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But I'd be lying if I didn't say that every time you go to make a film, you're desperate to either do it better than you did it last time or to not repeat yourself.
Paul Thomas Anderson
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote expresses the desire to constantly improve and innovate in the filmmaking process.

Paul Thomas Anderson's quote reveals the inherent pressure filmmakers face with each new project. The dual desire to surpass previous achievements while avoiding redundancy highlights the creative struggle to maintain originality and excellence in art.

Themes

FilmmakingCreativityImprovementArtOriginality

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used as an opening remark at a film festival to discuss the evolution of cinema.

More from Paul Thomas Anderson

No matter how many times you do it, you don't get used to the sadness - for me at least - of coming to the end of a film.
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I really subscribe to that old adage that you should never let the audience get ahead of you for a second. So if the film's abrasive and wrongfoots people then, y'know, that's great. But I hope it involves an audience.
Paul Thomas AndersonRead
My filmmaking education consisted of finding out what filmmakers I liked were watching, then seeing those films. I learned the technical stuff from books and magazines, and with the new technology you can watch entire movies accompanied by audio commentary from the director. You can learn more from John Sturges' audio track on the 'Bad Day at Black Rock' laserdisc than you can in 20 years of film school. Film school is a complete con, because the information is there if you want it.
Paul Thomas AndersonRead
I always had a dream about trying to make a movie that had no dialogue in it, that was just music and pictures. I still haven't done it yet, but I tried to get close in the beginning.
Paul Thomas AndersonRead
It's a gamble you take, the risk of alienating an audience. But there's a theory - sometimes it's better to confuse them for five minutes than let them get ahead of you for 10 seconds.
Paul Thomas AndersonRead
We’re all children of Kubrick, aren’t we? Is there anything you can do that he hasn’t done?
Paul Thomas AndersonRead

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