The Filmmaker Says Read online

  Otto Preminger ( 1905 –86 )

  The director must be

  a policeman,

  a midwife,

  a psychoanalyst,

  a sycophant,

  and a bastard.

  Billy Wilder ( 1906–2002 )

  ULTIMATELY BEING A GOOD DIRECTOR IS A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF MALE AND FEMALE QUALITIES: YOU ARE A FOUR-STAR GENERAL,

  AN INSPIRATIONAL LEADER AND STRATEGIST, AS WELL AS THE MOST NURTURING MOTHER IN THE WORLD.

  Martha Coolidge ( 1946– )

  I BELIEVE WHAT I SAID IS, “ACTORS SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE CATTLE.” OF COURSE I WAS JOKING, BUT IT SEEMS I WAS TAKEN SERIOUSLY. IF I HAD BEEN SPEAKING SERIOUSLY, I WOULD HAVE SAID, “ACTORS ARE CHILDREN.”

  Alfred Hitchcock ( 1899–1980 )

  Actors are the best and the worst of people. They’re like kids. When they’re good, they’re very, very good. When they’re bad, they’re very, very naughty.

  The best actors, I think, have a childlike quality...an ability to lose themselves. There’s still some silliness.

  Kenneth Branagh ( 1960 – )

  The difference between being a director and being an actor is the difference between being the carpenter banging the nails into the wood and being the piece of wood the nails are being banged into.

  Sean Penn ( 1960 – )

  The difference between directing yourself and being directed, if you’ll excuse the analogy, is the difference between masturbation and making love.

  Warren Beatty ( 1937– )

  TO BE CANDID, IT’S GOTTEN OUT OF CONTROL. BECAUSE EVERYBODY IS A DIRECTOR, EVERYBODY IS A PRODUCER, EVERYBODY KNOWS EVERYTHING.

  Peter Bogdanovich ( 1939– )

  NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING.

  William Goldman ( 1931– )

  IT WOULD BE UNTHINKABLE FOR A WRITER TO TELL A DIRECTOR HOW TO DIRECT OR A PRODUCER HOW TO PRODUCE OR AN ACTOR HOW TO ACT OR A CINEMATOGRAPHER HOW TO LIGHT A SCENE. BUT IT IS NOT AT ALL UNTHINKABLE FOR ANYONE TO TELL A WRITER HOW TO WRITE. IT COMES WITH THE TERRITORY.

  Ernest Lehman ( 1915 –2005 )

  They seem to think that once it’s printed on paper it becomes gospel. But that isn’t so, at least not in my way of thinking.

  Howard Hawks ( 1896–1977 )

  Give me a good script, and I’ll be a hundred times better as a director.

  George Cukor ( 1899–1983 )

  WELL, THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A GOOD SCRIPT, REALLY.

  John Ford ( 1894 –1973 )

  THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON ANY FILM IS THAT SCRIPT. YOU’VE GOT TO HAVE IT, BECAUSE IF IT’S NOT ON THE PAGE, IT’S NOT GOING TO GET OUT THERE ON THE SCREEN. SO THAT’S NUMBER ONE.

  Robert Wise ( 1914 –2005 )

  My scripts are in visual form....

  I don’t think it’s a literary medium anyway, so why waste work?

  Satyajit Ray ( 1921–92 )

  The images alone are insufficient. They are very important, but they are only images. The essential thing is how long each image lasts, what follows each image. All of the eloquence of film is created in the editing room.

  Orson Welles ( 1915 –85 )

  You could not take the camera and just show a nude woman being stabbed to death. It had to be done impressionistically. So it was done with little pieces of film: the head, the feet, a hand, parts of the torso...the shower itself. I think in that scene there were seventy-eight pieces of film in about forty-five seconds.

  Alfred Hitchcock ( 1899–1980 )

  My movie is born first in my head, dies on paper, is resuscitated by the living persons and real objects I use, which are killed on film but, placed in a certain order and projected onto a screen, come to life again like flowers in water.

  Robert Bresson ( 1901–99 )

  IT’S ALL ABOUT MAKING SURE THE FILM BOUNCES OFF THAT SHEET AND COMES TO LIFE IN THE MIND OF THE AUDIENCE. WHAT IS A FILM OUTSIDE THE AUDIENCE’S MIND?

