Kevin Macdonald Quotes
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Although 'The Anderson Platoon' was what we would now call an 'embedded film' - with all the ambiguities that term implies - somehow Schoendoerffer got away with showing things as they really were from a grunt's perspective.
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I remember going to the university film club to see 'The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp' one night and being bowled over. It was one of the most beautiful films I'd ever seen. And it felt so personal.
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If you want to do 'Sword & Sandals' movies, people think that means it equals 'epic.'
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What got me into making movies was that I wanted to be a journalist.
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It's so nice to be totally artistically free.
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Like a lot of expatriate Scots, when you want to be called Scottish, it's useful. I see myself as being without nationality, as a European: my region is Scotland; my nationality is European - isn't that a very Alex Salmond thing to say?
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In film, I believe things should either be documentary or drama.
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When I was growing up on Loch Lomondside, one of the first albums I ever bought was Marley's 'Uprising.' I guess that would have been 1980 - just before he died.
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The only obligation you have as a film-maker is to tell your version of the truth and to use your film to illuminate reality. Whatever that means.
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I was a teenager in the '80s, and I was always a bit dismissive of Houston, as I think a lot of people who considered themselves 'cool music fans' were. She was poppy, bubble gum, making music not considered very cool. But you can't help but dance to some of those songs or feel emotionally affected by 'I Will Always Love You.'
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I was born at Rotten Row in Glasgow and brought up in Loch Lomond near a small place called Gartocharn. And it's a bit like anyone: where you're brought up, you have an irresistible attraction to that place; it defines who you are.
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In my early career as a documentarian, I suppose I was trying to make films which - where it was all about making a big cinematic statement, and I think with 'Marley,' I slightly changed my direction and adopted a more mellow approach.
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If there's a principle really worth sticking up for, I'll go the whole way.
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People think that the Italians invented neorealism, but actually, Humphrey Jennings did. He was revolutionary in using non-professional actors in his films, and he got extraordinary performances out of them.
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When you're trying to make a film, you're trying to find a way to love your subject, and you want your audience to love your subject.
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I think there's always been interest in Bob Marley.
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The great thing about making a film on a submarine is that it's kind of like making a play. You've got this limited environment.
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For me, what works well about 'Life in a Day' is that it's emotionally affecting without being manipulative. It really does make you think about the connectivity of the world, the similarities and differences. It shows the experiences we all go through: birth, childhood, falling in love, having kids, getting ill, dying.
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Despite the limitations of the bulky 16mm camera and 10-minute film magazines, 'The Anderson Platoon' feels as spontaneous and fresh as any films that have come out of the Afghan or Iraq wars.
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There were many times during the filming of 'Touching the Void' when I wondered why I had ever thought I wanted to make this film.
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I did not want to depict Al Gashey as evil. I wanted him to come across as someone who did what he did for reasons that were compelling. Whether or not we agree with him is a different matter.
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We should not confuse having a Flip camera with making a documentary.
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We're all fascinated by the way other people live their lives, how they cope with hardship and triumph, what they put in their home movies and family albums.
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No man, no woman is without their flaws.