Besson Quotes

That whole idea of American film being different from European film is nonsense. It all depends on what kind of American film you`re looking at. There`s a giant stretch of American films being made. Plus there are different types of French movies. You know, people would say that Luc Besson`s movies are American ... so you go, `Well, he`s French`. Or that Wicker Park is an American film, but (the director) Paul McGuigan`s Scottish, so ... where are we talking about here? Is it all about where the money comes from, `cos the money for this one comes from Europe. It can`t be that. Is it the star? Then where do you put Russell Crowe? For me film is film and it doesn`t have to do with borders or any of that sort of thing.

On the comparison between Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)`s group fight and Neo vs. 100 Agent Smiths in The Matrix Reloaded (2003): "First off, I`ve always thought of the black suits as mine, so I don`t think of them as Agent Smiths, I think of them as Reservoir Dogs with less cool sunglasses. The similarities between the fight sequences never occurred to me until I had a director`s screening and Luc Besson turned up with Keanu Reeves as his guest. I watched Keanu watching and suddenly I felt it."

Luc Besson, the writer and producer, saw my picture at an agency and wanted to meet me.

(Sporting a stubbly beard and buzz cut, Statham says that he shares some qualities with his character.) I like his suits, ... I like the style of him, but he`s a character created by Luc Besson. He`s a very internal guy. I`m not. I`m a little bit more expressive and I like a bit of fun.

This is a great loss, ... and our thoughts now go out to the family and friends of Colette Besson. I believe that she made a tremendous contribution to world athletics, as a charismatic and determined athlete in an age when women`s athletics was still developing.