You can fail in films because you don't have the talent, or you have too much humility, or you lack ferociousness. I'm a gangster. If I want something, I'll grab it.

I won't make shorthand films, because I don't want to manipulate audiences into assuming quick, manufactured truths.

We don't take the time to be vulnerable with each other

Film is, to me, just unimportant. But people are very important.

An artist can accomplish anything provided he doesn't accept facts or defeat for more than a few minutes.

People who are making films today are too concerned with mechanics - technical things instead of feeling.

I’ve never seen an exploding helicopter. I’ve never seen anybody go and blow somebody’s head off. So why should I make films about them? But I have seen people destroy themselves in the smallest way, I’ve seen people withdraw, I’ve seen people hide behind political ideas, behind dope, behind the sexual revolution, behind fascism, behind hypocrisy, and I’ve myself done all these things. So I can understand them. What we are saying is so gentle. It’s gentleness. We have problems, terrible problems, but our problems are human problems.