the laughs. It's really about the story, about a guy who finds his soul and realizes what's truly important."

"There are a lot of laughs in this movie, but it's not just about the laughs. It's really about the story, about a guy who finds his soul and realizes what's truly important."

Peter Farrelly, American Director

7

"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

7

"Well, a special screening was set up for government officials, so they didn't have to see the experience of going to see the film. They certainly aren't going to the projects to see for themselves the situation."

"Well, a special screening was set up for government officials, so they didn't have to see the experience of going to see the film. They certainly aren't going to the projects to see for themselves the situation."

Mathieu Kassovitz, French Director

Experience, Government, Film, Projects

7

"In a sense I've made the same film over and over again. In all of them I've asked, 'Who are we as Americans?"

"In a sense I've made the same film over and over again. In all of them I've asked, 'Who are we as Americans?"

Ken Burns, American Director

Identity, Americans, Film, Sense

7

"So I used formal techniques to make the film more perceptive emotionally."

"So I used formal techniques to make the film more perceptive emotionally."

Alain Resnais, French Director

7

"It comes down to this: black people were stripped of our identities when we were brought here, and it's been a quest since then to define who we are."

"It comes down to this: black people were stripped of our identities when we were brought here, and it's been a quest since then to define who we are."

Spike Lee, American Director

7

"If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will."

"If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will."

David Swift, American Director

7

"We thought we'd write a good script for women, giving them the fun roles that generally men get."

"We thought we'd write a good script for women, giving them the fun roles that generally men get."

Andy Wachowski, American Director

Man, Men, Women, Thought, Fun

7

"In 'The King's Speech,' patriotism is utterly contained within a historical moment, the third of September, 1939, where the aggressor is clear, the fight is clear, it hasn't become complicated over time."

"In 'The King's Speech,' patriotism is utterly contained within a historical moment, the third of September, 1939, where the aggressor is clear, the fight is clear, it hasn't become complicated over time."

Tom Hooper, British Director

Patriotism, Time, Fight, Speech

7

"I wanted to make an Indian character who wasn't either a) the savage that must be eliminated, the force of nature that's blocking the way for industrial progress, or b) the noble innocent that knows all and is another cliche. I wanted him to be a complicated human being."

"I wanted to make an Indian character who wasn't either a) the savage that must be eliminated, the force of nature that's blocking the way for industrial progress, or b) the noble innocent that knows all and is another cliche. I wanted him to be a complicated human being."

Jim Jarmusch, American Director

Nature, Progress, Character, Being

7

"I guess there's a certain amount of poking fun at certain characters, but that's because there is something amusing about them or about the way they behave, so I guess you can say that that's poking fun at the character. But the character is your own invention, so who cares?"

"I guess there's a certain amount of poking fun at certain characters, but that's because there is something amusing about them or about the way they behave, so I guess you can say that that's poking fun at the character. But the character is your own invention, so who cares?"

Joel Coen, American Director

Character, Fun, Invention

7

"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

7

"I'm in the process of working out an arrangement to make some very, very, very small films in the midst of all these films and maybe that will help. But you get tired of talking. You just want to do it."

"I'm in the process of working out an arrangement to make some very, very, very small films in the midst of all these films and maybe that will help. But you get tired of talking. You just want to do it."

Steven Soderbergh, American Director

Help, Talking, Want, Will

7

"I think being funny is not anyone's first choice."

"I think being funny is not anyone's first choice."

Woody Allen, American Director

Fun, Funny, Being, Choice, First

7

"In the order I was in, each brother takes five vows, one of which is teaching the poor gratuitously. As a young person I was seized by this idea of social justice and I wanted very much to follow my vow of teaching the poor gratuitously."

"In the order I was in, each brother takes five vows, one of which is teaching the poor gratuitously. As a young person I was seized by this idea of social justice and I wanted very much to follow my vow of teaching the poor gratuitously."

Godfrey Reggio, American Director

Family, Brother, Idea, Justice, Order

7

"As great as Ed is, the wisdom out here is that he can't carry a movie. They'll pay him $3 million to be the second banana in Julia Roberts things. But they won't put up $3 million for an Ed Harris movie."

"As great as Ed is, the wisdom out here is that he can't carry a movie. They'll pay him $3 million to be the second banana in Julia Roberts things. But they won't put up $3 million for an Ed Harris movie."

George A. Romero, American Director

7

"I had flops, I had success."

"I had flops, I had success."

Agnes Varda, French Director

7

"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

7

"I don't want to imitate life in movies; I want to represent it. And in that representation, you use the colors you feel, and sometimes they are fake colors. But always it's to show one emotion."

"I don't want to imitate life in movies; I want to represent it. And in that representation, you use the colors you feel, and sometimes they are fake colors. But always it's to show one emotion."

Pedro Almodovar, Spanish Director

Life, Movies, Colors, Emotion

7

"I only knew a few people, literally a handful of people, al of whom had been in the Party long before I was, all of whom were known by the FBI and were known to the Committee."

