Quotes

As an art-house director I am supposed to hate mainstream films but I saw Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005) and liked it. I even cried when I was watching it although in my opinion this film has no artistic value at all.

There is nothing more magnificent than to make art. My experience tells me so. Nothing. It's the most magnificent thing in the world.

[on the criticism that 'positive protagonists' are missing in Leviathan (2014)] And what is actually bad about Nikolai? To whom has he done evil? With whom was he not honest? What is a 'positive' in this case? He's just a man. Like all the other characters; just humans. All this without the presumption of 'positivity' [in the moral makeup of the character]. Why do we need this, how should I say, 'forefinger' for where to look? Who to emulate? It is an infantile attitude to art. You have to look at the panorama of life without embellishment, without hyperbole; just the way it is and draw your own conclusions.

[in a video published on imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny's campaign website] The president of the Russian Federation, just like any president of any country, is the guarantor of the life and dignity of his citizens. What dignity can we talk about if we are offered to choose from one [presidential candidate]? There is no human dignity when the opponent is being persecuted in such an arbitrary, stupid and ugly way. [Oct. 2017]

[press conference for Loveless (2017) at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival] These are indeed volunteers, the people who work for this association - they give up a lot of their time. They give up an hour, two hours, three hours, a night, a whole day, if they have a day off. The association does indeed exist, its name is Liza Alert, and its name appears in the credits of the film. We did indeed work with the association so that things would appear very true and real. They look for disappeared children who they don't know personally. They spend a lot of time and make a huge effort to find these children and they're very effective despite the meagre technical means they have. The association is extraordinarily effective. In Russia, over 100 people die every day - equivalent to the passengers on a Boeing aircraft. There were 6500 people who disappeared in Russia in 2016 and this association, Liza Alert, is active throughout the whole country. It has managed last year to find 80% of the missing persons. It's quite extraordinary therefore. They're extremely effective.