I just realized the other day that Clara [in Aquarius] and I are now going to be apart year by year. She's still 65, and I'm 66 now. When you make a movie, it preserves you at a certain age, and it's so wonderful that Clara has preserved me at 65. People are talking about her age in a way that is positive and respectful, which is so wonderful.

I just hope the film [Aquarius] doesn't feel overly nostalgic because too much nostalgia for me leads to depression. I think Clara is very pragmatic.

The film [Aquarius" ] is very, very successful. We had the highest per-screen average of last week's releases.

It's so sad to me [see the director's versions of films] because it shows how the filmmaker never got to make the film he had originally envisioned. You watch it and go, "Oh my god, he had to cut that scene! I can't believe it."

The ruins of classic movie theaters are a personal obsession of mine, and I've made a couple of documentaries about it.

Ultimately, you just have to do what feels right for the film. It really helps when you have great collaborators like my editor, Eduardo Serrano, who kept telling me various scenes should be longer.

When I saw that scene [in ocean from the Aquarius] for the first time, it blew me away. It caused me to reflect on my age, my history and all that I've been through in Brazil. Having been away from Brazil for so long, while not speaking in my own tongue, when I saw that image, I felt like I was taking my first deep breath after nearly suffocating to death. It was like the plastic had been removed from my head. Even if this breath turned out to be my last, at least I got to have this one moment of release. At least I got this one chance.