There's a level of sophistication of filmmaking that's mind-boggling. Anything you need for your movie, there's an establishment that can make it happen really fast.
A movie is really provocation. It's not a message, it's not a statement.
I don't have incredible knowledge about films or of filmmaking history; I'm not that kind of person.
After making several tragic movies in a row, I was looking to do a comedy, and one without cynicism.
I have a lot of repression. So repression is what I make movies about.
I think a movie is a media that is evoking feelings.
Many times when you make a movie, it feels like your biggest mistake. But even if a film isn't a hit, you shouldn't view it as a mistake.
I guess in Hollywood you chart your life by Oscars. You say to each other, 'Remember when that movie won that year? It was 2006. Remember that?'
I look at American movies, the big muscles, and try to apply that to Chinese film-making.
Thinking back to those earlier days, I felt I was weak when I wasn't making movies, and then when I was, I thought I was weak as a family member.
Economically, it's more expensive to make movies. I hope digital movies change that.
I think a lot of people do big movies not because they are talented artists but because they can function in the circumstances.
You become the movie you are making.
Every movie is unknown.
These days I'm mostly familiar with two parts of L.A.: one is movie culture, and the other is Asian culture. The Westside is work, and the Eastside is Chinese - which means my friends.