You see, in this world there is one awful thing, and that is that everyone has his reasons.
Jean RenoirRead
A film director is not a creator, but a midwife. His business is to deliver the actor of a child that he did not know he had inside him.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The director's role is to help actors realize their potential rather than create something from nothing.
This quote by Jean Renoir emphasizes the transformative role of a film director in the creative process. Instead of merely imposing their vision onto the actors, the director's task is to draw out the hidden talents and emotions within the actors, akin to the process of a midwife assisting in childbirth. It suggests that great art is often a collaboration where the director facilitates the natural expression of the actor's abilities.
Themes
DirectorArtCreativityActingTheatre
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be mentioned during a film panel discussion to highlight the collaborative nature of filmmaking.
More from Jean Renoir
All quotes →To the question, ‘Is the cinema an art?’ my answer is, ‘what does it matter?’... You can make films or you can cultivate a garden. Both have as much claim to being called an art as a poem by Verlaine or a painting by Delacroix… Art is ‘making.’ The art of poetry is the art of making poetry. The art of love is the art of making love... My father never talked to me about art. He could not bear the word.
Jean RenoirRead
A director makes only one movie in his life. Then he breaks it into pieces and makes it again.
Jean RenoirRead
The real hell of life is that everyone has his reasons.
Jean RenoirRead
I believe that perfection handicaps cinema.
Jean RenoirRead
A Director Makes Only One Movie in His Life. Then He Breaks It Into Pieces and Makes It Again.
Jean RenoirRead
Similar quotes
The job of the novelist is to invent: to embroider, to color, to embellish, to entertain, to make things up. The art of what I do lies not in research or even recollection but primarily in invention.
Donna TarttRead
The poets who have written the best poems about war seem to be the poets whose countries have experienced an invasion or vicious dictatorships.
Billy CollinsRead
On the stage, the characters express themselves more through words than images. So the arguments of the characters and the tension between characters - words have to be used to express that, and I love that about theater.
Alan AldaRead
If I were a first rate writer, I wouldn't mind a bit. What does depress me is this: it is so desperately hard and so obsessive and so lonely to write that, in return for all this work, one would like a little self satisfaction. And that is never going to come, for the simple reason that I do not deserve it. I cannot be a good enough writer. You see? I call it grim. But the future looks awfully clear to me.
Martha GellhornRead
My weakness ... is architecture. I think of my work as ephemeral architecture, dedicated to the beauty of the female body.
Christian DiorRead
Then I played the song that hides in the center of me. That wordless music that moves through the secret places in my heart. I played it carefully, strumming it slow and low into the dark stillness of the night. I would like to say it is a happy song, that it is sweet and bright, but it is not.
Patrick RothfussRead