There is no good reason. Don't waste your life waiting for good reasons...You'll wait and wait.

The word dysfunction has, I think, served its purpose and now has lost its meaning. Every family, like every person, is imperfect, after all. The idea that there is a family somewhere who functions, is an odd concept. In my youth I was running from my family to try to find out who I was-their influence distracted me. Now I see what a powerful hold they have, no matter what.

[The director's idea for the film was:] A young American or English girl goes to Tuscany to visit English expatriates. She is on a mission to lose her virginity. That's a mission easily accomplished, if that's the only mission. The story had to be more complicated than that. Because there is so little happening dramatically, there had to be something to keep you curious.

Between children and parents there is a difficulty of seeing each other simply as people.

Recording a scene with paint rather than film sinks you more deeply into your surroundings. You have to look a little harder and a little longer. And you end up with a memento.

Boy poison - a boy's kisses were like a poison, which infected you and after you were exposed you craved more, like an addict.

When a person you love moves by you with flat eyes that will not see you, it is a shock to believe it.