Sound is your friend because sound is much cheaper than picture, but it has equal effect on the audience - in some ways, perhaps more effect because it does it in a very indirect way.

I know that if a film is ready to emerge out of what I write, I'll be able to go off and make it without asking anyone's permission.

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.

The essence of cinema is editing.

If you're not allowed to experiment anymore for fear of being considered self-indulgent or pretentious or what have you, then everyone's going to just stick to the rules - there's not going to be any additional ideas.

I've been offered lots of movies. There's always some actor who's doing a project and would like to have me do it.

A director is the ringmaster of a circus that's inventing itself.