The idea of creating a quote-unquote 'retro' world isn't all that appealing to me by itself. Panos Cosmatos More Quotes by Panos Cosmatos More Quotes From Panos Cosmatos I want my films to be very tactile, visually and sonically. Panos Cosmatos films very tactile want My goal from the very beginning was to make very visually lush, juicy films that you can really sink your teeth into. That's always been part of my modus operandi. Panos Cosmatos your beginning you always I've always liked the idea of merging esoteric art cinema with down-and-dirty exploitation films. Panos Cosmatos always exploitation cinema art I was, like, 'I really wanna see an Eric Rohmer movie take place in a Bert I. Gordon universe.' Where there's a story going on that's about, you know, loss and desire, but with a giganticized-animal element. Panos Cosmatos place you universe loss I'd been drifting and in a very self-destructive bent ever since my mother died and as soon as I dealt with the grief, for the first time in 10 years, I had clarity and I realized: 'I need to make a movie, now, cause if I don't make it now, I might never do it.' That's what pushed me forward, and I immediately moved to Vancouver. Panos Cosmatos me grief mother time The thing I do miss about the way some sequels were in the past was that each film felt like its own unique, complete tone. Now, sequels are tonal facsimiles of the ones before them, like a television series, whereas back in the past sequels would often be radically different from the ones before. Panos Cosmatos unique television way past Just making 'Black Rainbow' was like my minimum requirement before death, so that I could die with some honour and not in total shame. Panos Cosmatos die rainbow black death In the night there's sometimes a sort of cursed quality to the Pacific Northwest. Panos Cosmatos cursed quality sometimes night I feel like I thrive in the red light. Panos Cosmatos feel like red light There was a time in my life when I would literally go see every single film that came out in the theaters. No matter what. I just became obsessed with movies, and wound up getting drawn to the pulsating grain of film and the flickering of the light. Panos Cosmatos my-life light time life I'm too neurotic to ever feel good. If I ever felt good, I think something horrible would happen. Panos Cosmatos feel good think feel-good Well, when I was really young and we lived in Sweden, the only films that were around at that point were... We had this collection of these super-8 highlight reels that they used to sell; like, they sold these super-8 reels that only had the best parts from a movie. So early on that's what I was seeing. Panos Cosmatos well best like young A huge part of my writing process is listening to music as I write, almost creating an unofficial soundtrack to the film I'm working on, a sort of playlist. But the specific songs change rapidly as I write. Panos Cosmatos music change listening writing I guess a little bit of delusion can go a long way. Panos Cosmatos go long-way long way Mandy' came from grief and depression. I wanted this to be an outward volcanic expulsion of the emotion of my first film. Panos Cosmatos first emotion grief depression Being compared to 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' is a huge compliment. Panos Cosmatos picture being horror compliment A lot of films mistake convolutedness for complexity. To me, a simple story can be a powerful spine to build around. Panos Cosmatos story me simple mistake My mother died in 1997 and I spiralled into this self-destructive vortex of trying to annihilate my consciousness. I was afraid to face the grief of losing her, because she was somebody I loved more than anybody else in the world. Panos Cosmatos face losing mother world Mythologies are violent things, and to be true to them, you have to go to primal territory. Panos Cosmatos true things go you I don't know anybody who goes horseback riding at sunset, but everybody watches TV and eats. Panos Cosmatos know riding sunset watches
