Frederick Wiseman Quotes

I mean, I find things that happened in real life to be the funniest - things that you observe instead of crazy abstract things, you know.

I adopt a very simple approach. I observe and reflect real life and ordinary people and sooner or later that raises a laugh.

I can't not have something attached to like what actually happens in real life. Like I can't do a romantic comedy without there being something where like, in the case of Annie Hathaway's character, her character ends up having Parkinson's, you know? To me, I feel like that's love, you know? Like to me. So every movie has to have that kind of sense of that.

It's been really important to me to create moments where there's a breath or moments where there's a laugh or moments where there's real life that's allowed to seep in through the cracks of whatever melodrama is happening, because that's what does happen in life.

We want to see a struggle. We want to see people falling over but getting themselves back up on their feet, and that's what's extraordinary- ordinary people and their struggle. There's nothing as interesting as real life out your window. You walk down the street for half an hour, I'll give you half an hour of drama.

I think the best comedy comes from stuff that's based in reality.

It's pretty simple to me: we come from a really grounded world where anything you say could be the thing that the scene becomes about. We're always treating it as if we would treat it in real life. It's all observation.

I am interested in shows that are not out-and-out gag fests: you see the truth of a broken heart behind them. That is what life is like: it's really funny, you see funny things as soon as you step out of the room, but underneath that is a whole bag of broken hearts. It's that real pain and that real hilarity that makes life so intriguing.

The older I've gotten, the more the need to exert comedy no matter how tragic a character I may be portraying because they are essentials for presenting truth.

I like doing movies about personal situations; that's what I love about dealing with things. I don't like superhero things, I like real-people things.

But I will say that most comedians are the saddest people I know. That is the biggest paradox to me.

Normal people with normal problems can be hilarious.

It's one of the things that 'Everwood' - what makes a great 'Everwood' episode is when it makes you laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time. From the first season, we've always had the chance to deal with death in a very real way, in a way that a lot of other shows can't or don't.

I think that's what distinguishes Schmidt, really. In the movies now, so much of what is appealing to an audience is the dramatic or has to do with science fiction, and Schmidt is simply human. There's no melodrama; there's no device, It's just about a human being.

Tragedy without comedy is melodrama, and comedy without a higher purpose is vacant.

If you want to reach any kind of poignancy or meaning a lot of times, coming from comedy is the best way to get there.

I find writing the darker side, writing tragedy, a lot easier than writing happiness. Happiness is just less psychologically compelling, isn't it?

When I go to the movies, I want to see a human being dealing with their lives. That's all I ask.

My favorite actors are Jim Carrey and Chris Farley, Tom Hanks, Robin Williams. Robin Williams is the best - to be able to do all that comedy but also be heartbreaking.

I find Spike Jones' movies to be really very inventive and funny, but they're really sad and touching and really key into the different facets of the human experience.

'Beauty Queen' will always be a favourite because I think it's a really tight play, and when it's done right, there is a sadness to it that I love.

I do really like serio-comic movies that treat real difficulties in a real way.

In college, I learned that my favorite parts were the sad clown parts. Those are the ones I love because you get to do everything. You get to be funny, make them laugh one minute, and make them cry the next minute.

'Baskets' is incredible - 'Baskets' is so funny and poignant and sad and dark.

I find that there's so much funny stuff in real life, and I am much more interested in super grounded, real stuff, so now I just want things to feel real and authentic.