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Michael Haneke Quotes

As a private person, professionally I am invisible Picture Quote #1

I’m far more relaxed with German. I’m a control freak. I like to know exactly who’s saying and doing what Picture Quote #1

Drama lives on conflict. If you’re trying to deal with social issues seriously, there’s no way of avoiding violence, which is so present in society Picture Quote #1

Because in the feudal system of that period at least 80% of people lived in villages, so it’s very simple to get a cross-section of society in a single village. You get the microcosm of the social macrocosm Picture Quote #1

Well, the first thing I had to do was to read a lot. First of all, about education... and looking at education from the Middle Ages right through to the 20th Century. The second major area was country life in the 19th Century, which I don’t know much about these days Picture Quote #1

I want to make it clear: it’s not that I hate mainstream cinema. It’s perfectly fine. There are a lot of people who need to escape, because they are in very difficult situations, so they have the right to escape from the world. But this has nothing to do with an art form Picture Quote #1

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My father and I had a good relationship, it was very relaxed. He had a lot of humour. He looked a little bit like me, although he had no beard. He had the appearance of a very elegant British-looking man Picture Quote #1

There are really two types of laughter on the part of the spectator. There is the laughter of recognition - which means seeing things you’re familiar with and laughing at yourself. But there’s also hysterical laughter - a way of dealing with the things we see that upset us Picture Quote #1

Personally, I can’t stand violence. In any standard American mainstream movie, there’s 20 times more violence than in any one of my films, so I don’t know why those directors aren’t asked why they’re such specialists for violence Picture Quote #1

Classicism becomes avant-garde when everyone else is doing their utmost to develop new stylistic forms. I think it’s healthy to return to classical forms Picture Quote #1

I give the spectator the possibility of participating. The audience completes the film by thinking about it; those who watch must not be just consumers ingesting spoon-fed images Picture Quote #1

When I first envisioned ‘Funny Games’ in the mid-1990s, it was my intention to have an American audience watch the movie. It is a reaction to a certain American cinema, its violence, its naivety, the way American cinema toys with human beings. In many American films, violence is made consumable Picture Quote #1

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To be perfectly honest, I think that as I’m growing older, I’m just growing more impatient. I’ll be very happy if at some point people say, ‘Michael’s grown wiser and softer in his old age.’ But we’ll have to wait and see what my next project is Picture Quote #1

Mainstream cinema raises questions only to immediately provide an answer to them, so they can send the spectator home reassured. If we actually had those answers, then society would appear very different from what it is Picture Quote #1

It’s unbearable when someone changes around you. Just imagine that your life partner changes, then it is difficult to cope with. Or your mother. Or your father. They were strong and now they’re like a baby - it’s not so funny Picture Quote #1

I’ve never let producers tell me what to do. Even when I was making television, I always did what I wanted to do, and if I couldn’t, I didn’t do it. It was a freedom that, these days, young directors starting out don’t have Picture Quote #1

I want to be able to control things and that’s very difficult to do if you’re not 100% in a particular language. It makes you uncertain and it makes you nervous Picture Quote #1

Never say no. It always depends on what’s possible. I don’t care so much where it is; it’s what I want to do that matters Picture Quote #1

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Films that are entertainments give simple answers but I think that’s ultimately more cynical, as it denies the viewer room to think. If there are more answers at the end, then surely it is a richer experience Picture Quote #1

I’m not someone who enjoys long talks, long rehearsals. I’m very technical: I tell my actors, you come in, you sit down, you pick up a coffee, you look here, you say the line. We try it with the cameras rolling, and if it doesn’t work, we adjust it until it does. It’s very simple Picture Quote #1

Even the most elitist director or author who claims that he doesn’t care if his works are seen or not, then I have to think that he’s either a liar or a hypocrite Picture Quote #1

I’m not really a happy person. It’s a question of temperament. I have a tendency toward melancholy. You can feel quite happily melancholic Picture Quote #1

