I think politics should be expressed in this way and not in other ways. And not just politics - sentiments, even certain states of being.

Probably the greatest writer of westerns himself was Homer. His character were never all good or all bad. They're half and half, these characters, as all human beings are.

My films are often characterized by the lack of women present in them, except for this last one [Once Upon a Time in America].

I think that men of my generation - not me in particular - are among the most fortunate men in the universe.

As Claude LeLouche said, his favorite American director is Sergio Leone. Not because I would be American, but because I was dealing with subject matter that an American could have just as easily dealt with.

I think politics should be expressed in this way and not in other ways. And not just politics - sentiments, even certain states of being.

An important Italian critic once gave Fistful of Dollars a very bad review when it came out. Then he went to the university here [Rome] with Once Upon a Time in America. We showed it to 10,000 students. And while the man was speaking that day to the students, with me present, he said, "I have to state one thing. When I gave that review about Sergio's films, I should have taken into account that on Sergio Leone's passport, there should not be written whether the nationality is Italian or anything else. What should be written is: 'Nationality: Cinema.' "