Baz Luhrmann Quotes Page 2

“I wouldn't take a directing job if I didn't think it was enriching life.”

“I've always loved the old epics that tell a simple emotional story, whether it's the tumultuous relationship between Rhett and Scarlett or Lawrence of Arabia's passion to get lost in a faraway place.”

“I've tried to make 'Strictly Ballroom' impossible to date. It does feel a bit '80s but I consciously made sure there was no technology in the movie that could date it.”

“If Paris is a city of lights, Sydney is the city of fireworks.”

“If you wanted to show a mirror to people that says, 'You've been drunk on money', they're not going to want to see it. But if you reflected that mirror on another time they'd be willing to. People will need an explanation of where we are and where we've been, and 'The Great Gatsby' can provide that explanation.”

“In terms of the mechanics of story, myth is an intriguing one because we didn't make myth up; myth is an imprinture of the human condition.”

“In the '60s not everybody was wearing flowers in their hair and flowing caftans.”

“In the '80s, everyone wanted to be in opera. It was groovy.”

“My father made sure that I had lots of levels of education – from ballroom-dancing to painting, commando training, theatre and magic.”

“One of my great all-time loves in cinema, and I've seen it three times, is Bondarchuk's 'War and Peace'. Not a lot of people may have seen that film. It was made during the Soviet era.”

“One of the great things about Sydney is that it has a great acceptance of everyone and everything. It's an incredibly tolerant city, a city with a huge multicultural basis.”

“Opera was the cinema of its time, so to bring back that popular appeal, you just need to unleash its visceral immediacy and excitement. Most productions don't manage that – but when an opera does do it, you never forget it.”

“Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, and tell me how. Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.”

“Some of the greatest relationship films of all time, the two stars have hated each other, but mostly you see that chemistry.”

“Sydney in general is eclectic. You can be on that brilliant blue ocean walk in the morning and then within 20 minutes you can be in a completely vast suburban sprawl or an Italian or Asian suburb, and it's that mix of people, it's that melting pot of people that give it its vital personality.”

“Sydney is rather like an arrogant lover. When it rains it can deny you its love and you can find it hard to relate to. It's not a place that's built to be rainy or cold. But when the sun comes out, it bats its eyelids, it's glamorous, beautiful, attractive, smart, and it's very hard to get away from its magnetic pull.”

“The food in Sydney is an Asian Pacific cuisine. It's eclectic but above all it's fresh, inventive and creative and that's what I love about it.”

“The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.”

“The party is a true art form in Sydney and people practise it a great deal. You can really get quite lost in it.”

“The ugly duckling is a misunderstood universal myth. It's not about turning into a blonde Barbie doll or becoming what you dream of being; it's about self-revelation, becoming who you are.”

“There's a whole system in Hollywood where the director never speaks to the studio, but I like to engage them in a discussion. I listen.”

“Ultimately, you have to pursue your own path, not someone's idea of the right path. You need to stay on your path.”

“Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.”

“Western films don't do very well in India.”

“Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.”

“When I was growing up you would see big American films that really mythologised their landscape, that really showed the vastness and the drama of their country.”

“When you're in theater or the circus or film – to me it's all one – affairs happen. People fall in love.”

“Worrying about the future is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life will always be things that never crossed your worried mind.”

“You really think that on my films people tell me what to do? I don't think so. On my films I decide.”

“The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”