Michael Cimino

“I have a very simple definition of a good movie: a good movie makes you forget you're watching a movie.”

“It's one of the things that movies do offer you, despite all of their hardships - they offer you moments of transcendence.”

“I don't believe in defeat.”

“If you don't get it right, what's the point?”

“There's a need to dig up the past and analyze it.”

“I am not a preacher; I'm a reacher.”

“I wish I was making movies back in the days when John Ford made movies and you were a director under contract to a studio. John Ford had years when he made three movies in a year.”

“Encountering a real place enhances the performances of actors in subtle ways and changes the spiritual texture of the film.”

“There's nothing but brutality and bravery or cowardice that comes out of war. That's pretty much it.”

“A film reflects who you are as a building reflects the soul of its architect. I think what you feel and what you think and what you are is what the film is. It's not for me to talk about.”

“Does anyone remember who shot Kubrick's movies? Do you remember who shot David Lean's movies? No one remembers who shot 'Dr. Strangelove' or 'Barry Lyndon.'”

“If you can't stop somebody from working and making movies that you hate, what's the next best thing? Destroy them personally.”

“'Deer Hunter' is a movie; it is not an attempt to write history.”

“There's nothing good that comes out of war. It's simply hell on earth, and people survive, and people don't.”

“Anybody who says they're bitter is sick in their soul. They've given up.”