Jiang Wen Quotes

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

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

Moviemaking is about telling a story. And you need to know what story you are going to tell.

The technology available for film-making now is incredible, but I am a big believer that it's all in the story.

For me, the most important thing is the writing - and certainly the director. But if the writing isn't there, it doesn't matter who the director is!

These days, you don't need a song or glamour to make your film work. It is all about a good story.

For me, storytelling is the most interesting part of movie making.

You could make a film out of just about anything so long as there is a clear vision about the story.

For me, the filmmaking has to be about the dramaturgy.

I haven't really tried to write a movie. It's tough to get into that mode.

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

There are no great scripts - just great films.

I have always believed that directing a film is like telling a story. You have to tell it well so that it is appreciated.

Directing was easy for me because I was a writer director and did all my directing when I wrote the screenplay.

Directing is a very long process, and I have to be in love with it if I want to give up two years of my life and live with it from beginning to end!

When you make a film you usually make a film about an idea.

Just telling a story. That's cinema. It's not silent, black and white. It's a simple story that's well made.

I approach film no differently than I approach a role. I want to make sure the movie is right, the characters are right, I can really bring something to it as a visionary, a storyteller. It's great to point a camera, but can you tell a story?

Filmmaking, whatever the window dressing or the scale of a film may be, is eventually about telling a story.

With any movie at all the challenge lies in the storytelling.

Small events and some songs and dance do not make a film. A film needs to have a proper structure and there has to be an output which would be relevant to people who watch it.

At the end of the day, filmmaking is all about telling stories, and I'm just doing my part.

It seems to me the big weakness in most films is the writing. You can learn directing, but you can't learn writing.

The thing is, as a film director, you're essentially alone: You have to tell a story primarily through pictures, and only you know the film you see in your head.

I haven't thought about getting into production. I'm interested in the creative aspect of storytelling.