Paul Greengrass Quotes

When I make a film, the yardstick is my mind. If I laugh at the jokes and feel sad at the serious undersides, then the subject works.

I'm interested in making films that make people think.

I want to create films that will speak to different parts of our hearts and brains, stories told from a different angle.

As a filmmaker, I want to bring some value, some thought in the mind of my audience. When I embark on the journey of storytelling, I am an explorer.

Cinema is a director's medium; it's his story and his vision. If it's a good story, people will connect to it.

I want to make movies that I want to see, and what I miss and I'm not seeing.

I try and create for the audience something that relates to real-life experience.

Actually, I met a lot of directors and most of them have that fantasy to make a silent movie because for directors it's the purest way to tell a story. It's about creating images that tell a story and you don't need dialogue for that.

You have to make films you feel strongly about. And then hope you can find the audience.

My heart is in independent film-making. For me, it's where the fun, gritty storytelling is being told.

I think films are bigger than structure.

I look at the film as an opportunity to see some bountifully creative minds do something that I could not do - tell the story with images. I can't wait to see what they do.

I tried so hard with movies like Vertigo and Middle of the Night and others. I felt those would show me that it's only a matter of time before I'd find the right one to reach out and touch people.

Look, I'm just a storyteller. When I make a film, I never want the film to become a vehicle of social propaganda.

We make films that we ourselves would want to see and then hope that other people would want to see it. If you try to analyze audiences or think there's some sophisticated recipe for success, then I think you are doomed. You're making it too complicated.

Whether I'm acting, writing, or directing, I want to tell the truth about human beings, especially my folk.

The whole point of film for me is that it's such a joy. It's such a wonder. The possibilities are literally endless in terms of what you can creatively do.

The more tools we have directors and cinematographers will be able to express more and create different worlds and feelings. It's like having more instruments in an orchestra.

Emotional honesty transcends reality; it's what allows disbelief to be suspended and yet what makes a story stay true.

It's kind of the filmmaker's job to use visual, cinematic language in a way possible to tell a story that reaches and touches as many people as possible.

In the end, it's about the reality. You want something that's believable in the performances; you want something that's believable in the storytelling, in the writing. You just want to connect to something that you feel is real.

The audience will show up if you have authenticity. Like 'Moonlight,' there was stuff in there that is so specific to that community where the filmmakers grew up. Even if I don't understand everything they're talking about, I will love it if I feel that it's real.

Films are a director's medium. We're all stemming from the director.

There's a heresy which is perpetuated by film school that to be a great director you have to write your own stuff.

I only make those films that I would love to watch.