A work of art doesn’t exist outside the perception of the audience.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMIMy way of expression is full of complications and mystery because that’s my perception of life.
More Abbas Kiarostami Quotes
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I’m still very grateful to digital cameras in general, but I didn’t have this feeling with the RED one.
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This [the earthquake] was a very big influence on me, and the issue of life and death from then on does recur in my films.
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The [Iranian] government grapples with more important issues and we can maybe say that these films don’t really exist for them. It’s not about whether they like it or don’t; it’s just not very important to them.
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I really haven’t seen The Report in a long time. I don’t have a copy, but I’ll have to see it again. I think it would be good to put both these men next to each other.
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This was pointed out to me by somebody who referred to the paintings of Rembrandt and his use of light: some elements are highlighted while others are obscured or even pushed back into the dark.
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I really enjoy listening to stories. I remember them and keep them in my mind.
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Anything I’ve not experienced I do not look to for a subject. I have to feel it.
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My films have been progressing towards a certain kind of minimalism, even though it was never intended. Elements which can be eliminated have been eliminated.
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I can only display what I’ve been nurtured with, which is this worldview which has become my view. If I displayed anything different from it in my work, I wouldn’t deserve this heritage.
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In order to be universal, you have to be rooted in your own culture.
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The only thing that I can do is hold a mirror in front of men and women, in front of the viewer in the theater, to reflect. There is nothing but reflection that I could intend to offer the viewer of the film.
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Everybody knows that I am not usually patient enough to actually sit down and watch one of my own films from the beginning to the end – I never do.
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I think violence can never be justified. At the same time, nobody’s culture or beliefs should be insulted, that’s not something I can accept either. But I cannot justify or accept any violence at all.
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I never really learned photography.
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We don’t look at each other [in the car], but instead do so only when we want to. We’re allowed to look around without appearing rude. We have a big screen in front of us and side views.
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Therefore, when you see the end result, it’s difficult to see who’s the director, me or them. Ultimately, everything belongs to the actors – we just manage the situation.
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I have somewhat lost my enthusiasm in the last years. Mainly because film students using digital video these days have not really produced anything which is more than superficial or simplistic; so I have my doubts.
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As long as I take the responsibility of the choice, I have to make the choice that is as right as possible.
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As soon as people enter a theater they must become moron consumers who must be fed information.
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I believe there’s only good cinema and bad cinema.
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Children are very strong and independent characters and can come up with more interesting things than Marlon Brando, and it’s sometimes very difficult to direct or order them to do something.
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It’s not so much a question of whether we’ve shot it through 35mm or digital video; what is important is whether the audience accepts it as real.
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If it does, the fruit will not be as good as it was in its original place. This is a rule of nature. I think if I had left my country, I would be the same as the tree.
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A digital camera does have many advantages and I was a believer that digital video would be a big influence on film-making.
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Cinema gives you the opportunity to be both a grandparent and a grandchild whereas in life you cannot be both at the same time.
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Close-Up has affected later films that I’ve made.
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI