Quotes

I think people who make movies start out with kind of lofty ideals. But it's work that conspires to put you into a cold, clinical professional mode very quickly. What I keep telling myself is that in making any movie, I've got to reflect and convey to the people I work with the reasons why I wanted to get into the business in the first place.[1988]

[after being fired from WarGames (1983)] ...suddenly everybody said there must be something wrong with me. 'The wunderkind had fallen.' I was scared. My next film could have been my last. I wanted to make sure that the next job I took would be absolutely brilliant.

I feel in a peculiar way like an astronaut when I'm making a film. I shed all my humanistic characteristics when I'm working. I don't eat a lot, don't sleep much and, other than what I'm addressing in the film, don't carry on too many conversations. I'd like to be able to do other things, to contemplate what I'll do next, after we've finished shooting for the day, but I can't.[1988]

[after his Midnight Run (1988) crew quit after 5 weeks] My job is to create an environment where people can do their best work. Therefore, it's essential you share a common attitude with your collaborators. Generally, my instincts about who I'm compatible with are pretty good. This time, I made a mistake.[1988]

I pursued film because I thought this was the coolest job. I loved the idea of working with writers and musicians and photographers and actors at the same time. It sounds corny but the opportunity to work with Robert De Niro was a dream come true for me. I truly am happiest in a working environment where I can encourage and create surprises.[1988]

[on the character of 'Brian' in Gigli (2003)] I love the idea of a character being challenged in some way. But somehow, he feels he is missing out on something that others in the real world enjoy, a vague desire for something he doesn't fully understand. That's there in Justin's [Justin Bartha] portrayal of Brian....all Brian really wants is to get to this imaginary place where life will be perfect - a kind of hallucinatory state based on what he's seen over the years on television. He refers to it as 'The Baywatch,' but it's not the TV series he's talking about. In essence, it's really about all that he lacks in his life - normality, sexuality, being attractive, having a date. But it all gets jumbled up in his head and he thinks if he could just get to that place, he would be normal and maybe even have a girlfriend.[Production Notes,2003]

[on casting Gigli (2003)] I thought of Ben for a couple of reasons. He has the physical presence to make Gigli intimidating, but he also possesses a wonderful vulnerability. He has a very outgoing nature that, simultaneously, reveals a certain amount of self-doubt. Ben understands the character's contradictions, his bullying, thug-like behavior and that layer of sensitivity. It was fascinating to watch him juggle those emotions. He kept both elements going at all times, balancing them effortlessly.[Production Notes,2003]

[on directing Gigli (2003)] There was an atmosphere on the set that encouraged us to explore the funny side of Gigli's dilemma. Not so much the joke-funny side, but the serious-funny side. There are moments when the characters are flipped out about some horrible thing that's happened to them, which turns funny when a certain insight emerges. That's the kind of observation we were always looking for.[Production Notes,2003]

[on Larry Gigli's apartment in Gigli (2003)] The character doesn't read, so there were no books. They couldn't hang things on the walls because Gigli has no art. Every day they'd make a suggestion and I'd say 'no, you can't put that in.' It's much easier to dress a set with lots of things than a set that has nothing, but they did a magnificent job. One of my favorite subtle details is a little wall between the dining room and the living room. It's in the background in practically every shot and we had discussions about putting a picture on it. We tried all kinds of prints and photographs and nothing really worked. Finally we decided it was best left empty. All that's there is a painted nail, as though there had been something hanging there at one time. To me it perfectly captured the atmosphere.[Production Notes, 2003]

[on the locations of Gigli (2003)] I've been living in Los Angeles for a long time, but because I'm one of those displaced New Yorkers who love New York, I've always set my movies there. Before I started writing "Gigli"(2003), I found myself exploring Los Angeles in a way I had never done before, gravitating towards downtown L.A., an area that people in the movie industry rarely have occasion to visit. And I became fascinated by the fact that within the city I live there's this entirely different city with its own aesthetic. (...) There's something fascinating about the slight state of disrepair it's in and the almost negligible architecture. I wanted to show a very particular personality of the city, a uniquely transient, depressing side.[Production Notes, 2003]

[on Meet Joe Black (1998)] I first saw the original film over 20 years ago, and it intrigued me; haunted me, really. There was a suggestion in the old movie of what might be a great story, but it was a story that had yet to be discovered. We had to start from scratch because rather than do a remake I wanted to explore an element that sparked my interest.

[on Scent of a Woman (1992)] The reason I wanted to pursue this project in the first place was there's an Italian movie called Scent of a Woman (1974) where Vittorio Gassman plays a blind army officer who intends on killing himself and has a young boy assigned to him to help him get from one city to another. That's the only similarity. But the thing that I loved was the first time the kid met the Gassman character, the guy was so horrible, so abusive, so abrasive, so unsympathetic. But paradoxically, you felt you liked him, even though he gave you no reason to. When I found out the rights were available, Bo Goldman and I locked ourselves in a room for eight or nine months, and we were able to find the underpinnings of the character so that when it came time to shoot it, I understood every moment and all of its layers. I was able to interface with Al [Al Pacino], plus Al takes everything to a new level. He would do things that surpassed my vision while being harmonious with my vision. It was a great experience.

Even in my twenties when I did Going in Style (1979), it seemed to me the biggest possible issue, mortality - what could be a bigger idea than that? So, it just seemed like an important thing to weave into movies. Meet Joe Black (1998) is based on Death Takes a Holiday (1934), which I saw once when I was in my early twenties. I remember getting ready to go to school to cut my student film and I turned on the TV and I was sitting on the bed and I put one leg through my pants, and this movie was on, Death Takes a Holiday. And I watched the entire movie before I put the other leg in my pants - I mean, it really moved me. And it took me 20 years to figure out, if you're going to make a movie about the personification of death, it's such an outrageous and surreal notion that there has to be a reason for it.