I thought I wanted to be a playwright because I was interested in stories and telling stories.

I have much to learn from my daughter Sofia. Her minimalism exposes my limitations: I'm too instinctive and operatic, I put too much heart into my work, I get lost sometimes in bizarre things - it's my Italian heritage.

When you make a film it is like asking yourself a question. When it is finished, you know the answer. Ultimately with all of cinema, we are just trying to learn about ourselves. I have always used the opportunity to make a film to learn more about myself, which I am still doing.

My film is not a movie; it's not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam.

If the movie works, nobody notices the mistakes... If the movie doesn't work, the only thing people notice are mistakes.

I was raised as a Catholic, but I didn't like the Catholic Church at all. I thought the nuns were mean.

Time is the lens through which dreams are captured.