When I go to the movies, I do like to see things that surprise me, a little bit, in ways that seem truthful to the world that we live in.

That is definitely a misunderstanding between me and a part of my audience. To be honest, I am often unsettled by the responses some people have had to my movies, and that includes many people who like them.

Compromise is part and parcel of making a movie. It's a question of the kinds of compromises that you have to make.

There are a lot of ideas I have that I think would be very marketable and commercial, but they're not as compelling to me as the ones that are unmarketable, uncommercial, and unprofitable.

Narcissism and self-deception are survival mechanisms without which many of us might just jump off a bridge.

I admit there’s an element of brutality in all my work - it’s part of the truth about human existence I always want to explore - but the last thing I’m trying to do is put on some kind of freak show, inviting people to get off on other people’s pain and humiliation.

Like everything, what compels one to put pen to paper is a great question.