There is never an excuse not to finish a film.

I'm reminded of an interview Larry King had on his talk show with one of Michael Jackson's sisters. He's talking about how many millions she made on her latest record, and all of a sudden, she looks at him tearfully and says, "Larry, you know, I'm not interested in money or sales or songs. I'm a spiritual person." And I thought, "Oh my god..."

If an actor knows how to milk a cow, I always know it will not be difficult to be in business with him.

Someone like Jean-Luc Godard is for me intellectual counterfeit money when compared to a good kung fu film.

You should bear in mind that almost all my documentaries are feature films in disguise.

Your film is like your children. You might want a child with certain qualities, but you are never going to get the exact specification right. The film has a privilege to live its own life and develop its own character. To suppress this is dangerous. It is an approach that works the other way too: sometimes the footage has amazing qualities that you did not expect.

Roger Ebert was the last mammoth alive who was holding the flag for real movies and moviemakers.