There is just as much evil in all of us as there is good. We’re all continuously guilty, even if we’re not doing it intentionally to be evil. Here we are sitting in luxury hotels, living it up on the the backs of others in the third world. We all have a guilty conscience, but we do very little about it Picture Quote #1

Awards are important for all directors because they improve your working conditions. You’re only as good as your last film, so if you get prizes or large audiences, then you get more money for your next film Picture Quote #1

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You cannot hurt animals, so what do I do? I kill the dog first. Then I do it with the boy. You’re not supposed to break the illusion of this being a film, so I make the actor talk to the audience. Provocation is the principle of the whole film [ Funny Games]. It is very ironic Picture Quote #1

Funny Games’ was conceived as a provocation. My other films are different. If people feel my other films are, or respond to them as provocation, then that’s quite different. ‘Funny Games’ is the only one of mine where my intention was to provoke the audience Picture Quote #1

Films for TV have to be much closer to the book, mainly because the objective with a TV movie that translates literature is to get the audience, after seeing this version, to pick up the book and read it themselves. My attitude is that TV can never really be any form of art, because it serves audience expectations Picture Quote #1

I don’t really ask myself too much where the ideas come from. When things touch you or anger you, you are moved to want to examine them, to reflect on them. But yes, I guess you could say [‘Amour’] is a memento mori, though it would never occur to me to use that term, since it might sound a little bit sentimental Picture Quote #1

You can use your means in a good and bad way. In German-speaking art, we had such a bad experience with the Third Reich, when stories and images were used to tell lies. After the war, literature was careful not to do the same, which is why writers began to reflect on the stories they told and to make readers part of their texts. I do the same Picture Quote #1

I think it’s a little simplistic to explain a work through the psychology of its author. In other words, that Haneke has emotional problems, so I don’t have to take his films seriously. By using this argument, the viewer retreats from the challenges of the film Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

