More than ninety percent of directing a picture is the right casting

The only thing I really wanted was the freedom to be able to get what I want on film. I’ve dealt with the MPAA since 1973, so I know how to renegotiate and rework.

When I was growing up in the mid-'50s, the Roaring Twenties were a huge part of the culture. There were a number of films and a bunch of television shows that dealt with the mythology of the underworld from that period.

I'm not a Hollywood director. I'm an in spite of Hollywood director.

Every scene is a lesson. Every shot is a school. Let the learning continue.

I can't really envision a time when I'm not shooting something.

The tone of the picture and the atmosphere was in my head and in my blood in a way once I'd decided to make the picture. I had to find my way through that to choose, select, emphasise certain visual elements and sound.