By trying to control everything we become very neurotic, more and more desperate. It's a huge tragic thing.

When I moved to Paris in the '70s, there wasn't very much going on in film in England. So when I started doing French films, there was a natural movement toward the kind of films I wanted to do. It wasn't the reason I came, but it so happened that I stepped into a time and place that actually corresponded to what I wanted. That sometimes happens in life. And it was rather beautiful.

I must explore desert ground and see what can grow. But there are limits. I know in my heart what I would never do.

Cinema d'auteur, cinema about people, about emotions. About la difficulté d'être, the difficulty of being, existential problems. That's what the nouvelle vague is. The early '60s was all about that.

A lot of young actors will do a scene and then run off and look at themselves. I don't believe in that at all

A film based on a jolly good John Grisham book is fine, but I like to get a bit under the skin

Doing cinema is not about watching yourself