Quotes by Great American Film Directors
- Written by Robert Adziashvili
Orson Welles:
‘A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet.’
‘I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.’
‘I have always been more interested in experiment, than in accomplishment.’
John Ford:
‘I am… a mushroom; On whom the dew of heaven drops now and then.’
‘You can speak well if your tongue can deliver the message of your heart.’
‘Diamonds cut diamonds.’
Billy Wilder:
‘I have ten commandments. The first nine are, thou shalt not bore. The tenth is, thou shalt have right of final cut.’
‘The best director is the one you don’t see’
‘Don’t be too clever for an audience. Make it obvious. Make the subtleties obvious also.
‘ Sidney Pollack:
‘I don’t care much about acting’
‘When I work, I think mainly in terms of dramatic choices’
‘All the movies I’ve made are essentially character-driven movies about people that I’m interested in’
Stanley Kubrick:
‘The first really important book I read about filmmaking was The Film Technique by Pudovkin. This was some time before I had ever touched a movie camera and it opened my eyes to cutting and montage.’
‘The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent, but if we can come to terms with this indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning.’
‘You either care or you don’t.’
Woody Allen:
‘Life doesn’t imitate art, it imitates bad television.’
‘If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative.’
‘In the beginning, there was nothing. And God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a lot better.’
Elia Kazan:
‘I will say nothing to an actor that cannot be translated into action.’
‘I like directors who come on the set and create something that’s a little dangerous, difficult or unusual.’
‘The essence of the stage is concentration and penetration. Of the screen action, movement, sweep.’
Sidney Lumet:
‘In drama, the characters should determine the story. In melodrama, the story determines the characters.’
‘There’s no such thing as a small part. There are just small actors.’
‘All good work requires self-revelation.’
Charlie Chaplin:
‘I suppose that’s one of the ironies of life – doing the wrong thing at the right moment.’
‘The deeper the truth in a creative work, the longer it will live.’
‘We must laugh in the face of our helplessness against the forces of nature — or go insane.’
‘We think too much and feel too little.’
‘Imagination means nothing without doing.’
‘One murder makes a villain, millions a hero. Numbers sanctify.’
‘How does one get ideas? By sheer perseverance to the point of madness.’
‘That which is apparent ends. That which is subtle is never-ending.’
‘Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.’
‘The world cannot be wrong if in this world there’s you.’
‘You’ll never find rainbows if you’re looking down.’