What science-fiction premises do is it gives you a "what-if" prism to look at the contemporary world with a wack on the side of the head.

I don't feel despair because I am able to make the films I want to make, and that gives me hope.

Were "A Clockwork Orange" or "Blue Velvet" released today, would they have the same power to shock that they had when they came out? Are we too inured by that torrent of images and the ridiculousness of modern political life, so that nothing shocks us anymore? What does it take to shock someone today - or at least jolt them? I don't have an answer. I'm just asking the question.

I like voice-over in films, and most of my films have been voice-over films.

I could never be a part of an adaptation of a film where there's pressure to not disappoint the immense fan base. In those cases, they often wind up with filmed books on tape, quite uncinematic. Having said that, I'd say all the adaptations I've done are quite faithful to the original... You have to pick and choose which storylines and plot threads, because you don't have the time to kill in the film as they have in novels. All those pages with detours and plots and different storylines. But films add a lot, and you gotta keep it moving.

I like to think of film-making not just as an act of personal self-aggrandisement but rather as an act of public service.

I like actors who, when you see them on screen, you sense a person, not just an actor.