Dario Argento Quotes

So I haven`t thought about the critics for a long time.

Horror by definition is the emotion of pure revulsion. Terror of the same standard, is that of fearful anticipation.

I like to watch many things, especially strange films and something recent, not just the story.

Paradise is too perfect for humanity.

(Phenomena (1985)) was inspired by something I heard about insects being used to solve crimes, and because insects have always fascinated me I began to make a story around this idea. You know, it`s a terrible thing, but there are many insects that are disappearing. Becoming extinct. But most people only want to kill them. You know, insects have souls, too; they`re telepathic . . . amazing. People want to save the whales and dolphins, but nobody wants to save the insects. I`m a vegetarian, because I don`t want to kill things to eat.

I wanted something new, the supernatural. The witch, the sorcerer, I love this. I love the films of the witch and sorcerers and magic, it`s wonderful!

But no one should have the right to manipulate my films in the first place.

But you know, as you say, the original versions of my films are getting out there, slowly.

If you make a film normally it`s all right, the distributors are helpful and cooperative. But if you make a film that`s a little stange, a little bizarre, then all the time it`s a struggle with them.

The process of writing and directing drives you to such extremes that it`s natural to feel an affinity with insanity. I approach that madness as something dangerous and I`m afraid, but also I want to go to it, to see what`s there, to embrace it. I don`t know why but I`m drawn.

To try and raise a budget for a film that is strictly for adults and both strong and graphic in content is not easy, especially when there is pressure to spend serious money on good special effects.

Profondo rosso (1975) is my favorite movie. The character David Hemmings plays is very much based on my own personality. It was a very strong film, very brutal, and of course the censors were upset. It was cut by almost an hour in some countries.

Even in the former Soviet Union, they have good copies of my movies.

I want to do what I want when I want to do it not be dictated to by audiences.

This is in contrast with some of my other movies where I used Ennio Morricone for his ability to create an epic feel through his music.

When I was five. That`s when I started to love film.

The opera we used in the film (Opera (1987)) was "Macbeth", which has a tradition - also in the theatre - of being bad luck. People all warned against using it, suggested using "La Traviata" or "La Bohème", and I said, "This is just a story, don`t be foolish," but maybe they were right. With ("Opera") I had a lot of English crew - that was something new for me - and I learned many things from them. Overall, though, it was a terrible experience. You know, many cuts were made after I was finished, even though I protested. Many things happened. Vanessa Redgrave was scheduled to be in the film, and she pulled out. One of the actors was crushed by a car. I was engaged to be married, but by the end of the picture that was finished. My father died during the shooting . . . all kinds of things. But I felt I had started with "Macbeth", so I had to finish. And anyway, there could be no ravens in Cosi Fan Tutte.

When I see a film I`ve finished, it`s like another person made it. Like another mind.

Horror is the future. And you cannot be afraid. You must push everything to the absolute limit or else life will be boring. People will be boring. Horror is like a serpent; always shedding its skin, always changing. And it will always come back. It can`t be hidden away like the guilty secrets we try to keep in our subconscious.

We had many good directors - John Carpenter, Brian De Palma - but things have become polluted by business, money and bad relationships. The success of the horror genre has led to its downfall.

If you don`t like my movies, don`t watch them.

Then I realized my early work did have something special that audiences adored apart from what I humbly thought about them. They occupy a distinguished niche in Italian film history and probably always will.

In Italy the censor is very old and there are many judges and psychiatrists who analyse you.

Maybe when I stop making movies, I`ll understand my work better.

I also don`t like films that are made just to make money, no this kind of film I don`t like.

The psychiatrists examine you and ask you about your life and work, and then they decide whether your film can be shown or not. It`s a horrible experience.

My life and career is my own adventure.

Goblin was a new band and this was their first major work. The oldest of them was only 18. They were very talented and I wanted to give them a break.

But now we have bought the film back and it will be shown in Paris in the original version for the first time in the next couple of months.

The sound, it looks wonderful

I like women, especially beautiful ones. If they have a good face and figure, I would much prefer to watch them being murdered than an ugly girl or man. I certainly don`t have to justify myself to anyone about this. I don`t care what anyone thinks or reads into it. I have often had journalists walk out of interviews when I say what I feel about this subject.

Is it right to be obsessed with looking at terrible things and sharing them with other people?

It irritated me that my fans kept wanting me to retread old ground.

