I grew up within Italian-American neighborhoods, everybody was coming into the house all the time, kids running around, that sort of stuff, so when I finally got into my own area, so to speak, to make films, I still carried on.

Now more than ever we need to talk to each other, to listen to each other and understand how we see the world, and cinema is the best medium for doing this.

Hong Kong cinema is something you can't duplicate anyway.

The most important thing is, how can I move forward towards something that I can't articulate, that is new in storytelling with moving images and sound?

I was born in 1942, so I was mainly aware of Howard Hughes' name on RKO Radio Pictures.

I've been to North Africa many times.

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. In one sense, it's about protecting yourself; in another sense, it's about always being open to surprise, even from the set, because there may be some detail that you hadn't noticed. I think this is crucial. There are many pictures that seem good in so many ways except one: They lack a sense of surprise, they've never left the page.