Brian De Palma Quotes

But, number one, I think traditional noir doesn't work in contemporary storytelling because we don't live in that world anymore.

When you make a movie outside the system and it's successful critically or a moderate financial success, you usually have to go back into the system and make a big hit.

I have swum against the stream all my life. It's not something I feel uncomfortable with. Is it difficult? Is it unpleasant? You bet.

And we've become very doubtful of our information sources, because they're all controlled by these huge multilateral corporations.

I guess what's most surprised me in most of the reviews is that they don't seem to get the noir story in the dream sequence, so they analyze it like a straight noir movie.

And I always had this idea for making a movie about a femme fatale, because I like these characters. They're a lot of fun, they're sexy, they're manipulative, they're dangerous.

I love working with women. I think they're beautiful. I like to photograph them. I like the way they interact. When I was in high school I used to hang out with the girls. When I went to graduate school, I was in an all girls school. So it's something I'm very familiar with and quite fascinated by.

I've been sort of traveling around the country for ten years talking about independent features.

So I like to try to go back and develop pure visual storytelling. Because to me, it's one of the most exciting aspects of making movies and almost a lost art at this point.

The camera lies all the time
lies 24 times/second.

Godard is incredibly brilliant, the things he says. Apparently here in France, the most interesting thing when a new film of his is going to come out are his press conferences, because he's so brilliant.

The real trouble with film school is that the people teaching are so far out of the industry that they don't give the students an idea of what's happening.

The biggest mistake in student films is that they are usually cast so badly, with friends and people the directors know. Actually you can cover a lot of bad direction with good acting.

Yeah, I had an idea to make a very scary movie, based on a kind of serial murderer that preys on tourists.

I hadn't done just a straight-out comedy in a long time, just letting an ensemble do really good character acting, having them carry the movie as in my earlier pictures.

It's always great when you discover someone.

You really are as hot as your last movie. And it goes away really quickly.

However, I spent most of my time in a Quaker school.

I've been obsessed with this kind of visual storytelling for quite a while, and I try to create material that allows me to explore it.

You know it's always amazed me - I think the most startling thing that's happened in the last couple of decades is that there is no sort of objective reporting anymore.