I think once you've finished a movie you really have to detach from it so that you can come back and watch it as an audience member.

Stanley Kubrick was a big inspiration. People accuse me of never using my own material. But when did Kubrick? You look at his films and they are completely unique... completely separate entities.

To me, length is an artificial and arbitrary factor in a film.

The Exorcist' is amazing because it recognizes that silences can be as powerful as sound effects.

The human race is fundamentally insane. If you put two of us into a room together we're soon gonna start figuring out good reasons to kill one another.

I am fascinated with times past.

I think a story should take as long to tell as it is appropriate to that particular story.