In A Mad World Only The Mad

With A Good Script A Good Director Can Produce A Masterpiece; With The Same Script A Mediocre Director Can Make A Passable Film. But With A Bad Script Even A Good Director Can’t Possibly Make A Good Film. For Truly Cinematic Expression, The Camera And The Microphone Must Be Able To Cross Both Fire And Water. That Is What Makes A Real Movie. The Script Must Be Something That Has The Power To Do This.

During The Shooting Of A Scene The Director’s Eye Has To Catch Even The Minutest Detail. But This Does Not Mean Glaring Concentratedly At The Set. While The Cameras Are Rolling, I Rarely Look Directly At The Actors, But Focus My Gaze Somewhere Else. By Doing This I Sense Instantly When Something Isn’t Right. Watching Something Does Not Mean Fixing Your Gaze On It, But Being Aware Of It In A Natural Way. I Believe This Is What The Medieval Noh Playwright And Theorist Zeami Meant By ‘watching With A Detached Gaze.’

Page 61: No Matter Where I Go In The World, Although I Can't Speak Any Foreign Language, I Don't Feel Out Of Place. I Think Of Earth As My Home. If Everyone Thought This Way, People Might Notice Just How Foolish International Friction Is And The Would Be Put An End To It.

If I Were To Write Anything At All, It Would Turn Out To Be Nothing But Talk About Movies. In Other Words, Take 'myself,' Subtract 'movies,' And The Result Is 'zero.'

Human Beings Share The Same Common Problems. A Film Can Only Be Understood If It Depicts These Properly.