  George Stevens ( 1904 –75 )

  In a sense, making movies is itself a quest. A quest for an alternative world, a world that is more satisfactory than the one we live in. That’s what first appealed to me about making films.

  It seemed to me a wonderful idea that you could remake the world, hopefully a bit better, braver, and more beautiful than it was presented to us.

  John Boorman ( 1933– )

  Follow your vision.

  Form secretive Rogue Cells everywhere.

  At the same time, be not afraid of solitude.

  Werner Herzog ( 1942– )

  One day we had to write compositions on what we wanted to do. I wrote mine on why I wanted to be a writer for Mad magazine, and the boy next to me wrote his on why he was going to be a movie director. And I just was, like, wait a minute. Movie director is, like, for big shots, people in Hollywood. Who told you you could be a movie director? I was just so jealous and I guess it started to dawn on me that that was what I wanted to do.

  Amy Heckerling ( 1954 – )

  I also remember being forced to sit in church, listening to a very boring sermon, but it was a very beautiful church, and I loved the music and the light streaming through the windows. I used to sit up in the loft beside the organ, and when there were funerals, I had this marvelous long-shot view of the proceedings, with the coffin and the black drapes, and then later at the graveyard, watching the coffin lowered into the ground. I was never frightened by these sights. I was fascinated.

  Ingmar Bergman ( 1918 –2007 )

  I want to risk hitting my head on the ceiling of my talent. I want to really test it out and say, “Okay, you’re not that good. You just reached the level here.” I don’t ever want to fail, but I want to risk failure every time out of the gate.

  Quentin Tarantino ( 1963– )

  Cinema without risk is like having no sex and expecting to have a baby. You have to take a risk.

  Francis Ford Coppola ( 1939– )

  There is no real magic in being a director. All I do is imagine in my mind what the finished movie will be like, both as a whole and the scenes of the day. I hear it all and I see it all. I get this virtual mental image of the film, then I show up for work.

  Peter Jackson ( 1961– )

  WHEN I GO ON THE SET OF A SCENE, I INSIST ON REMAINING ALONE FOR AT LEAST TWENTY MINUTES. I HAVE NO PRECONCEIVED IDEAS OF HOW THE SCENE SHOULD BE DONE, BUT WAIT INSTEAD FOR THE IDEAS TO COME THAT WILL TELL ME HOW TO BEGIN.

  Michelangelo Antonioni ( 1912–2007 )

  The truth is that nobody knows what that magic combination is that produces a first-rate piece of work....

  All we can do is prepare the groundwork that allows for the “lucky accidents” that make a first-rate movie happen.

  Sidney Lumet ( 1924 –2011 )

  MOST OF THE GOOD THINGS IN PICTURES HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.

  John Ford ( 1894 –1973 )

  Do you know what moviemaking is? Eight hours of hard work each day to get three minutes of film. And during those eight hours, there are maybe only ten or twelve minutes, if you’re lucky, of real creation. And maybe they don’t come. Then you have to gear yourself for another eight hours and pray you’re going to get your good ten minutes this time. Everything and everyone on a movie set must be attuned to finding those minutes of real creativity.

  Ingmar Bergman ( 1918 –2007 )

  PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH BOREDOM IS INVOLVED...WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN, AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE SHOT BEGINS AND YOU’RE CREATING A FANTASY. THERE’S NOTHING ELSE LIKE IT.

  John Schlesinger ( 1926–2003 )

  IT’S BACK AND FORTH ALL THE WAY ALONG. YOU DEFINITELY HAVE MOMENTS OF CONFIDENCE, WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE, “WE GOT SOMETHING GREAT TODAY!” AND YOU GO HOME AT NIGHT, COMPLETELY UNABLE TO SLEEP, MAD WITH ENTHUSIASM AND CONFIDENCE. A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER, YOU’RE LOST AGAIN AND STRUGGLING TO MAKE SENSE OUT OF SOMETHING. BUT THAT’S OKAY.

  Paul Thomas Anderson ( 1970 – )

  It’s always a question of high aims, grandiose dreams, great bravado and confidence, and gre
at courage at the typewriter; and then, when I’m in the midst of finishing a picture and everything’s gone horribly wrong and I’ve reedited it and reshot it and tried to fix it, then it’s merely a struggle for survival. You’re happy only to be alive. Gone are all the exalted goals and aims, all the uncompromising notions of a perfect work of art, and you’re just fighting so people won’t storm up the aisles with tar and feathers.

