You see in Once Upon a Time in the West the whole film moves around her [Claudia Cardinale]. If you take her out, there's no more film. She's the central motor of the entire happening.

The American public is a very specialized public.

Where life had no value, death, sometimes, had its price. That is why the bounty killers appeared.

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

It's difficult to find new solicitations, new expressions. But this is talking about filmmaking. Cinema.

It is hard to do a film that wants to say something because, unfortunately, most everything has been said.

What I do is give Ennio Morricone suggestions and describe to him my characters, and then, quite often, he'll possibly write five themes for one character. And five themes for another. And then I'll take one piece of one of them and put it with a piece of another one for that character or take another theme from another character and move it into this character.... And when I have my characters finally dressed, then he composes.