True values entail suffering. That’s the way we think. All in all, we tend to view melancholia as more true. We prefer music and art to contain a touch of melancholia. So melancholia in itself is a value. Unhappy and unrequited love is more romantic than happy love. For we don’t think that’s completely real, do we?…Longing is true. It may be that there’s no truth at all to long for, but the longing itself is true. Just like pain is true. We feel it inside. It’s part of our reality.

The secret ingredient to sex is love.

I am a man of very many anxieties but doing strange things with the camera is not one of them.

Only a fool does not fear actors, but you can't beat them, and if you can't beat them, join them, as they say. As I've got older I've become very interested in that part of the work

Even if you feel all right, tell the actors you don't have full power, and they will help you.

I understand Hitler... I sympathise with him a little bit.

It is more difficult to manipulate with film than, for instance, video. The problem with video is that it gives you a thousand possibilities.