Arnaud Quotes & Sayings

There is rap music in all my films. In 'La Vie des Morts,' there is rap music too. It's because I'm French, and when it appeared in 1978, it was so new, it set off my musical imagination. — Arnaud Desplechin

Life is expressed in a perpetual sequence of changes. The birth of the child is the death of the baby, just as the birth of the adolescent is the death of the child. — Arnaud Desjardins

An adult is one who has lost the grace, the freshness, the innocence of the child, who is no longer capable of feeling pure joy, who makes everything complicated, who spreads suffering everywhere, who is afraid of being happy, and who, because it is easier to bear, has gone back to sleep. The wise man is a happy child. — Arnaud Desjardins

Freedom is in the Now — Arnaud Saint-Paul

Having set its mark on the generation before Cocteau's, symbolism expressed a form of inner dissidence confronting the narrow-minded materialism and utilitarian obsession of the industrial revolution, and hence a reaction to triumphant naturalism, in literature at least. Nourished by medieval, Renaissance, and Romantic art, symbolism, probably the last great backward-looking movement hatched in the West, had given rise to a desire to explore the secrets of the world and the confines of the soul. Beyond its androgynous Mercuries, its pale Narcissuses, and its Orpheuses borne by rosaries of angels, it gave rise to a whole misty alchemy wherein some found their way into esotericism and even into the religious, since the Universe was only the symbol of another world into which entrance was gained not only through poetry, spiritualism, dreams, and the Ideal, but also via the play of analogies and the study of ciphers. — Claude Arnaud

Today, the Pope is only a religious figure. At the time of 'The Borgias,' he was also a political leader, a financial leader, and the head of an army. I think popes are much less relevant today than they were then. — Francois Arnaud

I hate this idea in the Cinematheque that you must watch silent movies with no music, like it's a piece of art. It's not true. — Arnaud Desplechin

I played Thersites and I remember we were also doing some places out of town before starting our run at The Old Vic in London and we were at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford and I walked on stage and I've got an opening speech that begins: "Agamemnon, how if he had boils?" And I went on and said: "Agamemnon ... " And a woman in the front row just went 'tut'. I thought: "I've only done four syllables, give us a chance!" I got one word out and the audience were already tutting. It was worse than any heckle I ever had doing comedy. So, I'll stick to gnomes. — Matt Lucas

I love some films with very silent characters, people who don't speak, but I wouldn't be able to do that. — Arnaud Desplechin

Arnaud Desplechin invented me as an actor. I never imagined I'd be acting in movies. — Mathieu Amalric

It's hard work to find your own voice and not to copycat anything. — Arnaud Desplechin

I'm not sure I'll find acting satisfying creatively forever. If you get the good roles, it's great - if you have the freedom to choose your projects and not just do anything and everything. — Francois Arnaud

Terrible or not, difficult or not, the only thing that is beautiful, noble, religious, and mystical is to be happy. — Arnaud Desjardins

Kill them all; for God knoweth them that are His. (Tuez-les tous; Dieu reconnaitra les siens.) — Arnaud Amalric

Presently Arnaud folded the paper napkin, in the same careful way he always folded a table napkin, and said I ought to follow Chantal's suggestion and get a job in teaching a nursery school. (So Maman had mentioned that to Mme. Pons, too) I should teach until I had enough working time behind me to claim a pension. It would be good for me in my old age to have an income of my own. Anything could happen. He could be killed in a train crash or called up for a war. My father could easily be ruined in a lawsuit and die covered with debts. There were advantages to teaching, such as long holidays and reduced train fares.
"How long would it take?" I said. "Before I could stop teaching and get my pension."
"Thirty-five years," said Arnaud. "I'll ask my mother. She had no training, either, but she taught private classes. All you need is a decent background and some recommendations. — Mavis Gallant

I guess that in this process of trying to incorporate or to be faithful to the films I admire so much, that's how I start to find my own voice. The admiration I have for filmmakers, this gratitude, perhaps that's my only way to become specific. — Arnaud Desplechin

You is.
Within Me!

