The importance is getting to something truthful and in that moment can only be in that moment. I don't like to use the word "improvise," but it's a continual writing of the film.

I grew up in and identify with and that she works and exists in.

What really enthralls me is working with the actor and seeing where you can go with that. It's in that exchange and that relationship.

When it comes time to make the scenes concrete and shoot them, I want the freedom for it to exist which means adding, subtracting or modifying.

I didn't really think in terms of clichés or non-clichés.

[ Blue is the Warmest Color ] was really a film about two people having to go through a relationship which everyone knew would lead to a breakup and the pain that that entails. Anybody can see that story, what leads to that, and identify with it. As a filmmaker, I wanted to construct this identification process with the characters so that you fully connect to their emotions and what their breakup [represents].

To use an image, making a film is like climbing a mountain or crossing an ocean. Every day has its challenges.