My whole life has been movies and religion. That's it. Nothing else.

Well the thing is that the New York of 1846 to 1862 was very different from downtown New York now. Really nothing from that period still exists in New York.

You've got to protect whatever creative talent you have left.

For me, the key image is the boat coming through the fog at the beginning. It's something I imagined and liked and I guess there are other references in other films I make - the similar type of image. But I think it's interesting, it's breaking through the mystery, or maybe it stays in the fog... we don't really know. Where is he at the beginning of the film, who is he?

There are times when you have to face your enemies, sit down and deal with it.

There was always a part of me that wanted to be an old-time director. But I couldn't do that. I'm not a pro.

Always get to the set or the location early, so that you can be all alone and draw your inspiration for the blocking and the setups in private and quiet.