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.

The photographer and the director are where reality and fantasy meet.

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 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.

Listen, if there's one sure-fire rule that I have learned in this business, it's that I don't know anything about human nature.

I bring to my life a certain amount of mess.

I have more of a vivid imagination than I have talent. I cook up ideas. It's just a characteristic.