I saw part of The Singing Detective on TV in New York. I said, Something is going on here.

There cannot be any communication except through form. If there is no form, you cannot create emotion in the spectator.

I never had any special appetite for filmmaking, but you have to make a living and it is miraculous to earn a living working in film.

When I was twelve, the passage from silent film to the talkies had an impact on me-I still watch silent films. I don't think that there is any such thing as an old film; you don't say, 'I read an old book by Flaubert,' or 'I saw an old play by Moliere.'

So I used formal techniques to make the film more perceptive emotionally.

It was repugnant, but it was the only way to communicate.

I am never driven. Every film Ive made has been an assignment.