A biography for Yorgos Lanthimoshasn’t been written yet.
“Yeah, it shouldn't be an issue. Stories about women, about men, about homosexuals, about heterosexuals. We shouldn't point at what it is.”
“I learned about making films by going into advertising, making commercials.”
“For me, casting is very instinctive, and if I don't feel good about it, I just can't go ahead and make the film.”
“I'm very open to making films anywhere in the world.”
“Even today, I'm not sure why I make films or what makes me want films. I think it's other people's films. Whenever I see a really great film, I think, 'I want to make a film like that.' And then I never do.”
“I think you can be much truer to real emotions and reality by creating something that on the surface seems artificial but, by then putting everything together in the end, is much more impactful than trying to use realism in every individual element of the film.”
“I used to be quite negative about going back to Greece and making something, but there is a certain kind of freedom that I've experienced while I was making films in Greece that is hard to replicate elsewhere.”
“I am calm but on the outside, mostly. When I'm on a film set, the stress is so humongous that I'm dying inside - I'm extremely stressed, but I do try, and... well, I don't try. I think it's my natural reaction to not externalize things.”
“Starting in Greece, you couldn't really say, 'I'm going to become a film-maker.' A 15-year-old boy in Greece in the '80s and '90s? There was nothing like that happening.”
“You tend to be more attentive when you shoot on film because, you know, it costs more, and everybody needs to be focused when you're filming something. Everybody considers it something valuable and precious, so everybody's focused.”
“I always loved films, and when I decided to go to film school, it was with the excuse that I would go into making commercials, because that would be a proper profession, and people wouldn't think I was crazy.”
“Sometimes people say things and don't really know what they mean by what they're saying. Subconsciously, it might mean something different.”
“Telling a story is the way of exploring so many different things - human behavior, society, whatever existence.”
“Provocative... I used to be defensive about it, but in the end, I realised it's exactly right. It's what we're trying to do - to provoke thought and discussion and, you know, shake people up to start thinking about things in a different way. I'm interested in messing with what they think is the norm.”
“For some reason, I guess, people wanted me to prove myself in English-language films.”
“I think human relationships - the whole thing is cruel. It's very difficult.”
“I made three films in Greece, and they're made under very specific, very limited conditions.”
“I either enjoy things or not. And things either make me think, or they don't. Or they mess with me, and I feel awkward.”
“I think there's all these unknown things you can tap into when you just leave things open, and nothing is forbidden. Then you allow yourself to mold that thing that has been created by freedom and spontaneity and flexibility. That's why I avoid limiting performances of actors and characters.”
“People influence each other, so one screening will be filled with laughs while another is dead silent.”