Quotes

If you want fame, and a beautiful statue made of yourself, don't be a screenwriter. The writer disappears. He works in the shade.

[on Luis Buñuel] He said he worked with me because he understood my voice. Everything I said was nonsense, but at least he understood.

[accepting his Honorary Oscar] I would like to say something about the fact that this Oscar goes to a screenwriter. I'm very happy of this, because very often screenwriters are forgotten, or ignored. They are like shadows passing through the history of cinema. Their names do not appear in the reviews. Very sad. But still, they are filmmakers. That's why tonight I'd like to share this priceless little statue with all my colleagues, the ones I know, the ones I don't know, from all over the world. So we all thank you.

The best way to become a screenwriter is to participate humbly in the making of a film. Then, of course, it is necessary to have ideas. The work of a screenwriter is not only to write a film and to know all about the technical side of things: the sound, the images, the editing. His work, his function, is to look for new ideas. That is very important. To be able to offer a bouquet of different ideas. [interview for "The Storytellers"]

[on Valmont (1989)] There couldn't be two films with the same title being released around the same time. Besides, it is a loose adaptation, not a literal adaptation of Laclos' book. Valmont is the backbone of the plot - he's on both sides of the story, on the Merteuil side and the Tourvel side. All the narrative threads lead to him.