Fairy tales to me are never happy, sweet stories. They're moral stories about overcoming the dark side and the bad.
Film has become a very passive experience, but with theatre, there is a contract made with the audience, where they participate. That's why my parents' puppet theatre was such a special place - people used their imaginations. It's a muscle that needs using.
I kind of muddled through 'Pride & Prejudice,' but with 'Atonement,' I knew what I was doing. That makes it sound like I had no doubt. I had doubts - I didn't know whether it would work. But I knew exactly what I wanted to try to do.
'Pride' is my first film with a happy ending. Before, I naively thought they were a cop-out, but now I've come to believe that happy endings and wish fulfilment are an incredibly important part of our cultural life.
Most of my choices come about through some kind of intuition or instinct, and if I need to, I'll post-rationalize them, intellectually, afterwards. But generally, they come about just by feeling.
I see the job of directing as being one of creating the right atmosphere, creating an environment where people can realize their full potential.
I've made some films that were very much image based: 'Anna Karenina' and 'Pan,' for instance.
The more you practise happiness, the better you get at it. So if you spend lots of time practising being depressed, you're going to get really good at being depressed. And if you spend lots of time practising being happy, you're going to get better at being happy.
I find it ironic that happy endings now are called fairytale endings because there's nothing happy about most fairytale endings.
I think my dyslexia was a vital part of my development because my inability to read and write meant that I had to find knowledge elsewhere so I looked to the cinema.
Every time I make a film, I feel it gives me the chance to learn something new.
I wouldn't presume to know something, but I have lots to learn and that's what I attempt to do through my work.
A lot of directors don't really like actors.
Generally, I've never known quite how to fit in in civilian life, but on set, making a film, I know exactly where to go, how to behave and how I fit.
An artist needs to live to create, and to live means to suffer.
I don't make a division between an art film and commercial art.
That luxury, ossified Los Angeles world isn't good for the soul.
I consider all drama to be the opportunity to see the world from another person's point of view. That seems to be the point of drama, really. And thereby to encourage understanding and even love.
I like the idea of doing something outside my comfort zone.
My father was 65 when I was born so we didn't have much time together.
