Today's cinema is a global art form, it is impossible to make movies for a market the size of France, representing no more than 4% of the world's total.

I had to choose between American and British actors, and it didn't take me more than a second to decide: Russians are Europeans and should be played by other Europeans.

There is a broad cultural current that conveys the idea that a film is like a football team, it represents a nation, it is illustrated literature, filmed radio. These are outdated concepts, totally out of touch with today's realities.

I make movies just as painters paint: I work where I can.

If you make a movie about Elizabeth I, how much of the dialogue is her real words? Audiences know when they go see a movie that it is fiction.

British actors behave like Europeans; they are also extremely well trained.

The world distribution of French movies is a laughing matter. That is a fact.