People will now go to films with subtitles, you know. They're not afraid of them. It's one of the upsides of text-messaging and e-mail. Maybe the only good thing to come of it.

I know I can be bolshy and really unpleasant, and it always happens if I lose confidence in the people I'm working with. If I've got no confidence in what I'm doing and they don't provide me with some assurance that we're doing the right thing then I bully people. I'm a horrible bully.

When I speak English, I've been told, I have this patrician way of speaking that's very irritating. It's the whole class thing.

The Cannes film festival is about big-budget films but also remarkable films made in different political regimes by film-makers with little resources.

I never go straight to the point if I can go the most difficult way. Why be simple when you can be complicated?

It takes a long time to appreciate one's parents.

When you make a film, you sign a contract with somebody, and it's not only legally binding but morally binding. You agree to give this man a certain number of weeks of your life, and you just go for it as much as possible. Because, whatever happens, the film is going to come out, so you might as well try very hard to make it a good one.