The belief that the good in American society will finally win out... I don't believe any more.

I'm going to make a film where not one word is really important. I'm going to make it all action.

The more ambivalent you are and the more uncertain you are, then you can get something that you cannot anticipate.

I was both very successful and very left; the living demonstration of how you could be on the left and still be in the gossip columns and be envied for the money you made.

Look for the contradictions in every character, especially in your heroes and villains. No one should be what they first seem to be. Surprise the audience.

I like directors who come on the set and create something that's a little dangerous, difficult or unusual.

I was the true future. I understood Communism better than they did.