I hoped that grief was similar to the other emotions. That it would end, the way happiness did. Or laughter.

I can't do a film if I don't start with the writing.

Films have gotten leaner and leaner, cutting out all variations from the story line.

The truth is that seals look more like dogs. And I'm surrounded by seals because I live by the sea. They're odd bloody creatures. Not fish, they don't have gills, they should have legs, but they don't. They're the weirdest things, you know?

But everyone gets burnt, don't they? Certain things are outside of your control. I suppose the only thing you can learn as a director is to not put yourself into situations where it can get outside of your control. And that's what happened.

Well, Company of Wolves was about that literally, about fairy tales.

If movies have to satisfy every possible quadrant before they're even made, they're dull. You only get great things when people overreach themselves.