Director Quotes

Emotions serve characters' purposes. That is their motivation.

Economically, it's more expensive to make movies. I hope digital movies change that.

What is really a stretch to me is to make quick decisions.

The woman's perspective is like the dark side of the moon: it always exists, but it is never exposed, at least not in my culture.

Kids don't even read comic books anymore. They've got more important things to do - like video games.

I'm aware of what's missing from my life.

I don't have incredible knowledge about films or of filmmaking history; I'm not that kind of person.

I did a women's movie, and I'm not a woman. I did a gay movie, and I'm not gay. I learned as I went along.

Fighting for identity is something that is very much in my life.

I am a shy person.

When I see something I like, that's all that counts. What they use, how they get there, I never bother them.

When I grew up, in Taiwan, the Korean War was seen as a good war, where America protected Asia. It was sort of an extension of World War II. And it was, of course, the peak of the Cold War. People in Taiwan were generally proAmerican. The Korean War made Japan. And then the Vietnam War made Taiwan.

In my culture, there's a tradition that when you're in an overwhelming situation and you don't know what to do, you put yourself in a woman's shoes.

Sexuality is a big issue, but there are others - how much you commit to a relationship, to social obligation, to honesty and being honest with yourself.

There are no enemies in science, professor. Only phenomena to study.

Knowledge is more important than life. We've only one excuse for existing, to think, to find out, to learn.

You may think it's very presumptuous, but I really hope that my movies are going to turn people into better people.

You can work, shop, do everything from home, and I find this unsettling.

Yes, I am very prolific.

Working with the same people is so much quicker and frees up your energy for other things.

Working with a bunch of actors is like trying to tune each violin.

When I was young, my idea was to become a filmmaker.

What I expect of a movie reviewer is that he should love cinema as much as I do.

No, but it's not because I'm getting older that I'm trying to accelerate. But something very curious is happening: The older I get, the more ideas I'm getting.

My movies are, more or less, very short. I'm terrified of boring an audience.

If a film is very clever and well-written, that's what gives you freedom as a director.

I've always done 20 things at once. It's my way of staying alive, not to keep one dish cooking, but several dishes going. And I'm pretty organized.

I'm not one to dwell on rehearsal or preparation.

I would rather my films be well-known than I be well-known.

I never storyboard. I hate it. I don't understand why so many directors want to make comic strips of their films.