Film remains completely mystical and mysterious to me.
When a book is just a plot, you know, two men fight for the love of a woman in a wild frontier, I immediately ask, 'Why?'
Marketing is such a key issue; in fact, the marketing department is often involved in the approval of scripts now.
A lot of my movies have come to be thought about only years after the fact, and I'm sad about that but also happy about it in a way, as it's given them longevity.
When I look around, I begin to understand what Socrates meant when he said, 'How much there is in the world I do not want.'
My father was an extraordinary man.
I don't look back on any film I've done with fondness or pride.
I've never tried to enhance my reputation. Never moved upwards from one thing to another. That sort of thing is of no interest to me at all.
We all have our beliefs or our agnosticism.
I wouldn't like to be a non-believer in anything.
We're all influenced by everything unless we're locked in an empty room.
Youth is so exciting. It'll take over. I don't want to be swept away. I want to be with the taking-over people, right to the end.
How can you judge one film against another?
'Eureka' was very bad timing. The early 1980s: Reagan and Thatcher were in, greed was good, and here was a film about the richest man in the world who still couldn't be happy. Politically and sociologically, it was out of step.
I've always noticed that films set in any sort of future very rarely draw on the present.
I've always felt that, although Truffaut was greatly revered and admired, at the same time, in terms of film and how much he loved film, he was underestimated.
I like getting up early, but I haven't got a routine - mainly because I never have a clear idea of what day of the week it is.
I generally try to avoid talking about my old films - I find it difficult.
Too many films today feel formulaic and familiar. I prefer it when the familiar is made to feel strange.
I realized I've spent all my life creating a past.
