One reason Cassavetes is a hero to me is that his movies grew with him; they reflected the stages of his life. He made movies about where he was at that time. That’s what I want to do with my films. Derek Cianfrance Read Quote
I feel like the job of an artist is to confront their own darkness and their own demons and fears. And I want to make movies that feel human up on the screen. I don’t really relate to dudes wearing spandex and capes. Derek Cianfrance Read Quote
I’m not the greatest reader. I feel like I have a bit of dyslexia or something, and that’s probably why I became a filmmaker. I have the need to communicate, the need to tell stories; and the need to understand stories led me to movies. Derek Cianfrance Read Quote
As a writer, I always peel back the layers, go to the most sensitive places uncomfortably close to the heart. Derek Cianfrance Read Quote
When I grew up, a director was Cecil B DeMille, a guy sitting down with a megaphone speaking. He was the voice of God, the image of God. When I went to start making docs, I quickly turned the megaphone to my ear not to my mouth. It’s more about funneling in the words and listening as doc filmmaker. Derek Cianfrance Read Quote
Now, I love movies so much, but I find a lot of movies to be arrogant in the way they’re kind of know-it-alls – they have perfect characters on the screen that know everything about themselves. Derek Cianfrance Read Quote
There’s something so great when you’re watching a movie when you slowly get to know somebody more, because it’s like a real relationship. Derek Cianfrance Read Quote
I don’t think we ever know 100 percent of a person, even ourselves, but I think in families, you get closer to people’s secrets and people’s darkness – and their light, the full contrast of a person. Derek Cianfrance Read Quote
I think people need fantasy, but I think they also need to know that they’re not being lied to. I think sometimes the fantasy can betray people and become more difficult for people’s lives than just truth. I can’t stand delusion. Delusion makes me sick. Derek Cianfrance Read Quote
When people think of biblical movies, they imagine sweeping epics like ‘The Ten Commandments.’ But ‘The Gospel According to St. Matthew’ is essentially a documentary about Jesus. It made me aware of how real life and personal experience can create more breathtaking, sensitive cinema than more sophisticated techniques. Derek Cianfrance Read Quote
