“I make movies just as painters paint: I work where I can.” I CanPaintPainter Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“My way of remaining French was the financing scheme I used for Quest for Fire, with Fox funds, since it started as a 100% American production. The film was not in French and yet was French in style, reflecting my personality.” WayFilmUsedFireStylePersonalityProductionsMy WayFundQuestsSchemesFoxesReflectingFinancing Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“When a French book becomes an international hit it is because of the author and not because of the language. The same goes for movies.” BookLanguageInternational Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“The financing of my films has always been international.” FilmInternationalFinancing Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“Today's cinema is a global art form, it is impossible to make movies for a market the size of France, representing no more than 4% of the world's total.” WorldArtTodayFormImpossibleSizeFranceCinemaRepresenting Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“When Americans shoot movies they aim at the entire planet. When the French make movies, they aim at Paris.” PlanetsAimParis Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“When Picasso painted in Paris, was he a Spanish or a French painter? It does not matter, he was Picasso, whatever the influences surrounding him. He simply chose Paris because it was the ideal place for him to sell his creation.” DoeMatterInfluenceCreationIdealsSellsPainterParis Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“There is a broad cultural current that conveys the idea that a film is like a football team, it represents a nation, it is illustrated literature, filmed radio. These are outdated concepts, totally out of touch with today's realities.” IdeasRealityTodayFilmLiteratureNationsTeamFootballConceptsRadioCurrentsBroadsFootball TeamOutdated Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“The French have got to understand that a film is so expensive that it can no longer afford to be regional or even national in scope.” FilmExpensiveScope Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“America is the only country capable of producing national movies: its culture has become a global culture.” CountryAmericaCultureCapableProducing Movies Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“The world distribution of French movies is a laughing matter. That is a fact.” WorldMatterFactsLaughingDistributionFrench Movies Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“If you make a movie about Elizabeth I, how much of the dialogue is her real words? Audiences know when they go see a movie that it is fiction.” IfsKnowsRealFictionAudienceDialogue Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“British actors behave like Europeans; they are also extremely well trained.” WellsActorsBritishBehave Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“I think it is a mistake to identify a movie according to its language, as if movies were literature.” IfsThinkingLiteratureLanguageMistake Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“The art of motion pictures is pictorial and language comes a distant second.” ArtLanguageChanceSecond ChanceMotion PicturesPictorial Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“I had to choose between American and British actors, and it didn't take me more than a second to decide: Russians are Europeans and should be played by other Europeans.” ShouldActorsBritishTake MeEyebrows Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
