Kathryn Bigelow Quotes & Sayings

I'd love to just think of myself as a filmmaker, and I wait for the day when the modifier can be a moot point. — Kathryn Bigelow

I don't believe in censorship in any form. — Kathryn Bigelow

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

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

My criteria for doing a television series never changed. I wanted more stability, I wanted more of a sense of family, I wanted to do light comedy. — Kathryn Bigelow

I've always developed all my own pieces, and they're time-consumers. — Kathryn Bigelow

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

I do have to say I have been very fortunate. — Kathryn Bigelow

One should make morals judgements for oneself. — Kathryn Bigelow

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. — 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. — Kathryn Bigelow

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

Am I a 'woman of action'? I don't think of myself that way. — Kathryn Bigelow

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

Something becomes personal when it deviates from the norm. — Kathryn Bigelow

I think violence in a cinematic context can be, if handled in a certain way, very seductive. — Kathryn Bigelow

I realised that there's a more muscular approach to film-making that I found very inspiring. — Kathryn Bigelow

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. — Kathryn Bigelow

I don't want to be made pacified or made comfortable. I like stuff that gets your adrenaline going. — Kathryn Bigelow

There will come a time when the world will look back to modern vivisection in the name of science, as they do now to burning at the stake in the name of religion. — Kathryn Bigelow

Perhaps the only thing in my favor is that I am very tenacious. I don't take 'no' very well. — Kathryn Bigelow

I always want to make films. I think of it as a great opportunity to comment on the world in which we live. Perhaps just because I just came off The Hurt Locker and I'm thinking of the war and I think it's a deplorable situation. It's a great medium in which to speak about that. This is a war that cannot be won, why are we sending troops over there? Well, the only medium I have, the only opportunity I have, is to use film. There will always be issues I care about. — Kathryn Bigelow

I don't know if I thrive in normal life. — Kathryn Bigelow

I have always firmly believed that every director should be judged solely by their work, and not by their work based on their gender. Hollywood is supposedly a community of forward-thinking and progressive people, yet this horrific situation for women directors persists. Gender discrimination stigmatizes our entire industry. Change is essential. Gender neutral hiring is essential. — Kathryn Bigelow

You only have so much money to shoot a movie with. — Kathryn Bigelow

Whereas painting is a more rarefied art form, with a limited audience, I recognized film as this extraordinary social tool that could reach tremendous numbers of people. — Kathryn Bigelow

I like to be strong. — Kathryn Bigelow

Films don't cause violence, people do. Violence defines our existence. To shield oneself is more dangerous than trying to reflect it. — Kathryn Bigelow

My movement from painting to film was a very conscious one. — Kathryn Bigelow

The Communist regime didn't consider this to be a shining moment in history and assigned no heroism to it. They classified it as merely an accident. — Kathryn Bigelow

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

I choose material instinctually - at the heart of it are characters that I feel are fresh and original, and allow for an opportunity to, I suppose, explore uncharted ground. — Kathryn Bigelow

The journey for women, no matter what venue it is - politics, business, film - it's, it's a long journey. — Kathryn Bigelow

It's totally thrilling to direct. — Kathryn Bigelow

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

Cinema has the capacity to be so physiological. — Kathryn Bigelow

The urge to purge the material I come up with is, I guess, an ongoing process. — Kathryn Bigelow

For some individuals - some soldiers, some contractors - combat provides a kind of purpose and meaning beyond which all else potentially pales in comparison. — Kathryn Bigelow

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. — Kathryn Bigelow

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. — Kathryn Bigelow

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. — Kathryn Bigelow

My interest is to work in as uncompromised a way as possible. — Kathryn Bigelow

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. — Kathryn Bigelow

I don't do what I do to try and break a glass ceiling. — Kathryn Bigelow

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

With each project, I'm going for something that makes viewers think, 'Wow, I've never seen a film like this before,' and later think, 'Wow, I've only seen a film like this once before. I saw it in theaters and am watching it now on Netflix or a similar streaming service.' — Kathryn Bigelow

I did a pilot for Anything But Love in 1988 that didn't sell. — Kathryn Bigelow

On the other hand, I believe there's hope, because the breakdown and the repair are happening simultaneously. — Kathryn Bigelow

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

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. — Kathryn Bigelow

I like high impact movies. — Kathryn Bigelow

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

I'm drawn to filmmaking that can transport me. Film can immerse you, put you there. — Kathryn Bigelow

Those of us who work in the arts know that depiction is not endorsement. If it was, no artist would be able to paint inhumane practices, no author could write about them, and no filmmaker could delve into the thorny subjects of our time. — Kathryn Bigelow

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

If there's specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies. — Kathryn Bigelow

War's dirty little secret is that some men love it. — Kathryn Bigelow

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

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

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

I'm drawn to provocative characters that find themselves in extreme situations. And I think I'm drawn to that consistently. — Kathryn Bigelow

There's really no difference between what I do and what a male filmmaker might do. I mean we all try to make our days, we all try to give the best performances we can, we try to make our budget, we try to make the best movie we possibly can. — Kathryn Bigelow

I'm interested in social commentary. — Kathryn Bigelow