Park Chan-wook Quotes

Visual elements are, of course, the director's job.

I am sure I am one of 2,000 film directors in the world that Tarantino admires.

I believe 'love' is very nice to hear, but it's used so much that it's come to a point where it's almost meaningless.

The audience seems hazy to me, shrouded in a veil through which I can't see.

If your work requires you to travel, you will understand that there's no vacation destination like home.

When you consider the concept of vampirism, it is inherently part of a Western culture.

I don't think I've ever tried to make something happen that I've absolutely had to force. You know how they say: if you can't avoid it, enjoy it. For me, it's the other way around: if I can't enjoy it, I avoid it.

When we are confronted with extreme situations, we forget about moral issues; we simply act and must then accept the consequences.

I don't really believe in the auteur theory.

Living without hate for people is almost impossible.

Ever since I arrived in America to promote "Stoker," I haven't had time to go and see it in a theater. The fact that I had to shoot twice as fast as I'm used to in Korea was the most challenging thing about my Hollywood experience.

I'd love to do a sci-fi movie, a western, or an espionage thriller. But I'm not going to limit myself. If a good script comes along, I'm not going to discount it because it doesn't fit into one of these genres.

When I was going through puberty, I had all these feelings of being unstable through those years, and being uncontrollably drawn to things of beauty and things that are bad.

The reason I want to show shocking things is that they always pose an ethical question.

I live in a rural residential area. It's a great place for a walk. I'm at my happiest when I'm listening to my iPod while walking around where my feet take me.

I guess I probably make violent films partly because I can't express my anger in my real life very well.

Lots of people think the violence in the films I make is overwhelming, but they think they're seeing something that they aren't seeing.

I do like musical films more than big Hollywood films, especially those by Jacques Demi and Vincent Minelli.

Actors are professionals who deal with people's emotions and their thoughts.

In our lives, we have good things and bad things, happiness and pain.

When I say that I am going to do an American film, I didn't want to suddenly go off into a completely different world that which bears no relation to the style of filmmaking that I'm used to.

You could say that evil is contagious in that we have this mesmerizing mentor in Uncle Charlie who comes into your life. Every person has a seed of evil inside them, and when you come across such a mesmerizing mentor, he is able to successfully turn it into a flower of evil.

I'd like to do a really masculine film.

Becoming a vampire means completely changing your identity.

I am not going to do a film based on a bad scenario just to make a big Hollywood film or work with Hollywood stars.

A film set is a workplace for me; it's my office, and nobody really wants to be in a stressful work environment.

I've read all of Sarah Waters's novels which have been translated into Korean.

When you first hear Mozart's music, your first impression is that it's very alive, but if you peel away the layers, you can hear sorrow and sadness behind it, and that's what I try to be: multi-layered.

Actually, I can't stand watching violent scenes in films; I avoid watching horror films. I don't tend to watch action films mainly because I find them boring, but I watch the films of David Cronenberg and Martin Scorsese, usually in a state close to having a heart attack. I'm a complete coward. I make violent films as a result of my sensitivity to violence - in other words, my fear of violence.

Certain subjects may no longer be taboo in cinema. But there are ways to treat them that still create shock.

Whenever I visit a city, I like to see what classical music concerts are on offer.

I love Philip Glass' work, not only as a film composer but also as a musician. The film score work that he does always amazes and shocks me.

As I grow older I spend more time with my wife, and gradually my interest in the woman's world is growing.

I hate jeans for no reason.

I don't usually watch a lot of TV, but 'Mad Men' changed my perspective. I admire Matthew Weiner who came up with the idea and wrote such a great TV series, and the broadcasting company for being bold enough to air such a series.

People who really try to be conscious of what they have done, who take responsibility, to me these kinds of people are heroes.

I've always had an interest in vampire films - not just 'Nosferatu,' but there are many others that I have enjoyed: Abel Ferrara, Coppola, Neil Jordan.

When I grow older and less popular, there will come a time when I have to shoot films on low budgets.

It is not possible for a person to be completely free of sin and be squeaky clean.

When I was growing up, we were taught in school that North Koreans, and especially the North Korean leadership, were all devils.