Directorial Quotes

"When a picture is screened it is largely a reflection of the mind that directed it. If it is a failure the cause of that failure can often be traced directly to the man with the megaphone. I will also state that many screen successes are almost entirely due to directorial ability." -- March 1925 issue of `The Motion Picture Director`

(on reactions to his directorial debut) You know what was traumatizing, what was very, very strange in terms of this film I directed a few years back called The Brave (1997). Well, I guess I wouldn`t say traumatizing, but I would say weird: at the premiere of the film the reception of it was beyond any expectation that I had. I had no idea I`d be looking at (Bernardo Bertolucci) or (Michelangelo Antonioni) sitting there watching my film. And then to receive the applause that my film got, it was so incredible. And then the next day the majority of the American press just turn it into this horrible thing. Once again, everybody is entitled to their opinion, man. Maybe it`s a bad film? Maybe it`s a good film? To me it`s just a film. It`s something I needed to make.

(on Alfred Hitchcock) You can see from the way he uses actors that he sees them as animated props. He casts his films very, very carefully and he knows perfectly well in advance that all the actors that he chooses are perfectly capable of playing the parts he gives them, without any special directorial effort on his part. He gets some sort of a charge out of directing the leading ladies, I think, but that`s something else.

(On Tom Green`s directorial style with Freddy Got Fingered (2001)): "Off-camera, he`s very quiet. He`d often be walking around quietly, twirling his hair while thinking about his next shot. I think the guy`s a genius. I think the guy`s a social hypnotist. I think he`s incredible. He`s on to something big-time and it`s not just stand-up comedy. If this doesn`t make $100 million, something`s wrong. I smell a sequel."

(On reactions to his directorial debut) "You know what was traumatizing, what was very, very strange in terms of this film I directed a few years back called The Brave. Well, I guess I wouldn`t say traumatizing, but I would say weird: at the premiere of the film the reception of it was beyond any expectation that I had. I had no idea I`d be looking at Bertolucci or Antonioni sitting there watching my film. And then to receive the applause that my film got, it was so incredible. And then the next day the majority of the American press, just turn it into this horrible thing. Once again, everybody is entitled to their opinion, man. Maybe it`s a bad film? Maybe it`s a good film? To me it`s just a film. It`s something I needed to make."

During the shooting of my directorial debut, I must never let myself go to any goliardery, even if I might think I am missing some fun, never mingle with the rest of the crew, because they are actors while I am the mirth of a rickety poem. They are solo artists, virtuosos - but I am the orchestra, the strings carpet where everybody has to lay. They are the public, while I am tonight`s special event. I allow them to be instantly well-liked, but I must remain rigorous to reveal my eyes, I have to act out the things that never happen. When I think of my film, I don`t take anything from the reality that I know, I suck only from the utopia/reality I would want to live. When I say my lines, the I have written for myself, I think about this, of a womb-like world where amniotic liquids protect me from injustices and the boogey man.

(on Alfred Hitchcock) You can see from the way he uses actors that he sees them as animated props. He casts his films very, very carefully and he knows perfectly well in advance that all the actors that he chooses are perfectly capable of playing the parts he gives them, without any special directorial effort on his part. He gets some sort of a charge out of directing the leading ladies, I think, but that`s something else.