Jean-Jacques Annaud Quotes
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When Picasso painted in Paris, was he a Spanish or a French painter? It does not matter, he was Picasso, whatever the influences surrounding him. He simply chose Paris because it was the ideal place for him to sell his creation.
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War scenes are less difficult than love scenes.
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If you make a movie about Elizabeth I, how much of the dialogue is her real words? Audiences know when they go see a movie that it is fiction.
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To do the writing, I have to have time to do research.
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I think it is a mistake to identify a movie according to its language, as if movies were literature.
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America is the only country capable of producing national movies: its culture has become a global culture.
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The financing of my films has always been international.
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Today's cinema is a global art form, it is impossible to make movies for a market the size of France, representing no more than 4% of the world's total.
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I make movies just as painters paint: I work where I can.
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There is a broad cultural current that conveys the idea that a film is like a football team, it represents a nation, it is illustrated literature, filmed radio. These are outdated concepts, totally out of touch with today's realities.
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The art of motion pictures is pictorial and language comes a distant second.
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When a French book becomes an international hit it is because of the author and not because of the language. The same goes for movies.
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I had to choose between American and British actors, and it didn't take me more than a second to decide: Russians are Europeans and should be played by other Europeans.
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My way of remaining French was the financing scheme I used for Quest for Fire, with Fox funds, since it started as a 100% American production. The film was not in French and yet was French in style, reflecting my personality.
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When Americans shoot movies they aim at the entire planet. When the French make movies, they aim at Paris.
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The world distribution of French movies is a laughing matter. That is a fact.
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British actors behave like Europeans; they are also extremely well trained.
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The French have got to understand that a film is so expensive that it can no longer afford to be regional or even national in scope.
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When you create a movie, you create something in your image.