Occupation: Screenwriter Birth: July 22, 1946
Screenplays are not works of art. They are invitations to others to collaborate on a work of art..
You can't take contradiction away. Part of the fun of it is that the contradiction never really quite goes away..
You know, when you're in your twenties you use a great deal of symbolism. You somehow think that a character standing beneath a cross is more interes….
Film noir is not a genre. It is not defined, as are the western and gangster genres, by conventions of setting and conflict, but rather by the more s….
'Taxi Driver' wasn't autobiographical in terms of the actual events, but I did draw on my own mental state..
Ultimately, it's an illusion that you can understand yourself..
I was looking for people who didn't have any preconceptions about films, what I call the "post-rules" generation..
All the animals come out at night..
Now I see it clearly. My whole life has pointed in one direction. I see that now. There never has been any choice for me..
You think it's a blessing to know what God wants? I'll tell you what he wants. He wants to push me over! Can't he see what's inside of me? All my sin….
Once you have a situation that is fresh, then you sort of believe in it and it becomes normal. So you do end up with protagonists that haven't been i….
I don't think it's very useful to open wide the door for young artists; the ones who break down the door are more interesting..
All these teachers and [screenwriting] books mean you see movies that have been worked over by more committees wielding more rules, that all original….
Those artists who say that somehow therapy or analysis will thwart their creativity are completely misinformed. It's absolutely the opposite: it open….
The secret of the creative life is to feel at ease with your own embarrassment..
There's something wrong - the performance, the weather, the set design, the lighting. Something is not working. And so you say, "Give me 10 minutes."….
The best advice is essentially that thing in the back of your mind that you really aren't sure of, and when you start to hear other people bring up t….
I would not have made any of my films or written scripts such as Taxi Driver had it not been for Ingmar Bergman, What he has left is a legacy greater….
Anything that doesn't bore me I think is doable because it's keeping me awake..
Words are a completely different form of expression. The word P-E-N-I-S is an entirely different form of communication than a photograph of the same ….