  Woody Allen ( 1935 – )

  MAKING A MOVIE WAS LIKE VOMITING. I REALLY DID NOT LOOK FORWARD TO IT, BUT AFTER I DID IT, I FELT BETTER.

  Warren Beatty ( 1937– )

  A FILM IS LIKE AN ILLNESS THAT IS EXPELLED FROM THE BODY.

  Federico Fellini ( 1920 –93 )

  I don’t know how much movies should entertain. To me, I’m always interested in movies that scar. The thing I love about Jaws is the fact that I’ve never gone swimming in the ocean again.

  David Fincher ( 1962– )

  WHEN I MAKE A FILM, I DISTURB.

  Jean Cocteau ( 1889–1963 )

  I MAKE MOVIES TO ENTERTAIN PEOPLE, AND IF I’M NOT ENTERTAINED, I HAVE FAILED. THAT’S MY MOTTO. THEY’RE SPENDING HARD-EARNED MONEY; THEY WANT TO BE TAKEN ON A RIDE.

  Jerry Bruckheimer ( 1945 – )

  I just don’t think about making political points. I don’t have an agenda. The movies should work unto themselves.

  It becomes controversial sometimes, but, frankly, I make stories. I make them exciting.

  Oliver Stone ( 1946– )

  WITH SOME PICTURES, PEOPLE LEAVE THE THEATER AND IT’S FORGOTTEN. IF PEOPLE SEE A PICTURE OF MINE, AND THEN SIT DOWN IN A DRUGSTORE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD OR HAVE COFFEE AND TALK ABOUT IT FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES, THAT IS A VERY FINE REWARD, I THINK. THAT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME.

  Billy Wilder ( 1906–2002 )

  The most painful thing is to think you will come to see the film and then forget it. It is also painful to think that you see the film, remember it for a little while, and then forget it. So I try to keep you from forgetting. I try to present a human being that you are unable to forget.

  Akira Kurosawa ( 1910 –98 )

  I don’t believe films change anyone’s mind, but I was spawned during the Roosevelt era, a time of great change, and I still believe in trying to get people to think.

  Stanley Kramer ( 1913–2001 )

  THIS IS NOT AN ART-HOUSE FILM. WE WANT PEOPLE TO BE ENTERTAINED BY THE COMEDY AND PERHAPS GET SOME CATHARTIC PLEASURE IN FEELING THAT THIS IS ONE FOR OUR SIDE, THAT THIS STICKS IT TO THE MAN. BUT I HOPE IT’S AN AUDIENCE THAT WILL WANT TO DO SOMETHING WHEN IT LEAVES THE THEATER, WHATEVER THAT SOMETHING MIGHT BE.

  Michael Moore ( 1954 – )

  I thought I was making a movie and

  I inadvertently made a film.

  James Cameron ( 1954 – )

  I’VE ALWAYS HAD A NIGHTMARE. I DREAM THAT ONE OF MY PICTURES HAS ENDED UP IN AN ART THEATER, AND I WAKE UP SHAKING.

  Walt Disney ( 1901– 66 )

  WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO GUERRILLA FILMMAKING.

  Spike Lee ( 1957– )

  The Vow of Chastity

  I swear to submit to the following set of rules drawn up and confirmed by Dogme 95:

  1. Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in.

  2. The sound must never be produced apart from the image, or vice versa.

  3. The camera must be handheld. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted.

  4. The film must be in color. Special lighting is not acceptable.

  5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.

  6. The film must not contain superficial action.

  7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden.

  8. Genre movies are not acceptable.

  9. The film format must be Academy 35 mm.

  10. The director must not be credited.

  Lars von Trier ( 1956– )

  Thomas Vinterberg ( 1969– )

  The artist and the multitude are natural enemies.

  Robert Altman ( 1925 –2006 )

  WHAT I WANT IS FOR YOU NOT TO LIKE THE FILM, TO PROTEST.

  I WOULD BE SORRY IF IT PLEASED YOU.

  Luis Buñuel ( 1900–83 )

  THE PUBLIC IS NEVER WRONG.

  Adolph Zukor ( 1873–1976 )

  The director is always right.

