The Test Of A Work Of Art

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.

Some People Demand A Five-line Capsule Summary. Something You'd Read In A Magazine. They Want You To Say, 'this Is The Story Of The Duality Of Man And The Duplicity Of Governments.' I Hear People Try To Do It -- Give The Five-line Summary -- But If A Film Has Any Substance Or Subtlety, Whatever You Say Is Never Complete, It's Usually Wrong, And It's Necessarily Simplistic: Truth Is Too Multifaceted To Be Contained In A Five-line Summary. If The Work Is Good, What You Say About It Is Usually Irrelevant.

[making Movies] You're Not Trying To Capture Reality, You're Trying To Capture A Photograph Of Reality.

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

When I Made My First Film, I Think The Thing Was Probably Helped Me The Most Was That It Was Such An Unusual Thing To Do In The Early 50s For Someone Who Actually Go And Make A Film. People Thought It Was Impossible. It Really Is Terribly Easy. All Anybody Needs Is A Camera, A Tape Recorder, And Some Imagination.