“A fairly young, intelligent-looking man with long hair asked me whether filming or being filmed could do harm, whether it could destroy a person. In my heart the answer was yes, but I said no.”

“But the question that everyone wanted answered was whether I would have the nerve and the strength to start the whole process from scratch. I said yes; otherwise I would be someone who had no dream left, and without dreams I would not want to live.”

“If you truly love film, I think the healthiest thing to do is not read books on the subject. I prefer the glossy film magazines with their big color photos and gossip columns, or the National Enquirer. Such vulgarity is healthy and safe.”

“Someone like Jean-Luc Godard is for me intellectual counterfeit money when compared to a good kung fu film.”

“at the press conference for the film he impressed everyone with his complete sincerity and innocence. he said he had come to see the sea for the first time and marveled at how clean it was. someone told him that, in fact, it wasn't. 'when the world is emptied of human beings' he said, 'it will become so again”

“Academia is the death of cinema. It is the very opposite of passion. Film is not the art of scholars, but of illiterates.”

“I'm quite convinced that cooking is the only alternative to film making. Maybe there's also another alternative, that's walking on foot.”