Money makes even bastards legitimate.

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.

On Ernst Lubitsch: He could do more with a closed door than other directors could do with an open fly.

My Aunt Minnie would always be punctual and never hold up production, but who would pay to see my Aunt Minnie?

The ultimate trick is to convince, persuade. Every single person out there is an idiot, but collectively they're a genius.

An actor entering through the door, you've got nothing. But if he enters through the window, you've got a situation.

If something smells bad, why put your nose in it?

Shoot a few scenes out of focus. I want to win the foreign film award.

Develop a clean line of action for your leading character

Don't be too clever for an audience. Make it obvious. Make the subtleties obvious also.

We are on the track of something absolutely mediocre.

God save me from myself.

I just always think, 'Do I like it?' And if I like it, maybe other people will come and like it too.

France is a place where the money falls apart in your hands but you can't tear the toilet paper.

The best director is the one you don't see.

Make subtlety obvious.

The only pictures worth making are the ones that are playing with fire.

The Austrians are brilliant people. They made the world believe that Hitler was a German and Beethoven an Austrian.

The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.