Michael Cimino

I would never suggest that the geography or visual environment of the film is more important than what's going on with the people, but it's a major factor in getting the right tone. Certainly, it influences the actors tremendously.

I think 'American Sniper' is anti-war. It demonstrates the agony of the decision-making that goes on.

I'm a frustrated would-be architect who stumbled into the would-be business of making movies.

Would you ask Picasso to explain 'Guernica?' Would you ask Nabokov to explain 'Lolita?' Would you ask Tolstoy about 'War and Peace?' No, you wouldn't dare.

It's very important to follow your instincts because, beyond what you know exists or what you're told exists in a given area, your intuition plays a big part in finding something special.

Friendship and sentiment and the giving of one's words are very important.

Family politics are worse than world politics. That's all I can say. You don't get to choose your family; you get to choose your friends. Your family is imposed upon you.

Encountering a real place enhances the performances of actors in subtle ways and changes the spiritual texture of the film.

Writing, by nature, is a fairly solitary occupation.

They've said everything about me that they could: racist, Marxist, rightist, homophobic, sex change - I don't know what else they could come up with.

I felt the need to unlearn my formal education.

Most people I knew had been crippled by their educations. Some were even dying spiritually.