Cinema is a mirror by which we often see ourselves.
Life and death are illusions. We are in a constant state of transformation.
Cinema is universal, beyond flags and borders and passports.
To make a film is easy; to make a good film is war. To make a very good film is a miracle.
Directing non-actors is difficult. Directing actors in a foreign language is even more difficult. Directing non-actors in a language that you yourself don't understand is the craziest thing you can possibly think of.
Movies become art after editing. Instead of just reproducing reality, they juxtapose images of it. That implies expression; that's art.
When you see things upside down, the ego can be extraordinarily funny; it's absurd. But it's tragic at the same time.
I have a lot of what you might call creative self-loathing - I have pretty high expectations, and they seem to consistently be higher than what I'm able to accomplish.
I learned there are ways to approach life. You can never change the events, but you can change the way you approach them.
Innocence can be more powerful than experience.
To question your own process is a necessity. If you don't question yourself, it's impossible to improve.
I see only one requirement you have to have to be a director or any kind of artist: rhythm. Rhythm, for me, is everything. Without rhythm, there's no music. Without rhythm, there's no cinema. Without rhythm, there's no architecture.
Filmmaking can give you everything, but at the same time, it can take everything from you.
Nowadays, a critic has to watch 700, 800 films a year, and I know through experience, being a juror in prestigious film festivals where supposedly the best films are arriving, from twenty films maybe you see two that are good, one that is so-so, and one that is extraordinary. And the other sixteen are terrible.
In 'A Confession,' Tolstoy found meaning that he could hold on to, and he lived for another 30 years.
The creative process is mysterious; a conversation, a ride in the car, or a melody can trigger something.
It's not anthrax or terrorism or AIDS that is the worst ill in our world: The most horrible disease in the world is hate.
Irony is a great tool to deal with things. It's an intellectualization, a way to go above things, which can work.
All my films I have shot in chronological order - always. And the reason is that there's a moment that the screenplay is the notion of the film. But when you start doing a film... the work itself starts being transformed, and you have to surrender.
Do you know the phrase, 'The word 'water' will not wet you?' It's one thing to write down an idea and another thing entirely to execute it.
