It never crossed my mind to make a film about Muhammad Ali or the Queen or any of them! They just come out of the blue.

As a director, my job is to protect. I protect scripts, actors, cameramen, designers.

I teach film directing, inasmuch as you can. Its not really possible to teach film direction, but I sit there as a sort of testimony of experience and know-how, I suppose.

The only way you can learn about making films is by making them, by putting your stamp on the thing.

I basically just make films that interest me. And I don't want to make the same film twice, you know? But I've never found a franchise, so... I guess I'm lot poorer because of that, but... what astonishes me is that, at my age, I can still find things that interest me. And that's tremendous.

It never crossed my mind to make a film about Muhammad Ali or the Queen or any of them! They just come out of the blue.

Audiences arent fools - their judgement really is important. And the true heroes of films are the investors. They take the risk, after all.