We all know that we're going to die, but we don't know when. That's not a blessing, that's a curse.

I acknowledge Mike Leigh and Ken Loach. They are prostlytizers of English socialism preaching to the converted and telling us what we already know. Cinema is best served away from documentary neo-realism. I come from a tradition of post-post-Italian neo-realism in England, where we've produced the best television in the world. But to paraphrase Truffaut, the English have no visual imagination.

I really, sincerely believe that one should trust the work, and not the author.

My audience is comprised of three categories. The first category contains the people who decide after the first five minutes that they've made a mistake and leave. The second category is the people who give the film a chance and leave annoyed after 40 minutes. The third category includes the people that watch the whole film and return to see it again. If I'm able to persuade 33% of the audience to stay, then I can say that I've succeeded.

There's no such thing as history, only historians. That's how we know about the past.

We don't need virtual reality, we need virtual unreality.

I think my films are very English. That certain emotional distance, interest in the world, interest in irony. These are all deeply English propositions.