I don't do the running commentary as the movie's playing. I think you should be able to watch the movie without listening to me talk while the movies playing.

You look at war as something that is putting your best friend in jeopardy. You are responsible for the person in front of you and the person behind you, and the person to the left of you and the person to the right of you.

I wouldn't have filmed The Color Purple if the book had been a big fat novel. The reason I read it is because it is thin.

Tracking action without cutting is the least jarring method of placing the audience into a real-time experience where they are the ones making the subtle choices of where and when to look.

I love history, so I do a lot of movies about history.

I've got a lot of examples about moments where I thought something would work on film and it didn't work, but I never came to that decision with the film half shot, where I was stuck on a runaway train and couldn't jump off. On those occasions where I have admitted defeat, that this is not going to work, I haven't embarked on that project and made that movie.

When my children were born, I made the choice I wanted them to be raised as Jews and to have a Jewish education.