Edward Zwick

To me this movie is about what is valuable. To one person it might be a stone; to someone else, a story in a magazine; to another, it is a child. The juxtaposition of one man obsessed with finding a valuable diamond with another man risking his life to find his son is the beating heart of this film. ”

Doctors are kind of this shibboleth in our society. We know what they do, and we depend on them, but we don't know a lot about what it feels like from their side. ”

I like to reveal people with some of the niceties of social behavior stripped away and the moral, ethical, and political issues are revealed. ”

I think that I am interested in the resonance between character drama and high stakes, either situational or political or social or other kind of elevated drama, and I tend to find that those things combust. ”

I think it's easier to be cynical. I think the temptation, often, among writers is to write about anything other than real, true, deep feelings. ”

There is something universal in the theme of a man trying to save his family in the midst of the most terrible circumstances. It is not limited to Sierra Leone. This story could apply to any number of places where ordinary people have been caught up in political events beyond their control. ”

The issue of diamonds in Africa is inseparable from the issue of child soldiers. ”

I have nothing against diamonds, or rubies or emeralds or sapphires. I do object when their acquisition is complicit in the debasement of children or the destruction of a country. ”

If you take away scale, the nature of the story changes. I made a joke the other day: if I were to try to make 'Glory' now, rather than be about a regiment, it would be about a platoon. It would be seven men in the woods rather than all the men on the beach. ”

One of the great tragedies is that there is so much less open land available in Japan today. Many Japanese come to New Zealand because of its beauty. ”