Once in one's life, for one mortal moment, one must make a grab for immortality; if not, one has not lived.

To be really artful, though, you have to be subjective and so singular.

Gangster is the truest friend I can ever ask for.

Suddenly I've got an overwhelming desire to surround myself with the aura of classical and Romantic art.

I was on cruise control from '85 to '95, and it was my fault. There were a lot of self-inflicted wounds, when I was not doing any original material. I wasn't directing. I wasn't writing. That's not who I am.

The biggest and most interesting crisis in the world is the human crisis, and it never gets boring. It goes back to Shakespeare. You don't need a gimmick; it's just man against man and their intolerance of each other.

I tend to think of action movies as exuberant morality plays in which good triumphs over evil.