I love the look of planes and the idea of how a plane flies. The more I learn about it the better I feel; while I still may not like it, I have a sense of what is really happening.

I go through periods, usually when I'm editing and shooting, of seeing only old films.

We cannot burn Mick Jagger. We want the effect, but we can't burn him.

I love movies - it's my whole life, and that's it.

When I'm making a film, I'm the audience.

It’s also true that I might have never made Taxi Driver [1976] were it not for the success of Alice [Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, 1974]. The question of commercialism is a source of worry. Must one make a choice, must it be a matter of either setting your sights on winning an Academy Award and becoming a millionaire, or making only the movies you want to make and starving to death?

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