Whispering of the Gods #18

"The way I look at life is like two sides of a hand. One side, there is despair, but on the other side is hope. So, if you are in despair, you mustn't think it'll last long, because there is always hope on the other side." - Kaneto Shindo

(RIP)

Whispering of the Gods #17

"I have always believed since I was a child that beautiful things were true." - Keisuke Kinoshita

Whispering of the Gods #16

"Since many years now I happen to think of Portugal when I make my films. It's something that comes from (Manoel de) Oliveira, César Monteiro or Pedro Costa. Once in Lisbon, I understood completely why I have this influence. The Buddhist way of thinking comprehends the notion of cycle, birth and rebirth. Maybe in my previous life I have been Portuguese and lived here." - Shinji Aoyama

Whispering of the Gods #15

"When I write a script, I have the entire film in my head, so when we start shooting, I just do it. I am more interested in the editing process, so I tend to shoot in a hurry. Maybe you don't always have enough footage, but how you play around with it, is what is interesting." - Takeshi Kitano

Whispering of the Gods #14

"I've made various types of films: period dramas, modern dramas, films set in the Meiji period. But I don't make any distinctions between them - they're all films. True, with a period drama, there are certain conventions. With a modern drama, there is a different style of shooting. So you have to make changes according to the genre, but I never think, "This is a period drama, so I have to shoot it in such and such a way." Films are films. If you don't understand that, then you start filming lies." - Kon Ichikawa

Whispering of the Gods #13

"The reason I take this approach to filmmaking is, although film needs a fictional story element, it also is a medium that allows you to record the reality around you. You're filming real forests and real people. I think that film for me is a medium point between a fictional story and reality. You start with the genre, which is fiction, and gradually move towards reality. Somewhere in between you find film." - Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Whispering of the Gods #12

"For me, to be a true thinker is to express your thoughts, so whether by means of literature, other writings, theater or film, a thinker's message could be transmitted to a certain public. This can be done not only logically, but also emotionally and sensually. Striving to find the root of every work of art, is indeed a philosophical endeavor that might end up inciting further thought, but art itself already has that effect. Therefore, I don't like the world philosophy that much. Take for example this line-by-line close reading conducted by the structuralists. It is philosophical, but at the same time it could also be applied to literature and musical works too. The word structure itself in this context is irrelevant; what is to be understood here is the relations between human being and culture, the way our minds express themselves. Film in particular, by its nature, is a thought-provoking cultural product, as it encompasses a large variety of different means of expression - music, images, performance and narrative - a fact that makes it very intriguing. We can say that without thinking, one can't make a film. It might be changing these days, with people watching films as a hobby, as something purely pleasurable. Like for example what some people that are called eiga otaku are doing, focusing entirely on films, without grasping the larger picture. Of course I cannot say that it is all over with today's cinema, but that is certainly one bad factor in it today." - Yoshishige Yoshida (read full interview here).

Whispering of the Gods #11

"My goal is to create an exaggerated depiction featuring only the ideas and passions of living human beings. In Japanese society, which is essentially regimented, freedom and the individual do not exist. The theme of Japanese film is the emotions of the Japanese people, who have no choice but to live according to the norms of that society . . . After experiencing Europe for two years, I wanted to portray the type of beautifully vital, strong people I came to know there." - Yasuzo Masumura

Whispering of the Gods #10

"My hatred for Japanese cinema includes absolutely all of it." - Nagisa Oshima

Whispering of the Gods #9

"If my films are political, it is because I do not go and throw grenades myself." - Koji Wakamatsu

Whispering of the Gods #8

"In general, the roman-porno audience wants to see something they can't experience in everyday life. These people get excited about seeing acts which they may - or may not want to do to their wives or mates. Things they would never be able to really do without ending up in jail or divorce. For example, I was often assigned to make movies with rape scenes. I am not a person who could possibly perform rape. I want to see a lady's happy face while having sex... Movies are fantasies. Sometimes they might be ugly, but they're still fantasies. I was the dreamweaver." - Masaru Konuma

Whispering of the Gods #7

"I believe [film violence] has no effect on an audience. Personally, I can attest to this fact. I do not become aggressive when I watch a violent movie. I can not imagine such a correlation... When I was very young, we admired Humphrey Bogart for his dandyism, but not for his killing. We did not accept the formula. We knew that killing somebody wouldn't make us become him. Why? Because we knew it was just a goddamn movie and he was just an actor and none of his victims were really dead." - Yasuharu Hasebe

Whispering of the Gods #6

"I've always wanted to ask questions about the Japanese, because it's the only people I'm qualified to describe… I am surprised by my reception in the west. I don't really think that people there can possibly understand what I'm talking about." - Shohei Imamura

Whispering of the Gods #5

"This is the first time I have said this: for me, to make a film is not to show or to convince someone of something. I make films because I want to know something specific, which means that it changes from film to film. So when I have shot one picture I see no reason to look back at it again." - Susumu Hani (read full interview)

Whispering of the Gods #4

"Our existence is a dream. Let's live like crazies." - Seijun Suzuki

Whispering of the Gods #3

"Movie directors, or should I say people who create things, are very greedy and they can never be satisfied... That's why they can keep on working. I've been able to work for so long because I think next time, I'll make something good." - Akira Kurosawa

Whispering of the Gods #2

"My films are about people, not biology." - Tatsumi Kumashiro

Whispering of the Gods #1

"Since that time, I couldn't figure out what to do to make a good film. What can a director bequeath to posterity? I began to find film meaningless. Now, I feel the other way around. The very fact that films could fade into oblivion is what makes cinema so enchanting." - Yasujiro Ozu