There can't be art without risk. It's like saying No Sex, and then expecting there to be children.

It's ironic that at age 32, at probably the greatest moment of my career, with The Godfather having such an enormous success, I wasn't even aware of it, because I was somewhere else under the deadline again.

I still think Ned Beatty should've played Don Corleone.

I always found the film world unpleasant. It's all about the schedule, and never really flew for me.

Most directors have one masterpiece by which they are known. Kurosawa has at least eight or nine.

I realized I probably wouldn't make another film that cuts through commercial and creative things like 'Godfather' or 'Apocalypse.'

I've been failing for, like, ten or eleven years. When it turns, it'll turn. Right now I'm just trying to squeeze through a very tight financial period, get the movie out, and put my things in order.