As a private person, professionally I am invisible (Michael Haneke Quotes) I’m far more relaxed with German. I’m a control freak. I like to know exactly who’s saying and doing what (Michael Haneke Quotes) Drama lives on conflict. If you’re trying to deal with social issues seriously, there’s no way of avoiding violence, which is so present in society. (Michael Haneke Quotes) Because in the feudal system of that period at least 80% of people lived in villages, so it’s very simple to get a cross-section of society in a single village. You get the microcosm of the social macrocosm (Michael Haneke Quotes) Well, the first thing I had to do was to read a lot. First of all, about education... and looking at education from the Middle Ages right through to the 20th Century. The second major area was country life in the 19th Century, which I don’t know much about these days (Michael Haneke Quotes) I want to make it clear: it’s not that I hate mainstream cinema. It’s perfectly fine. There are a lot of people who need to escape, because they are in very difficult situations, so they have the right to escape from the world. But this has nothing to do with an art form (Michael Haneke Quotes) My father and I had a good relationship, it was very relaxed. He had a lot of humour. He looked a little bit like me, although he had no beard. He had the appearance of a very elegant British-looking man (Michael Haneke Quotes) There are really two types of laughter on the part of the spectator. There is the laughter of recognition - which means seeing things you’re familiar with and laughing at yourself. But there’s also hysterical laughter - a way of dealing with the things we see that upset us (Michael Haneke Quotes) Personally, I can’t stand violence. In any standard American mainstream movie, there’s 20 times more violence than in any one of my films, so I don’t know why those directors aren’t asked why they’re such specialists for violence (Michael Haneke Quotes) Classicism becomes avant-garde when everyone else is doing their utmost to develop new stylistic forms. I think it’s healthy to return to classical forms (Michael Haneke Quotes) I give the spectator the possibility of participating. The audience completes the film by thinking about it; those who watch must not be just consumers ingesting spoon-fed images (Michael Haneke Quotes) When I first envisioned ‘Funny Games’ in the mid-1990s, it was my intention to have an American audience watch the movie. It is a reaction to a certain American cinema, its violence, its naivety, the way American cinema toys with human beings. In many American films, violence is made consumable. (Michael Haneke Quotes) To be perfectly honest, I think that as I’m growing older, I’m just growing more impatient. I’ll be very happy if at some point people say, ‘Michael’s grown wiser and softer in his old age.’ But we’ll have to wait and see what my next project is (Michael Haneke Quotes) Mainstream cinema raises questions only to immediately provide an answer to them, so they can send the spectator home reassured. If we actually had those answers, then society would appear very different from what it is (Michael Haneke Quotes) It’s unbearable when someone changes around you. Just imagine that your life partner changes, then it is difficult to cope with. Or your mother. Or your father. They were strong and now they’re like a baby - it’s not so funny (Michael Haneke Quotes) I’ve never let producers tell me what to do. Even when I was making television, I always did what I wanted to do, and if I couldn’t, I didn’t do it. It was a freedom that, these days, young directors starting out don’t have (Michael Haneke Quotes) I want to be able to control things and that’s very difficult to do if you’re not 100% in a particular language. It makes you uncertain and it makes you nervous (Michael Haneke Quotes) Never say no. It always depends on what’s possible. I don’t care so much where it is; it’s what I want to do that matters (Michael Haneke Quotes) Films that are entertainments give simple answers but I think that’s ultimately more cynical, as it denies the viewer room to think. If there are more answers at the end, then surely it is a richer experience (Michael Haneke Quotes) I’m not someone who enjoys long talks, long rehearsals. I’m very technical: I tell my actors, you come in, you sit down, you pick up a coffee, you look here, you say the line. We try it with the cameras rolling, and if it doesn’t work, we adjust it until it does. It’s very simple. (Michael Haneke Quotes) Even the most elitist director or author who claims that he doesn’t care if his works are seen or not, then I have to think that he’s either a liar or a hypocrite. (Michael Haneke Quotes) I’m not really a happy person. It’s a question of temperament. I have a tendency toward melancholy. You can feel quite happily melancholic. (Michael Haneke Quotes) There is just as much evil in all of us as there is good. We’re all continuously guilty, even if we’re not doing it intentionally to be evil. Here we are sitting in luxury hotels, living it up on the the backs of others in the third world. We all have a guilty conscience, but we do very little about it. (Michael Haneke Quotes) Awards are important for all directors because they improve your working conditions. You’re only as good as your last film, so if you get prizes or large audiences, then you get more money for your next film. (Michael Haneke Quotes) You cannot hurt animals, so what do I do? I kill the dog first. Then I do it with the boy. You’re not supposed to break the illusion of this being a film, so I make the actor talk to the audience. Provocation is the principle of the whole film [ Funny Games]. It is very ironic. (Michael Haneke Quotes) Funny Games’ was conceived as a provocation. My other films are different. If people feel my other films are, or respond to them as provocation, then that’s quite different. ‘Funny Games’ is the only one of mine where my intention was to provoke the audience. (Michael Haneke Quotes) Films for TV have to be much closer to the book, mainly because the objective with a TV movie that translates literature is to get the audience, after seeing this version, to pick up the book and read it themselves. My attitude is that TV can never really be any form of art, because it serves audience expectations. (Michael Haneke Quotes) I don’t really ask myself too much where the ideas come from. When things touch you or anger you, you are moved to want to examine them, to reflect on them. But yes, I guess you could say [‘Amour’] is a memento mori, though it would never occur to me to use that term, since it might sound a little bit sentimental. (Michael Haneke Quotes) You can use your means in a good and bad way. In German-speaking art, we had such a bad experience with the Third Reich, when stories and images were used to tell lies. After the war, literature was careful not to do the same, which is why writers began to reflect on the stories they told and to make readers part of their texts. I do the same. (Michael Haneke Quotes) I think it’s a little simplistic to explain a work through the psychology of its author. In other words, that Haneke has emotional problems, so I don’t have to take his films seriously. By using this argument, the viewer retreats from the challenges of the film. (Michael Haneke Quotes)

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