I also saw the Dalai Lama a few times.

I think there's only one or two films where I've had all the financial support I needed. All the rest, I wish I'd had the money to shoot another ten days.

The young people today are the 21st century.

I always wanted to make a film that had this sort of Chinese-box effect, in which you keep opening it up and opening it up, and finally at the end you're at the beginning.

People say you should do it this way, someone else suggests that, yes, there's financing, but maybe you should use this actor. And there are the threats, at the end - if you don't do it this way, you'll lose your box office; if you don't do it that way, you'll never get financed again... 35, 40 years of this, you get beat up.

It's interesting that these themes of crime and political corruption are always relevant.

Well, I think in my own work the subject matter usually deals with characters I know, aspects of myself, friends of mine - that sort of thing.

I happen to like vampires more than zombies.

I always say that I've been in a bad mood for maybe 35 years now. I try to lighten it up, but that's what comes out when you get me on camera.

If everything moves along and there are no major catastrophes we're basically headed towards holograms.

I was born in 1942, so I was mainly aware of Howard Hughes' name on RKO Radio Pictures.

I don't think there's a subject matter that can't absorb 3-D; that can't tolerate the addition of depth as a storytelling technique.

People have to start talking to know more about other cultures and to understand each other.

It did remind me of something out of Greek mythology - the richest king who gets everything he wants, but ultimately his family has a curse on it from the Gods.

The term 'giant' is used too often to describe artists. But in the case of Akira Kurosawa, we have one of the rare instances where the term fits.

Film in the 20th century, it's the American art form, like jazz.

I'm sad to see celluloid go, there's no doubt. But, you know, nitrate went, by the way, in 1971. If you ever saw a nitrate print of a silent film and then saw an acetate print, you'd see a big difference, but nobody remembers anymore. The acetate print is what we have. Maybe. Now it's digital.

The most important thing is, how can I move forward towards something that I can't articulate, that is new in storytelling with moving images and sound?

A lot of what I'm obsessed with is the relationship and the dynamics between people and the family, particularly brothers and their father.

I'm going to be 60, and I'm almost used to myself.

Death comes in a flash, and that's the truth of it, the person's gone in less than 24 frames of film.

I'm re-energized by being around people who mean a lot to me.

I go through periods, usually when I'm editing and shooting, of seeing only old films.

You make a deal. You figure out how much sin you can live with.