You've got to keep fighting; you've got to risk your life every six months to stay alive.
Elia KazanRead
I was able to capture on film things the actors didn't even know they were doing.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the role of a filmmaker in revealing the subtle nuances of performance that actors may not be aware of.
Elia Kazan emphasizes the artistic ability of a director to uncover and immortalize the intricate and often unintentional expressions and actions of actors. This insight reflects the director's unique perspective in capturing genuine moments that contribute to the storytelling, demonstrating the collaborative nature of filmmaking.
In practice
This quote can be referenced during a film study class to discuss the role of directors.
You've got to keep fighting; you've got to risk your life every six months to stay alive.
Acting... was the biggest charge I ever had. What other artist has it so good? Approval so quick?
I've come to believe that everything worth achieving is beyond one's capacity - or seems so at first. The thing is to persist, not back off, fight your fight, pay your dues, and carry on. Effort is all; continue and you may get there despite everything.
A good director's not sure when he gets on the set what he's going to do.
To be a member of the Communist Party is to have a taste of the police state. It is a diluted taste but it is bitter and unforgettable.
I've lost many of my best friends... I'm going to satisfy myself now, not the critics, not even my friends.
You have to really have the will to hang onto the first note as it is being played, and then really stay with it and take the flight, as it were, you know, for the duration of the piece.
I don't torture myself. And I do the work because of the pleasure involved. I'm satisfying a compulsion I find nigh-on irresistible. It's not necessarily because of the work itself. I just feel the need for a period of regeneration afterwards. Like leaving a field fallow when you've grazed too much on it. I feel depleted.
I'm the oldest son of a crazy man, I'm in a cowboy band.
Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth.
As I listen to the silence, I learn that my feelings about art and my feelings about the Creator of the Universe are inseparable. To try to talk about art and about Christianity is for me one and the same thing, and it means attempting to share the meaning of my life, what gives it, for me, its tragedy and its glory.
A street is a story in asphalt - so it's a paradox that the streets are the one place where the movies play fast and loose with continuity, something to which L.A. streets lend themselves as naturally as does the city's psyche.
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