Kathryn Bigelow Quotes

I think violence in a cinematic context can be, if handled in a certain way, very seductive.

I can't stand outside myself and be anybody else.

Something becomes personal when it deviates from the norm.

I thrive on production. It feels very much like a natural environment for me.

My dad used to draw these great cartoon figures. His dream was being a cartoonist, but he never achieved it, and it kind of broke my heart. I think part of my interest in art had to do with his yearning for something he could never have.

For some individuals - some soldiers, some contractors - combat provides a kind of purpose and meaning beyond which all else potentially pales in comparison.

I'm drawn to filmmaking that can transport me. Film can immerse you, put you there.

The Communist regime didn't consider this to be a shining moment in history and assigned no heroism to it. They classified it as merely an accident.

I don't do what I do to try and break a glass ceiling.

On the other hand, I believe there's hope, because the breakdown and the repair are happening simultaneously.

I'm definitely not drawn to shooting on a stage, I'm just not.

My criteria for doing a television series never changed. I wanted more stability, I wanted more of a sense of family, I wanted to do light comedy.

One of the elements in the film that really fascinated me was not to look at the world in bi-polar terms of us vs them or east vs west, which was a by-product of the Cold War.

War's dirty little secret is that some men love it. I'm trying to unpack why, to look at what it means to be a hero in the context of 21st-century combat.

Whereas painting is a more rarefied art form, with a limited audience, I recognized film as this extraordinary social tool that could reach tremendous numbers of people.

I did a pilot for Anything But Love in 1988 that didn't sell.

I choose material instinctually - at the heart of it are characters that I feel are fresh and original, and allow for an opportunity to, I suppose, explore uncharted ground.

I don't want to be made pacified or made comfortable. I like stuff that gets your adrenaline going.

Character and emotionality don't always have to be relegated to quieter, more simple constructs.

There's really no difference between what I do and what a male filmmaker might do. I mean we all try to make our days, we all try to give the best performances we can, we try to make our budget, we try to make the best movie we possibly can.

I like high impact movies.

I do have to say I have been very fortunate.

I'm drawn to provocative characters that find themselves in extreme situations. And I think I'm drawn to that consistently.

I always want to make films. I think of it as a great opportunity to comment on the world in which we live. Perhaps just because I just came off "The Hurt Locker" (2008) and I'm thinking of the war and I think it's a deplorable situation. It's a great medium in which to speak about that. This is a war that cannot be won, why are we sending troops over there? Well, the only medium I have, the only opportunity I have, is to use film. There will always be issues I care about.

I don't know if I thrive in normal life.

Am I a 'woman of action'? I don't think of myself that way.

With each project, I'm going for something that makes viewers think, 'Wow, I've never seen a film like this before,' and later think, 'Wow, I've only seen a film like this once before. I saw it in theaters and am watching it now on Netflix or a similar streaming service.'

I'm interested in social commentary.

If there's specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies. It's irrelevant who or what directed a movie, the important thing is that you either respond to it or you don't. There should be more women directing; I think there's just not the awareness that it's really possible. It is.

If there's specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.

There's a conventional reaction when you see a star: You anticipate he'll be a part of a particular denouement down the road, so you don't worry for that character.

What's most galvanizing for me is the opportunity to be topical and relevant and entertaining. That's the holy grail.

War's dirty little secret is that some men love it.

Our film examines the heroism, courage and prowess of the Soviet submarine force in ways never seen before.

I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.

It's irrelevant who or what directed a movie; the important thing is that you either respond to it or you don't.

When I made my first film, I didn't think of it as directing, so it wasn't like I set out to become a director.

One should make morals judgements for oneself.

I really look for peak experiences and dramatic material that can allow peak experiences.

I realised that there's a more muscular approach to film-making that I found very inspiring.

I began to exercise a lot of cinematic muscle with the precepts I had learned in the New York art world. Film was intriguing. I began to think of art as elitist, whereas film was not.

Perhaps the only thing in my favor is that I am very tenacious. I don't take 'no' very well.

I have always firmly believed that every director should be judged solely by their work, and not by their work based on their gender. Hollywood is supposedly a community of forward thinking and progressive people yet this horrific situation for women directors persists. Gender discrimination stigmatizes our entire industry. Change is essential. Gender neutral hiring is essential.

Cinema has the capacity to be so physiological.

I need to have my hands on the DNA of a film.

Films don't cause violence, people do. Violence defines our existence. To shield oneself is more dangerous than trying to reflect it.

There should be more women directing; I think there's just not the awareness that it's really possible.

I'd love to just think of myself as a filmmaker, and I wait for the day when the modifier can be a moot point.