The lovely Margaret from Cinematic Corner passed me the torch of a great blogathon/relay, started by David of Taste of Cinema: Favorite Director Quotes, one that features quotes from 10 filmmakers about cinema.
Here are the participants who have contributed to this relay race so far:
David of Taste of Cinema
Chris of movieandsongs365
Alex of And So it Begins...
Josh of The Cinematic Spectacle
Stephanie of On Page and Screen
Britanni Burnham of Rambling Film
John of John Likes Movies
Ruth of Flix Chatter
Keith of Keith & the Movies
Mark of Marked Movies
Tyson of Head in a Vice
Eric of The IPC
S1ngal of S1ngal
Steven of Surrender to the Void
Margaret from Cinematic Corner
And now, the 10 great filmmakers and their quotes:
“I steal from every single movie ever made. I love it – if my work has anything it’s that I’m taking this from this and that from that and mixing them together. If people don’t like that, then tough titty, don’t go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal; they don’t do homages.” – Quentin Tarantino
“Why make a movie about something one understands completely? I make movies about things I do not understand, but wish to.” – Seijun Suzuki
“When I make a film, I never stop uncovering mysteries, making discoveries. When I’m writing, filming, editing, even doing promotional work, I discover new things about the film, about myself, and about others. That is what I’m subconsciously looking for when shooting a film: to glimpse the enigmas of life, even if I don’t resolve them, but at least to uncover them. Cinema is curiosity in the most intense meaning of the word.” – Pedro Almodovar
“You make films to give people something, to transport them somewhere else, and it doesn’t matter if you transport them to a world of intuition or a world of intellect…The realm of superstitions, fortune-telling, presentiments, intuition, dreams, all this is the inner life of a human being, and all this is the hardest thing to film… I’ve been trying to get there from the beginning. I’m somebody who doesn’t know, somebody who’s searching.” – Krzysztof Kieslowski
“Every film should have its own world, a logic and feel to it that expands beyond the exact image that the audience is seeing.” – Christopher Nolan
“I really subscribe to that old adage that you should never let the audience get ahead of you for a second. So if the film’s abrasive and wrongfoots people then, y’know, that’s great. But I hope it involves an audience. If not, that’s my fuck-up.” – Paul Thomas Anderson
“I think when you’re young and have that first burst of energy and make five or six pictures in a row that tell the stories of all the things in life you want to say . . . well, maybe those are the films that should have won me the Oscar. When Taxi Driver (1976) was up for Best Picture, it got three other nominations: Best Actor [Robert De Niro], Best Supporting Actress [Jodie Foster] and Best Music. But the director and writer were overlooked. I was so disappointed, I said, “You know what? That’s the way it’s going to be”. What was I going to do, go home and cry?” – Martin Scorsese
“In England, I’m a horror movie director. In Germany, I’m a filmmaker. In the US, I’m a bum. ” – John Carpenter
"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of waters, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable: originality is nonexistent. And don't bother concealing your thievery--celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: It's not where you take things--it's where you take them to." - Jim Jarmush
"If you want to be a filmmaker, the best thing you can bring to the world is your own story. And there is something that is very personal to you and something that you have your own singular connection to that if it really is important to you, there are people all over the planet that will relate to it. So, the mistakes happens when you try to figure out what everyone likes because the only thing you can be sure of is what you like. And the reality is what you like ends up being what a lot of people like because we are all going through a very similar story." Darren Aronofsky
Who I'm taking out:
“In England, I’m a horror movie director. In Germany, I’m a filmmaker. In the US, I’m a bum. ” – John CarpenterWhy: I am not a fan of John Carpenter and that quote is not remarcable, either. Sorry!
Who am I adding to the mix:
“I’m just a storyteller, and the cinema happens to be my medium. I like it because it re-creates life in movement, enlarges it, enhances it, distills it. For me, it’s far closer to the miraculous creation of life than, say, a painting or music or even literature. It’s not just an art form; it’s actually a new form of life, with its own rhythms, cadences, perspectives and transparencies. It’s my way of telling a story.” – Federico Fellini Why: I found a number of great quotes of directors, and I had three possible choices, but this one (found, incidently, on David's blog) completely won me over because not only is it artistic, but it's close to my heart, as it somehow describes my opinion on film. People like to tell stories, and they do it in different ways; for me, film is by far the most interesting, explicit and entertaining way of doing that. It is a new form of life that you have to be careful how to make it, how to mold it enough for it to touch people- if you achieve that, you have done your job well.
I now pass the blogathon to Ruth from "...let's be splendid about this"
