Humour is like violence. They both come to you unexpectedly, and the more unpredictable they both are, the better it gets..

Having total freedom to direct my own movies is more difficult than those I was hired for, where the framework has been already furnished. Unlike wit….

Cinema is a composite art into which you can include all conceivable art or entertainment forms. In film, I can work with novelistic elements, comedy….

I think I am more of a coward than anybody. It's a very weird feeling. The more I fear violence, the more I'm inclined to depict it in films..

Being a TV comedian, actor, writer, columnist, and all that is quite helpful to me in acquiring wide varieties of knowledge, which is crucial for fil….

In people's minds, I'm a comic, so it took a lot of time before I was recognized as a director. I had to be patient until the public accepted me. As ….

The thing about art for me is that you can go on theorising your work forever, because it's open to interpretation..

I hate seeing people getting hurt or hurting other people. I hate seeing blood. I am very intolerant of physical pain. I find violence horrifying, so….

I believe you shouldn't force the audience's interpretation of a character or a story. The more you explain things, the less intriguing and imaginabl….

I do all these various activities like painting and writing, comedy and films probably because not that I'm good at everything but because I'm not go….

For me comedy and violence has a lot in common. Just as you expect, comedy always lurks behind the most unexpected of circumstances..

When people tell me I'm an artist, I say, 'What?' It's impossible for me to take the idea seriously..

Eventually, this is how I would like to be remembered at the end of my career: He was never the best in anything he did - comedy, acting, filmmaking,….

I don't really expect much from my life. So when I heard my films are premiering in film festival circuits I was glad of course but I thought it was ….

I thought maybe I could become like the next Van Gogh. I bought a sunflower and painted it, and it looked like the work of a 6-year-old..

The film is ambiguous, an ambiguity that reflects on Japan today, and a world in which nothing is clear. Once I made the film [Takeshis'], I realized….

My philosophy is that one shall not resort to violence unless one is resolved to become the subject of violence at any time..

My film directorial career has been nothing but repetition of one failure after another!.

I intentionally shoot violence to make the audience feel real pain. I have never and I will never shoot violence as if it's some kind of action video….

I paint for the sheer joy of painting. I have never sold any of my paintings. I'd rather give them to people for free..

I always come to conclusions very fast. Well, that is one way of thinking, and the other way would be that I lack the necessary perseverance to stick….