The Dead Know Only One Thing, It

I Haven't Come Across Any Recent New Ideas In Film That Strike Me As Being Particularly Important And That Have To Do With Form. I Think That A Preoccupation With Originality Of Form Is More Or Less A Fruitless Thing. A Truly Original Person With A Truly Original Mind Will Not Be Able To Function In The Old Form And Will Simply Do Something Different. Others Had Much Better Think Of The Form As Being Some Sort Of Classical Tradition And Try To Work Within It.

In Any Case, Once You're Dealing On A Nonverbal Level, Ambiguity Is Unavoidable. But It's The Ambiguity Of All Art, Of A Fine Piece Of Music Or A Painting - You Don't Need Written Instructions By The Composer Or Painter Accompanying Such Works To 'explain' Them. “explaining” Them Contributes Nothing But A Superficial 'cultural' Value Which Has No Value Except For Critics And Teachers Who Have To Earn A Living.

One Man Writes A Novel. One Man Writes A Symphony. It Is Essential That One Man Make A Film.

The Essence Of Dramatic Form Is To Let An Idea Come Over People Without It Being Plainly Stated. When You Say Something Directly, It's Simply Not As Potent As It Is When You Allow People To Discover It For Themselves.

You're Free To Speculate As You Wish About The Philosophical And Allegorical Meaning Of The Film—and Such Speculation Is One Indication That It Has Succeeded In Gripping The Audience At A Deep Level—but I Don't Want To Spell Out A Verbal Road Map For 2001 That Every Viewer Will Feel Obligated To Pursue Or Else Fear He's Missed The Point.