"I only knew a few people, literally a handful of people, al of whom had been in the Party long before I was, all of whom were known by the FBI and were known to the Committee."

Edward Dmytryk, American Director

People, Committee, Party

7

"The one thing about program television that's absolutely incompatible with any concept of art is that all decisions have to be made by program directors, whereas art is autonomous. It may be dependent, but it knows no superiors."

"The one thing about program television that's absolutely incompatible with any concept of art is that all decisions have to be made by program directors, whereas art is autonomous. It may be dependent, but it knows no superiors."

Alexander Kluge, German Director

Art, Decisions, May, Television

7

"It's interesting actually, what's gone on with that footage, and also what happened with the footage from the war in Afghanistan, is that our news reporting is pretty much along the lines of pornography now."

"It's interesting actually, what's gone on with that footage, and also what happened with the footage from the war in Afghanistan, is that our news reporting is pretty much along the lines of pornography now."

Alex Cox, British Director

War, Afghanistan, News, Now

7

"I think that's still the most primal fear of all humans: to be eaten."

"I think that's still the most primal fear of all humans: to be eaten."

Victor Salva, American Director

7

"How to make God laugh. Tell him your future plans."

"How to make God laugh. Tell him your future plans."

Woody Allen, American Director

Humor, God, Future, Life

7

"It's... a hard thing for a director, to think you came up with a shot, something from your mind, and someone died while doing it. It's the worst thing you'll ever have to live with. It was very hard for me to get back on the horse again."

"It's... a hard thing for a director, to think you came up with a shot, something from your mind, and someone died while doing it. It's the worst thing you'll ever have to live with. It was very hard for me to get back on the horse again."

Michael Bay, American Director

7

"The paperback is very interesting but I find it will never replace the hardcover book - it makes a very poor doorstop."

"The paperback is very interesting but I find it will never replace the hardcover book - it makes a very poor doorstop."

Alfred Hitchcock, English Director

7

"Before she married my father, my mother was a film reviewer for The Akron Beacon Journal - a small newspaper."

"Before she married my father, my mother was a film reviewer for The Akron Beacon Journal - a small newspaper."

Jim Jarmusch, American Director

Family, Mother, Father, Film

7

"Thrillers are an enormous amount of fun for filmmakers."

"Thrillers are an enormous amount of fun for filmmakers."

John McTiernan, American Director

7

"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

7

"What I look for in a script is something that challenges me, something that breaks new ground, something that allows me to flex my director muscle. You have got to think fast in this business, you've got to keep reinventing yourself to stay on top."

"What I look for in a script is something that challenges me, something that breaks new ground, something that allows me to flex my director muscle. You have got to think fast in this business, you've got to keep reinventing yourself to stay on top."

Michael Bay, American Director

Business, Reinventing

7

"Every time I go to a movie, it's magic, no matter what the movie's about."

"Every time I go to a movie, it's magic, no matter what the movie's about."

Steven Spielberg, American Director

7

"Hood films now are made by studios and have nothing to do with the reality they supposedly represent."

"Hood films now are made by studios and have nothing to do with the reality they supposedly represent."

Mathieu Kassovitz, French Director

Nothing, Now, Reality

7

"The title came rather early in one of Ringo's more tired and emotional moments."

"The title came rather early in one of Ringo's more tired and emotional moments."

Richard Lester, English Director

7

"You see so many movies... the younger people who are coming from MTV or who are coming from commercials and there's no sense of film grammar. There's no real sense of how to tell a story visually. It's just cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, you know, which is pretty easy."

"You see so many movies... the younger people who are coming from MTV or who are coming from commercials and there's no sense of film grammar. There's no real sense of how to tell a story visually. It's just cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, you know, which is pretty easy."

Peter Bogdanovich, American Director

Movies, People, Film, Grammar

7

"It was an interesting process trying to get Bob to talk about the film because he's such a shy person. He generally likes to talk when he really knows he has something to say."

"It was an interesting process trying to get Bob to talk about the film because he's such a shy person. He generally likes to talk when he really knows he has something to say."

Jay Roach, American Director

Film, Talk, Trying

7

"Our wisdom comes from our experience, and our experience comes from our foolishness."

"Our wisdom comes from our experience, and our experience comes from our foolishness."

Sacha Guitry, French Director

Wisdom, Experience, Foolishness

7

"My father's sister never married in order to raise me."

"My father's sister never married in order to raise me."

Marcel Carne, French Director

Family, Father, Sister, Order

7

"We don't ever want IT to be the thing that holds GM back."

"We don't ever want IT to be the thing that holds GM back."

Tony Scott, British Director

7

"The Price Is Right can really get me going."

"The Price Is Right can really get me going."

Sam Peckinpah, American Director

Entertainment, Right

7

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

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

Paul Schrader, American Director

7

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