Quotessence
Home / Authors / William Monahan
William Monahan

William Monahan Quotes

Screenwriter

Filter quotes by topic

AllFilmIfsThinkingWritingKnowsFirstsPeopleDirectorsFormWantWayScriptsWorldLondonNovelWellsActorsKindMadeNeeds

Famous William Monahan Quotes

“I didn't have anything to do with selecting IFC. I don't have anything to do with distribution, or business, or marketing, but think it's a good choice by Graham, and perfect for London Boulevard. It gets the picture straight into a dialog with the public, and it doesn't set the sights too high. They're very hip at IFC, and they get the film. The cineplex hasn't done film any favors as an art form.”

ThinkingArtDoneFilmFormChoicesPerfectSightMarketingLondonFavorsHipsDistributionBoulevardGood Choices
Author:William Monahan
Create image

“I'm a huge fan of director's cuts or reassemblies if they're good, but I remember being really excited about the restored version of Apocalypse Now, and then I preferred the original film. Kingdom of Heaven as a director's cut is the real picture, but in fact someone recently told me that there was another cut, the original first cut, which he said was just extraordinary. I've never seen it - and of course now I want to, if it exists, and so would everybody else.”

IfsWantFirstsSaidRealFactsRememberFilmCoursesHeavenCuttingFansHugeDirectorsOriginalsExtraordinaryExcitedKingdomsVersionsBeing RealNow And ThenApocalypseKingdom Of Heaven
Author:William Monahan
Create image

“It's been very much in the blood since I started imagining films or shooting with 8mm when I was a kid. I made some films and thought about films, but then I went into writing. Becket is something that's definitely on the cards. We have to see where that fits in the schedule, because it's a big picture and I have a lot of writing obligations at the moment. I'm wary of anything with a budget over a certain amount.”

WritingMadeMomentsBigsKidsFilmCertainBloodAmountFitObligationCardsShootingBudgetsSchedulesBig Picture
Author:William Monahan
Create image

“If you change a location opportunistically, to gain a day on the schedule, which I did more than once, you have to re-rig everything creatively on the spot, and you not only have to be able to do that, but do it with great fluency to keep moving. I used to go apeshit when anything got changed in a film but you live and learn, and I have learned.”

IfsAbleFilmMovingUsedChangedGainsSpotsI Have LearnedLocationSchedulesKeep MovingLive And LearnRigsFluencyYou Live And Learn
Author:William Monahan
Create image

“I don't think Roger Ebert has ever mentioned a screenplay. He assigns every auctorial move to the director, which makes some sense since the director has run a one-off game, but if Hamlet were written last year and had been only performed once as a film, and it didn't come off well on screen for whatever reason, it would be gone forever as a literary work, and never would have been considered as one.”

IfsThinkingYearsWellsHas BeensReasonWould BeRunningLastsFilmMovingGamesGoneForeverWrittenDirectorsScreensLast YearScreenplaysRogerLiterary Works
Author:William Monahan
Create image

“The first time I ever thought about doing a film seriously, I was in London. I was about 17 years old. I was just standing in the street, a bit dazzled by an Antonioni bus wipe, which by the way are inherent in London, and I imagined a film set in London starting out with the riff from The Yardbird's "Heart Full of Soul", and now, how ever many years later, I've done it.”

WayYearsFirstsHeartSoulDoneFilmBitsStreetsFirst TimeStandingStartingLondonBusInherentWipeStarting OutFilm Set
Author:William Monahan
Create image

“I'm in the film industry, and I very seldom go to the theater now. It could be work, not being in New York, that sort thing - because in New York, you do go to theaters; you can walk to a theater and then walk to a restaurant. But in places you have to drive out to the cineplex to see a movie, it's starting not to be worth it anymore. It's like the days when you went to get a book at the public library. You don't have to do that anymore. You just go on your iPad and all of a sudden you're reading The Duchess of Malfi.”

BookFilmReadingLibraryWorth ItPublic Library
Author:William Monahan
Create image