David Mamet Quotes

The technology is really where all of the changes have taken place, but the fundamentals of a good story being the basis of every good picture, and really the only basis still remains the rule, more so today, I think, because we've unfortunately weaned an audience from birth to kind of mindless movies.

A good project but a poor director will always make a mediocre film, but an average script and good director can make a good film, as he will put in everything to make the film look good.

I think film, to me, as a director, is about telling a story.

There are so many elements that make a good film. You need a great director who's driving it.

I am incapable of directing a film like 'Agneenath.' I can do only what I am good at, so I would have been the worst choice to direct it. It has aggression, action and an inherent violence in it - things I am not capable of directing in my films.

I look for the character to be something interesting, the script to have a good story and be original, and a director that I admire.

A lot of movies are about life, mine are like a slice of cake.

I think that those are the things that you can uniquely do with film that are difficult to do anywhere else: they can bring a picture to life, give it a natural and historical context and make you feel that everything else is suddenly credible.

Since I was a child, I've liked telling stories. Maybe because my father's a director, I grew up loving stories. I'm not good at spinning them at a dinner table because I do go on a bit, but I love writing them, and directing is just a way of editing the story.

I like reading a lot. Jeffrey Archer and Robert Ludlum are my favourite authors. I love making realistic cinema, so I read non-fiction more.

Network television is all talk. I think there should be visuals on a show, some sense of mystery to it, connections that don't add up.

I'm not a purist - I like films that are narrated and films that aren't, films that are beautiful and films that are clumsy but heartfelt. Mostly, I just like a good story and good characters.

Part of what's so tricky in a film that's two hours long is how many themes can you effectively explore.

Short films really helped me develop as a story teller, animator, and as a director.

Well, there's no question that a good script is an absolutely essential, maybe the essential thing for a movie.

I think making a good film shot is joyful.

I have a great little camera, and I had a theory that if the story is interesting, it doesn't matter what medium you shoot it on. You just have to make a good film.

A good script and perfect casting, that's 90 percent of the work.

Film-makers must decide what story to tell and how to tell it.

The problem with trying to make a film good and have it work for an audience is the problem of trying to tell a story well. The shape or the color of it doesn't matter.

It really just gives you a sense of when you need to have dialogue and when you don't, and if your pictures are telling the story, you don't need to have all this talking.

A lot of the films now are more focused on the visuals than on the actors. I think all directors should go to drama school.

The way the films look will never entertain an audience alone. It has to be in the service of a good story with great characters.

I write scripts to serve as skeletons awaiting the flesh and sinew of images.

Learning to make films is very easy. Learning what to make films about is very hard.