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.

Art has a smaller audience than, say, movies or other forms of mass consumption. But that doesn't mean the work doesn't have an impact in a way that transcends just a few cultural arbiters.

But anonymity is very important to me, and I don't want to be recognized in public more than I already am.

Some people see me as dissecting my characters in some kind of heartless, coldblooded, analytical way, when in truth making these movies is a passionate, intensely emotional experience for me. I'm detached from the characters only to the degree that I have to be in order to write honestly about them.

I can't please everybody and I don't try to. If I can please myself that's enough. For the rest, I just hope for the best.

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

I mean, there are many other directors who are probably both more skilled and excited to adapt novels or work within certain genre conventions. I'd like to do that kind of work someday, but for better or worse I'm too drawn by my own material.