I love Russian cinema. Dziga Vertov is my favorite. (Andrei Tarkovsky) so-so. I prefer the fantasy of (Sergei M. Eisenstein)`s Oktyabr (1928).

Every writer, to some extent, writes about himself.

I like films to have something inside, I don`t mean a message, I mean something from the soul.

I wanted to develop the idea of the Three Mothers, the origin of all sorrow and pain. Suspiria (1977) is about The Mother of Sighs; and Inferno (1980) is about the Mother of Darkness.

There`s nothing gratuitous about my films.

I`m very interested in portraying homosexual man and woman in my films because I`m interested in their lives and their problems.

In each of my characters there is a little of me. Not strictly autobiographical but a little piece of my soul.

Young girls of 13 or 12 are great actors.

When I was a teenager, I read a lot of Poe.

Each film I make changes me in some way. When I start the picture I`m one person and by the time I finish I`m another.

I wanted to get back to my style of 20 years ago after a long period of exploring horror and fantasy themes.

It`s incredible that they censor films. It`s sad.

I went through a phase where I thought nostalgia was a bad thing.

I`ve never gone into analysis. But Freud opened a door, I know.

The Opera was a very cold film, a hopeless and dark film, no hope, no love.

I`ve been lucky enough to have had the luxury of being able to make the picture I`ve wanted to make each time on my own terms and without compromise.

I like women, especially beautiful ones. If they have a good face and figure, I would much prefer to watch them being murdered than an ugly girl or man. I certainly don't have to justify myself to anyone about this. I don't care what anyone thinks or reads into it. I have often had journalists walk out of interviews when I say what I feel about this subject.

The sound, it looks wonderful

We had many good directors - John Carpenter, Brian De Palma - but things have become polluted by business, money and bad relationships. The success of the horror genre has led to its downfall.

(Phenomena (1985)) was inspired by something I heard about insects being used to solve crimes, and because insects have always fascinated me I began to make a story around this idea. You know, it's a terrible thing, but there are many insects that are disappearing. Becoming extinct. But most people only want to kill them. You know, insects have souls, too; they're telepathic . . . amazing. People want to save the whales and dolphins, but nobody wants to save the insects. I'm a vegetarian, because I don't want to kill things to eat.

Horror is the future. And you cannot be afraid. You must push everything to the absolute limit or else life will be boring. People will be boring. Horror is like a serpent; always shedding its skin, always changing. And it will always come back. It can't be hidden away like the guilty secrets we try to keep in our subconscious.

I wanted to develop the idea of the Three Mothers, the origin of all sorrow and pain. Suspiria (1977) is about The Mother of Sighs; and Inferno (1980) is about the Mother of Darkness.

The process of writing and directing drives you to such extremes that it's natural to feel an affinity with insanity. I approach that madness as something dangerous and I'm afraid, but also I want to go to it, to see what's there, to embrace it. I don't know why but I'm drawn.

Horror by definition is the emotion of pure revulsion. Terror of the same standard, is that of fearful anticipation.

The opera we used in the film (Terreur à l'opéra (1987)) was "Macbeth", which has a tradition - also in the theatre - of being bad luck. People all warned against using it, suggested using "La Traviata" or "La Bohème", and I said, "This is just a story, don't be foolish," but maybe they were right. With ("Opera") I had a lot of English crew - that was something new for me - and I learned many things from them. Overall, though, it was a terrible experience. You know, many cuts were made after I was finished, even though I protested. Many things happened. Vanessa Redgrave was scheduled to be in the film, and she pulled out. One of the actors was crushed by a car. I was engaged to be married, but by the end of the picture that was finished. My father died during the shooting . . . all kinds of things. But I felt I had started with "Macbeth", so I had to finish. And anyway, there could be no ravens in Cosi Fan Tutte.

I love Russian cinema. Dziga Vertov is my favorite. (Andrey Tarkovskiy) so-so. I prefer the fantasy of (Sergei M. Eisenstein)'s Octobre (1928).

Les frissons de l'angoisse (1975) is my favorite movie. The character David Hemmings plays is very much based on my own personality. It was a very strong film, very brutal, and of course the censors were upset. It was cut by almost an hour in some countries.

Each film I make changes me in some way. When I start the picture I'm one person and by the time I finish I'm another.

Is it right to be obsessed with looking at terrible things and sharing them with other people?