I took four years off after 'In the Cut' because I wanted to see who I'd be without work. I even tried being a hermit in the wilderness in New Zealand. I stayed in a warden's hut two-and-a-half hours off the Routeburn Track through the fjords on the South Island. It was early winter, so there was no electricity or running water.

I think the whole tension about romanticism is the way it builds and builds, and the moment it's consummated, the tension's over.

I think if it's interesting, it's interesting, and if it's not, it's not working.

My musical knowledge is so bad it's embarrassing. When composers discuss music with someone as primitive as myself, they have to talk about it in terms of senses and emotion, rather than keys and tempo.

I think feature film can be quite conservative, because you have to now get audiences to come out, and it's quite a hard thing to do. Of course, television can be conservative too.

The studio system is kind of an old boys system and it's difficult for them to trust women to be capable

I can't imagine people telling me what to do - I just can't imagine it.