I Still Dislike Phones, Yeah!

[action's] A Western Thing. We Think Of The Hero Going Into Battle, Rebelling Against A Government Or An Oppressor, But [in Kundun] Action Is Nonaction Or What Appears To Be Nonaction. That's A Hard Concept For Western Audiences. . . . We Wanted To Show A Kind Of Moral Action, A Spiritual Action, An Emotional Action. Some People Will Pick Up On It; Some Won't.

If Kubrick Had Lived To See The Opening Of His Final Film, He Obviously Would Have Been Disappointed By The Hostile Reactions. But I'm Sure That In The End He Would Have Taken It With A Grain Of Salt And Moved On. That's The Lot Of All True Visionaries, Who Don't See The Use Of Working In The Same Vein As Everyone Else. Artists Like Kubrick Have Minds Expansive And Dynamic Enough To Picture The World In Motion, To Comprehend Not Just Where Its Been, But Where It's Going.

Well, I Think In My Own Work The Subject Matter Usually Deals With Characters I Know, Aspects Of Myself, Friends Of Mine - That Sort Of Thing.

I Look For A Thematic Idea Running Through My Movies And I See That It's The Outsider Struggling For Recognition. I Realize That All My Life I've Been An Outsider, And Above All, Being Lonely But Never Realizing It.

Michael Jackson Was Extraordinary. When We Worked Together On 'bad,' I Was In Awe Of His Absolute Mastery Of Movement On The One Hand, And Of The Music On The Other. Every Step He Took Was Absolutely Precise And Fluid At The Same Time. It Was Like Watching Quicksilver In Motion. He Was Wonderful To Work With, An Absolute Professional At All Times, And It Really Goes Without Saying... A True Artist. It Will Be A While Before I Can Get Used To The Idea That He's No Longer With Us.