  George Cukor ( 1899–1983 )

  I know how I feel about the film. Why do I care about reviews? Why do I care about the box office? But as soon as I ask the question, a voice in the back of my head always answers, “Because you have to care.”

  Ron Howard ( 1954 – )

  I NEVER ANSWER MY CRITICS. THAT’S THE SIGN OF A TRUE AMATEUR.

  John Waters ( 1946– )

  The one thing I have found about Hollywood is it’s a town full of people who believe in themselves, often to a degree where they’re what you would call “delusional.”

  Diablo Cody ( 1978 – )

  Hollywood is the only place where you can die of encouragement.

  Pauline Kael ( 1919–2001 )

  GIVEN THE CHOICE OF HOLLYWOOD OR POKING STEEL PINS IN MY EYES, I’D PREFER STEEL PINS.

  Mike Leigh ( 1943– )

  I’m not from the Mike Leigh school— I’m interested in telling a story that will reach as wide an audience as possible. The Hollywood vernacular is very useful for that; it’s very much an international language.

  Christopher Nolan ( 1970 – )

  I don’t mind the dance that you have to do in order to get something made— the hoops you have to jump through, the fake smiles you have to adopt. You just have to. No one is entitled to anything. You have to earn it.

  Sam Mendes ( 1965 – )

  THE WORST DEVELOPMENT IN FILMMAKING— PARTICULARLY IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS— IS HOW BADLY DIRECTORS ARE TREATED. IT’S BECOME ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE THE WAY THE PEOPLE WITH THE MONEY DECIDE THEY CAN FART IN THE KITCHEN, TO PUT IT BLUNTLY.

  Steven Soderbergh ( 1963– )

  LIFE IN THE MOVIE BUSINESS IS LIKE THE BEGINNING OF A NEW LOVE AFFAIR. IT’S FULL OF SURPRISES, AND YOU’RE CONSTANTLY GETTING FUCKED.

  David Mamet* ( 1947– )

  *From Speed-the-Plow (1988)

  FUCK

  ’EM,

  FUCK

  ’EM ALL.

  Robert Evans ( 1930 – )

  The problem with market-driven art making is that movies are green-lit based on past movies. So, as nature abhors a vacuum, the system abhors originality. Originality cannot be economically modeled.

  Lana Wachowski ( 1965 – )

  THEY’RE LIKE FAST-FOOD HAMBURGERS. THEY SELL A LOT OF THEM. THE MOVIE BUSINESS IS VERY SUCCESSFUL AND YOU HOPE THAT THE SUCCESS OF THOSE HAMBURGERS WILL FINANCE MORE ORIGINAL DISHES. BUT MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, I’M AFRAID IT JUST FINANCES MORE HAMBURGERS.

  Warren Beatty ( 1937– )

  I would like to not ever have to spend $20 million of anybody’s money on a film.... You want to make a film with a fleet-footed and agile crew that doesn’t leave a footprint. You don’t want to mow down things in its wake. I like to work small and take a gentler approach to actually trying to capture something. It isn’t because I can’t manage a big budget. I just prefer not to.

  Debra Granik ( 1963– )

  SENSITIVITY AND MONEY ARE LIKE PARALLEL LINES. THEY DON’T MEET.

  Ang Lee ( 1954 – )

  THE PROBLEM IS THAT BEING CREATIVE HAS GLAMOUR. PEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS END OF FILM ALWAYS SAY, OR A WOMAN I WENT TO SCHOOL WITH WHO SAID, GUY. HE’S A PLUMBER BUT HE’S VERY CREATIVE.” “I WANT TO BE A PRODUCER, BUT A CREATIVE PRODUCER.” “OH YES, I MARRIED THIS

  Woody Allen ( 1935 – )

  Now you have masses of executives who have to justify their existence and write so-called “creative notes” and have creative meetings. They obsess about the word creative probably because they aren’t.

  Roman Polanski ( 1933– )

  I think one can make marvelous films that have no beginning, middle, or end.

  Fred Zinnemann
( 1907–97 )

  A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but not necessarily in that order.

  Jean-Luc Godard ( 1930 – )

  No picture shall be produced which will lower the moral standards of those who see it.

  Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 ( HAYS CODE )

  IT IS IN THE INTEREST OF PRODUCERS TO MAINTAIN A CERTAIN MORAL STANDARD, SINCE, IF THEY DON’T DO THIS, THE IMMORAL FILMS WON’T SELL.