I've been blessed with enough wealth that I can make a film myself up to a certain budget. So one way I thought I would reinvent myself was just to make these very small, personal films that I've financed myself.
Anyone who's made film and knows about the cinema has a lifelong love affair with the experience. You never stop learning about film.
My film is not a movie; it's not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam.
Sequels are not done for the audience or cinema or the filmmakers. It's for the distributor. The film becomes a brand.
Ten Days That Shook The World, by Eisenstein, I went to see it, and I was so impressed with this film, so impressed with what cinema could do.
I always found the film world unpleasant. It's all about the schedule, and never really flew for me.
The very earliest people who made film were magicians.
To make great movies, there is an element of risk. You have to say, 'Well, I am going to make this film, and it is not really a sure thing.'
So much of the art of film is to do less. To aspire to do less.
I realized I probably wouldn't make another film that cuts through commercial and creative things like 'Godfather' or 'Apocalypse.'