Michel Hazanavicius

“The silent movie is an emotional cinema: it's sensory; the fact that you don't go through a text brings you back to a basic way of telling a story predicated on the feelings you have created.”

“Even if I make fun of him, I try to portray him as a human being. Sometimes because he's the great Jean-Luc Godard, we see him as a concept.”

“My life is OK. I live in France. It's a very cool country to make films.”

“I made a movie in Morocco. I made a movie in Brazil. I've made commercials all over the world. Every set looks like another set.”

“I always try to make popular films. Even in black-and-white and silent.”

“This is the problem with language, and this is what makes silent movies fun, because the connection with them, me or the audience is not with the language. There's no question of interpretation of what we are saying it's just about feeling. You create your own story.”

“French cinema audiences usually don't express anything. Certainly not satisfaction.”

“My ambition with 'Redoubtable' was to make a film that would be aesthetically pleasing, charming, and touching.”

“In France, it's really different the way you live. It's a non-religious country. The public space is not religious; religion is a private thing.”

“To me the recognition of the audience is part of the filmmaking process. When you make a movie, it's for them.”

“Hollywood is much more than America. Hollywood belongs to all of the planet.”

“I thought 'The Artist' was a perfect way to find a good balance. The artistic challenge is obvious because the film is black-and-white and its silent, but I did my best to make the movie accessible and easy to watch. I really don't want to make elitist movies. I really try hard to work for the audience. Audiences are smart. They get everything.”

“French people are strange about America, I think.”

“With silent films, you're better off avoiding irony, because the spectator is your accomplice. It's this pact that leads to emotion being created.”

“An idea is something you work on to make it work and a desire is much deeper in a way.”

“There's always been a struggle with filmmakers between art and industry, and you have to find a balance.”

“Here in France, what we love is Life. And all the pleasures that go with it.”

“But sometimes I think you have to try to do things that people don't think are doable.”

“It's about storytelling. The story is told through images. So with the cast, I had to make sure that the emotions were readable without sound... I know some great actors, if you turn off the sound, you don't really know what they're saying.”

“I make almost all the decisions on set and have to deal with all the financial aspects.”