Alfonso Cuarón Quotes

It`s not really science-fiction, ... It`s the world 30 years from now, (a time) in which for 18 years no human child has been born, for unknown reasons. Civilizations are falling apart. England is the last remaining civilization as we know it, because it`s an island that`s insulated itself from Europe, which is in civil wars and complete pandemonium. So the story takes place in that context. It`s a story about hope and faith.

What`s the point of being an Australian guy traveling through India if you are going to go to India to meet other Australians?

(Thoughts on the one film (or films) that made him want to become a filmmaker and why): There was no epiphany from one film. There were a few that stood out over the years. I was 8 when I saw _Ladri di biciclette (1948)_, and it was the first black-and-white film I had ever seen. It triggered my curiosity to start seeing European cinema. When I was 7, I saw The Making of `Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid` (1970). Hearing George Roy Hill talk about all the choices he made, I knew that directing movies was what I wanted to do. I remember seeing Death and Venice 40 times one year, and then switching my allegiance to Godard after seeing Masculine/Feminine! I knew early on that I was a nerd and that films were my refuge. Those first few minutes before the lights went off, and you`re alone in the theater waiting, were really pleasurable. Whether it was Steve McQueen, the coolest guy in cinema, to Robert Altman`s strange and wonderful 3 Women (1977), I saw hundreds of films before I ever picked up a camera. I believe I took something away from each one.

The Memory of Running

Most of cinema nowadays is about shooting a lot and then figuring it out in the cutting room, rather than seeing your film it the head and see what`s in your head and not shoot what you have already envisioned in your head.

When you work with kids, people tell you to be very delicate, but that`s the last thing you should do with kids. They feel patronized if you`re like that. They just want you to be normal.

There are fewer established rules in the way you tell a story for commercials than in features,it`s a great little short story you get to play with.

It`s a myth for our times, ... You read about Fudge and the Ministry of Magic -- that`s Tony Blair! And Guantanamo is not that different from Azkaban. There are Dementors there, too.

The only reason you make a movie is not to make or set out to do a good or a bad movie, it`s just to see what you learn for the next one.

If I would rescue one of my movies, it would be A Little Princess.

When people see some depth you never intended that`s really cool, you just put on a face and say "Oh, yeah, that was deep". What are you going to say? I`m just a moron with luck?

I believe that human beings are born first and given passports later. I`m really thankful for my journey. And it`s a journey I didn`t design.