Quotes By Kathryn Bigelow

My dad used to draw these great cartoon figures. His dream was being a cartoonist, but he never achieved it, and it kind of broke my heart. I think part of my interest in art had to do with his yearning for something he could never have.

When I made my first film, I didn't think of it as directing, so it wasn't like I set out to become a director.

What's most galvanizing for me is the opportunity to be topical and relevant and entertaining. That's the holy grail.

When James Cameron brought me the script, which I developed with both Cameron and Jay Cocks, I wanted to make it a thriller, an action film, but with a conscience, and I found that it had elements of social realism.

I really look for peak experiences and dramatic material that can allow peak experiences.

I don't know if I thrive in normal life.

I'm definitely not drawn to shooting on a stage, I'm just not.

I like high impact movies.

It's irrelevant who or what directed a movie; the important thing is that you either respond to it or you don't.

There's a conventional reaction when you see a star: You anticipate he'll be a part of a particular denouement down the road, so you don't worry for that character.

You never think the universe will reward your first choice - it just doesn't work like that.

You have to disengage at some point in order to be fresh.

I need to have my hands on the DNA of a film.

Right now, there's the illusion of order and civilization, but there's a tremendous amount of economic tension in this country and the educational system is constantly eroding.

I suppose I like to think of myself as a film-maker.

There should be more women directing; I think there's just not the awareness that it's really possible.

Character and emotionality don't always have to be relegated to quieter, more simple constructs.

When he brought it to me four years ago, Rodney King had just arrived, I was involved in the clean-up of L.A. and I guess it was part of my experience.

Our film examines the heroism, courage and prowess of the Soviet submarine force in ways never seen before.

Something becomes personal when it deviates from the norm.

I thrive on production. It feels very much like a natural environment for me.

I can't stand outside myself and be anybody else.

One of the elements in the film that really fascinated me was not to look at the world in bi-polar terms of us vs them or east vs west, which was a by-product of the Cold War.

Jordan is a very secular, Westernized country in some respects.

I began to exercise a lot of cinematic muscle with the precepts I had learned in the New York art world. Film was intriguing. I began to think of art as elitist; film was not.