We are ONE. — Arnaud Saint-Paul

On days when the sky is grey, the sun has not disappeared forever. — Arnaud Desjardins

I think one of the most important American films is 'Jackie Brown,' which is such a humble depiction of humble characters but so powerful. The film was pure depiction of the American poverty of the '90s. — Arnaud Desplechin

Life is movement. The more life there is, the more flexibility there is. The more fluid you are, the more you are alive. — Arnaud Desjardins

The politics of austerity, of higher taxes, decided by governments, have lengthened the economic crisis. — Arnaud Montebourg

I think there comes a point in probably most father-son relationships where the son kind of starts becoming the parent. — Francois Arnaud

I watched 'E.T.' when I was a kid every day. Well, not all of it every day; I'd pause it and start over again. But I've watched 'E.T.' about 400 times in my life. — Francois Arnaud

You will never feel loved until you love yourself. — Arnaud Desjardins

Usually in France we prefer to say bad things about the Nouvelle Vague, but I'm always impressed with its freedom and the fact of not making a film to give your opinion but just as a piece of art, which to me means the Nouvelle Vague. — Arnaud Desplechin

There are no bad people, only badly loved people. — Arnaud Desjardins

I'm an absolute fan of Angela Bassett. I think she's a great, great actress. In the biopics, she is so moving. She's very rare. It's something that doesn't happen that much, to see an actress inventing a new way of showing 'woman' onscreen, and a new way of being beautiful. — Arnaud Desplechin

How can I progress on the Way thanks to every day difficulties. — Arnaud Desjardins

I didn't act professionally before going to drama school. I don't know if I had the confidence. I didn't think I'd get in when I first auditioned for drama school, and then I did. — Francois Arnaud

I'm a great fan of Woody Allen's movies. — Arnaud Desplechin

Mindful and creative, a child who has neither a past, nor examples to follow, nor value judgments, simply lives, speaks and plays in freedom. — Arnaud Desjardins

Each time I'm starting to work on a film, even if I love to settle the plot in the real world, I start to think about the plot as a fairy tale, or a dream, or a nightmare ... As if it was the best way to tell the truth about characters or narration, instead of realism. — Arnaud Desplechin

The first play that I saw was 'Cyrano,' and I remember going home - I was like nine years old - and trying to learn the monologues. — Francois Arnaud

I remember the first time I read Freud, I was 25 or 30, and I was expecting it to be about the Oedipus complex. But what I actually discovered confirmed my own common experience, that you also had little boys who loved their fathers and little girls who loved their mothers. — Arnaud Desplechin

You definitely shouldn't watch the special features before you watch the actual series. — Francois Arnaud

As an actor, as much as I'm interested in how you make movies and TV shows, even as a kid, I've always hated making of featurettes and special features on DVDs. I think it breaks the spell. — Francois Arnaud

Playing along in the yard,
The blue sky sparkles against the earthly green,
Creating such harmony!
A pond, nearby.
Untroubled waters mirrors the ether's dreams.
A grand echo of my Divine Heart!
I am One — Arnaud Saint-Paul

I never rehearse scenes with the whole ensemble, because I need to preserve some surprise. Instead, I work with the cast individually on their characters. — Arnaud Desplechin

The law commands us to do what we would do naturally if we only had love. The Way consists of finding that love, which then becomes the law. — Arnaud Desjardins

The day I stop feeling the pressure and I'm just enjoying myself and taking it easy is when I'm 35, asking for a wild card and playing mixed doubles with Arnaud Clement. — Amelie Mauresmo

Kill them all, God will recognise his own. — Arnaud Amalric

Kill them all and let God sort them out. — Arnaud Amalric

You cannot live sheltered forever without being exposed, and at the same time be a spiritual adventurer. Be audacious. Be crazy in your own way, with that madness in the eyes of man that is wisdom in the eyes of God. Take risks, search and search again, search everywhere, in every way, do not let a single opportunity or chance that life offers pass you by, and do not be petty and mean, trying to drive a hard bargain. — Arnaud Desjardins

There is nothing Clever about not being Happy — Arnaud Desjardins

I just go wherever work brings me. I share a house with friends in L.A., and I share a house with friends in Montreal when I'm there. — Francois Arnaud

Saying yes, opening up, and loving: these are the keys that will unlock the prison door. — Arnaud Desjardins

Being an actor only came about because Arnaud Desplechin, the guy who did 'Kings and Queen', had this curious idea to think that I could be an actor, but I had never acted before, and I was supposed to direct my own film! — Mathieu Amalric

I started studying theater in school, and then I got into drama school at, like, 19, and it was a national drama school in Montreal, and so it was just you and nine other students for three years, and it was really intense. — Francois Arnaud

Happiness is not found, it is created. Happiness does not depend on all that we lack, but on the way in which we use all that we have — Arnaud Desjardins