“Man is a genius when he dreams. Dream what you are capable of. The harder you dream it, the sooner it will come true.”

The great appeal of film is its relatability.

Human beings share the same common problems. A film can only be understood if it depicts these properly.

A film made in this spirit reveals the hearts of the crew.

It is the power of memory that gives rise to the power of imagination.

There is something that might be called cinematic beauty. It can only be expressed in a film, and it must be present for that film to be a moving work.

One of techniques of modern art is simplification, and that I must therefore simplify this film.

It is to make it nurture and grow that I write my script- it is directing it that makes my tree blossom and bear fruit.

I believe that it is this quality that draws people to come and see a film, and that it is the hope of attaining this quality that inspires the filmmaker to make his film in the first place.

If you want to be a great director, be a great screenwriter.

I am not a special person, I am not especially strong; I am not especially gifted.

I believe this is what the medieval Noh playwright and theorist Zeami meant by ‘watching with a detached gaze.’

During the shooting of a scene the director’s eye has to catch even the minutest detail. But this does not mean glaring concentratedly at the set.

I have no idea who the characters are, later, their personalities take over anything I might want to do.

Movie directors, or should I say people who create things, are very greedy and they can never be satisfied… That’s why they can keep on working.

For me, filmmaking combines everything. That’s the reason I’ve made cinema my life’s work. In films, painting and literature, theatre and music come together. But a film is still a film.

If I were to write anything at all, it would turn out to be nothing but talk about movies. In other words, take ‘myself,’ subtract ‘movies,’ and the result is ‘zero.’

Well my wife and I just had a baby ourselves and it makes it harder to be on the road.

I’m from a land where people make mistakes and try again, harder, faster; where negativity is not an option.

Yes, it’s harder being younger and growing up yourself, but all those anxieties and problems are going to be faced by anyone at any age.

So there’s more competition, so you have to work harder and be right for it.

Every time you say no to Jesus Christ, it makes it that much harder for you to say yes to Jesus Christ.

He has a heart of gold – only harder.

And when you’re a perfectionist little monster, it makes it even harder.

I’m working harder now than ever before. I couldn’t turn down the BBC job because I’ve never been offered the opportunity of killing three or four people on screen before!