Michael Cimino Quotes

I like being in real environments. I love being in the place that it's about - these sets and locations are characters in the movies. Can you imagine Breakfast at Tiffany's shot somewhere else? It's classic. Characters are part of storytelling; they're just as important as everything else.

Even in the realest American cinema that I see, there's still not that sense that this is reality. There's still that sense that you are watching a movie. And hopefully, if we did get our jobs right, that sense disappears when you watch this movie.

The whole thing about making films in an organic film on location is that it's not all about characters, relationships and themes, it's also about place and the poetry of place. It's about the spirit of what you find, the accidents of what you stumble across.

If movies are set in New York, they really should be shot in New York.

One of the reasons I love to jump back and forth between mediums is that film does allow me to be more literal. I can go to the real place. I can go to the Coliseum, and I don't have to fake it.

I really fight hard to make things film where they're supposed to be filmed. If something is supposed to be in New York, then it has to be in New York.

Our responsibility as filmmakers is to make things that are fresh, unique and original.

The best part about doing 'Wuthering Heights' was you were completely in that world. It could not have been done with CGI. You had to be there.

I get really excited when I see filmmakers make something that is subtle and feels real. It is really tough to do right.

I don't like to shoot on sets at all. As much as possible, I try to shoot on location.

I'll be vilified if I shoot a film in Toronto for New York. And rightfully so!

It helps so much being on location. It's like the difference between performing for the rectangle of the camera versus a world being created and then the camera finds things within that. There's a huge difference in that, because what it takes away is performance. You don't feel like performing. You're just kind of doing it. You're existing.

If you're going to do a movie about the Village, it's pretty nice to shoot in the village and not be in Toronto.

I find it terribly distracting in movies when people do accents, I must say, unless it's terribly serious and the story is rooted in South Africa and you're doing a South African accent. But in period movies I think nothing can be more distracting than people doing accents.

I like shooting locations just because too much control on the stage can be a bad thing.

Certain films, when shot digitally, the detail is like CG: you can't feel the sweat. I feel like digital is alienating. There's something superficial to digital compared to the richness of film.

I shot 'Poppin' in L.A. because I love L.A. Because when I came out here, I fell in love with it.

I want more unpredictability. I want more realism. I think the fans would appreciate that, and that's what I've brought since day one.

Unless it's a song and something fancy, I would rather shoot on location.

It doesn't matter to me how I look on screen. What matters to me is how I connect with the audience.

The great movies and the great commercials always work on every single level.

In America, they often don't know where I am from. The important point is the audience should not be able see through it. It should be so natural that your close friends may even think that you are not a great actor.

From a filmmaker's point of view, there is something undeniably cinematic about a location like Santa Monica Boulevard, which is so chaotic and busy and over-stimulating.

I like movies where everything is dealt naturally and with a sense of realism.

People connect with my films because they are honest and simple.