Some experience is helpful. "The Pianist" was a film that I could make with my eyes closed because I had lived it and everything was still alive in me.

It's easy to direct while acting - there's one less person to argue with.

My films are the expression of momentary desires. I follow my instincts, but in a disciplined way.

I did not have a reputation to defend.

I sometimes cry in the moments that are not necessarily dramatic or tragic in the films, often because of the music. I wonder whether it's the music that has that effect on you in this film.

You have to show violence the way it is. If you don't show it realistically, then that's immoral and harmful. If you don't upset people, then that's obscenity.

Happy endings make me puke.