Todd Haynes Quotes

Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, film has been a shadow thrown over the minds of all novelists. Ever since, novelists have strained to make themselves more relevant and, whether consciously or not, novel-writing has been influenced by cinematic doctrines - by turns, embracing and defying it.

I can say that I've become a David Fincher disciple. I have been completely turned.

I grew up with a deep regard for cinema.

Lynne Ramsay's 'Ratcatcher' blew me away when it came out. When I started making short films, I would watch that film over and over again, marvelling at how that story visually unfolded.

I've followed Mysskin sir's work, and I really like his style of filmmaking.

My responsibility is to make a film and find my dramatic language; I don't have any political or social responsibility.

I'm not educated about cinema or genres.

I like Soderbergh, Spielberg, Lucas. There's a lot of talented guys out there obviously, and if you're a fan of films, you have to look at that stuff and learn from them.

I'm a writer and director, and the movie I've seen a million times is 'Stardust Memories' by Woody Allen, starring Woody Allen and Charlotte Rampling.

I don't approach films purely in context of genre.

I'm a huge fan of Akira Kurosawa, a big Hitchcock fan.

I realized what interested me as a student of film was one thing and the movies that I liked were another.

I am interested in seeing if you can create on film pieces that feel contemporary and urgent.

With 'Mask,' 'Smooth Talk' and 'Blue Velvet,' I loved the specific experiences so much. Each one was a specific filmmaker with a specific vision.

'Barton Fink' owed something to Roman Polanski. As a director, he always goes beyond the obvious narrative drift.

When you first start out, you want to be Fellini, or you want to be Bergman.

When I have been told that my films remind people of Ozu, I have never been too convinced.

Kurosawa is my hero, and I've taught courses on his films, and I love what he does, and 'Rashomon' is, I think, his second greatest film after 'Ikiru.'

I went from silent films to watching French new wave cinema. I became entrapped by it all. That's when I knew I wanted to do film. The moment you start looking at film from a critique point of view - there's a difference between watching a film as an audience and with a critical point of view.

With a lot of these social realist films, the first thing you do is drain the color.

When a director shifts gears as often as does Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the man behind the emotionally rich debut film 'Amores Perros,' you may wonder if he knows what he wants.

I've been pretty lucky to work with directors who were quite influenced by European cinema.

An epic is the canvas Brian DePalma paints on.

I think of myself as a cultural filmmaker.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra is the only man I see around who makes films because he thinks 'this is a story that needs to be told, so let's tell it.'