A Film Is - Or Should Be

Suppose By Chance You Do Get Picked Up. What Have You Done? You Shot A Horse; That Isn't First Degree Murder; In Fact, It Isn't Even Murder; In Fact, I Don't Know What It Is.

You're Free To Speculate As You Wish About The Philosophical And Allegorical Meaning Of The Film—and Such Speculation Is One Indication That It Has Succeeded In Gripping The Audience At A Deep Level—but I Don't Want To Spell Out A Verbal Road Map For 2001 That Every Viewer Will Feel Obligated To Pursue Or Else Fear He's Missed The Point.

The Director's Job Is To Know What Emotional Statement He Wants A Character To Convey In His Scene Or His Line, And To Exercise Taste And Judgment In Helping The Actor Give His Best Possible Performance.

Critical Opinion On My Films Has Always Been Salvaged By What I Would Call Subsequent Critical Opinion.

I'm Not Saying We Wouldn't Get Our Hair Mussed, Mr. President, But I Do Say Not More Than Ten To Twenty Million Dead Depending Upon The Breaks.