I was going to buy a copy of "The Power of Positive Thinking", and then I thought: What good would that do?
I think I made good movies.
There was a big drive when I was at art school to make you aware of the economy of meaning - after all, this was still during the tail end of minimalism. Being responsible for everything you put in your picture, and being able to defend it. Keeping everything clear around you so you know what is operating. To open the wound and keep it clean.
What I have learned from my work up to now, is to try to be open, but also protect myself by not letting the good and the evil get too much importance.
In some ways Holy Smoke is about people's journey to the heart.
I'm a much better filmmaker than painter. But studying it did make me visually acute and taught me lessons like being economic: Say something once and you don't have to say it again.
Between 18 and 26 I acted professionally, on the stage and a little bit on television. Acting is okay, but it's quite pressurized. Then I went to England - I wanted to reinvent myself.
The trick is finding a person whose flaws don't drive you crazy. . . you know. . . someone whose flaws you can live with. . . someone who can stand your flaws, too.
In every movie I do have a dialogue.
And then many things became very clear. . . we learned perfectly that the life of a single human being is worth millions of times more than all the property of the richest man on earth.
We live by the sun, we feel by the moon, we love by the stars. We live in all things, all things live in us.