Alexander Payne Quotes & Sayings (Page 3)

“If you're trying to recreate life, the life that you best know is the one you grew up with.”

“Joe E. Lewis said, 'Money doesn't buy happiness but it calms the nerves.' And that is how I feel about a film being well-received.”

“Life mixes tones all the time.”

“I'm so not interested in producing, other than doing my own work, producing my own films. I only do it as favors, for other people to get their films made.”

“It seems that our politicians see the world in black and white, so why not our artists? Did Woody Allen's 'Manhattan' have to be in black and white? No. But is it fantastic that it was? To see New York like that? Yes!”

“They say you can do honest, sincere work for decades, but you're given in general a 10-year period when what you do touches the zeitgeist - when you're relevant. And I'm aware of that, and I don't want my time to go by.”

“The most heinous shift in American films is that they reinforce good things like 'couples' and 'relationships.'”

“I don't think so much about verbal comedy. I always think about visual comedy. I was raised watching silents, and I'm always thinking about how to make cinema, not good talking - although I want good talking. I'm much more interested in framing, composition, and orchestration of bodies in space, and so forth.”

“What is filmmaking but groping in the dark?”

“As the years go by and I make more films, I am increasingly interested in capturing place as a vivid backdrop for my films.”