Taika Waititi Quotes

I never come away from a film thinking I nailed it.

I always start a film thinking I know how to do it, then I learn all over again.

For me, every film is an interesting experience.

I never think of a film after I finish it.

Occasionally an unsuspecting innocent will stumble into a movie like this and send me an anguished postcard, asking how I could possibly give a favorable review to such trash. My stock response is Ebert's Law, which reads: A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it.

So, yes, there's nothing I love more than listening to directors talk about their movies.

Every movie I make teaches me something. That's why I keep making them.

I am deeply honored to be making 'Life Itself,' a documentary on the life of Roger Ebert, and to have had the full cooperation and enthusiasm of Roger and his wife, Chaz.

Everybody knows that I am not usually patient enough to actually sit down and watch one of my own films from the beginning to the end - I never do.

The only reason you make a movie is not to make or set out to do a good or a bad movie, it's just to see what you learn for the next one.

I always approach film as a fan.

Movies were a struggle for me - they didn't come easy.

When you are making the one you are doing, you think it is the greatest film going. And then you do another one and it is a great film.

I am always watching old films and trying to fill gaps in my knowledge.

I look at films every day. I study. I coach.

It's important to see the work of as many directors as possible but you must not become self-conscious. You have to accept that your first attempts are going to be quite rough compared to the finished works of great masters.

I'm excited and nervous about every film; once I understand the medium fully, I'll relax.

I've been watching some film, understanding what I can work on, what I can get better at.

I'm one of those directors who read reviews, even if they're bad, because I started as a film critic as a cinema student. I indulge in the art of criticism in general.

Pauline Kael had seen Nashville, and she loved Nashville. When I called her, she immediately responded to me because we had become friends, and I told her how great this film was, and she told me, "Well, I'll have to see it for myself." So I showed it to her, and she flipped.

I don't have a lot of experiences like this where every time I thought I had a good idea it was totally wrong. I had to give in completely and just try to make the movie Alejandro Amenábar was trying to make.

Stuff I like is getting trashed and stuff that is being praised I think is terrible. I don't really feel in sync with what's happening, but at the same time, what I think keeps me afloat is that I try not to be, and don't want to be, very indulgent. I try to make the films as lean as possible, and to not spend a lot of time crawling up my own ass creatively.

When you try to be true to the script, changes occur. A script is there to show us a certain direction. But when you actually have the actors in and you start shooting the movie, you have the actor say a line and it doesn't sound right so you change it and make it different. It's the script that gives birth to these changes and the more you try to stay true to the script, the more that happens.

When I was younger, I wanted to guard myself against criticism, so I did so much more work than was needed. Now, though, it's sometimes better to understand something intuitively than have to dig your way into a character.

I think the first film you do with your instincts because you haven't learned with another director or you haven't worked on other films, so you tend to do things your own way. I think what I learned the most was to take your time, to try to be less rushed into things and have some distance with what you're doing.