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

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.

Money makes even bastards legitimate.

We are on the track of something absolutely mediocre.

God save me from myself.

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.

I met a lot of hard-boiled eggs in my life, but you - you're twenty minutes.

You're as good as the best thing you've ever done.

A director must be a policeman, a midwife, a psychoanalyst, a sycophant and a bastard.