Classicism becomes avant-garde when everyone else is doing their utmost to develop new stylistic forms. And I think it's healthy to return to classical forms. Michael Haneke More Quotes by Michael Haneke More Quotes From Michael Haneke Unfortunately, you're helpless when people interpret your work wrongly. There are simply people who can't or won't understand or accept what you're trying to do. When you take the risk of expressing yourself in public, you have to open yourself to that possibility. Michael Haneke risk trying people It's difficult because you can't generalise about these things. But in essence, you deal with children as simply as you deal with actors - you have to show a certain sort of respect. You deal with them lovingly and protect them, but if you protect them enough then they're open to engage with what you want to do with them. Michael Haneke actors essence children Because in the feudal system of that period at least 80% of people lived in villages, so it's very simple to get a cross-section of society in a single village. You get the microcosm of the social macrocosm. Michael Haneke feudal-system simple people It's more enjoyable to shoot in a studio on a single location with two actors... if they are good. Michael Haneke location actors two When you create a church, an institution, and you create a dogma. When you create an ideology, that's the danger. Communism, too, is a beautiful idea, but millions of people died when communism became an ideology. Michael Haneke church beautiful people For me, it's always difficult when a historical film claims to depict or represent a reality that none of us can know, that is always different. It's always the case. We never know what happened then. So my approach with the narrator is to question that, to leave that open, to underline the fact that this is uncertain. Michael Haneke different historical reality Even the most elitist director or author who claims that he doesn't care if his works are seen or not, then I have to think that he's either a liar or a hypocrite. Michael Haneke hypocrite liars thinking For me, it's always difficult when a historical film claims to depict or represent a reality that none of us can know, that is always different. It's always the case. We never know what happened then. Michael Haneke different historical reality In German. I'm more sensitized to the details, to the emotions. In English, I wouldn't detect as much nuance. Michael Haneke nuance details emotion The difficulty, then, is when you create a church, an institution, and you create a dogma. When you create an ideology, that's the danger. Communism, too, is a beautiful idea, but millions of people died when communism became an ideology. Michael Haneke beautiful people ideas The smaller and younger kids are, the more patient you have to be. But if they're gifted, then it's a wonderful present that you're given by having a child like that in your film... more so than in the case of actors because, for example, if you ask them to play a lion, they don't then play a lion, they actually are a lion. So, a gifted child is something very special. On the other hand, if a child has no gifts in that way it's absolutely hopeless and there's nothing you can do! Michael Haneke kids children hands Of course there are many films about the period of Fascism itself but I don't know of any about that period beforehand. But it wasn't that specific fact that they weren't there that got me to think about this in the first place. It's not what led to the basic idea for the film, although it became apparent when I began to think about it. Michael Haneke ideas firsts thinking Never say no. It always depends on what's possible. I don't care so much where it is; it's what I want to do that matters. Michael Haneke care matter want I want to be able to control things and that's very difficult to do if you're not 100% in a particular language. It makes you uncertain and it makes you nervous. Michael Haneke able language want The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes, or problems, or ideas. But those are actually things that develop out of characters, out of images and out of other things. These more abstract things develop while working on the material, and out of it. It's not a theoretical exercise from the outset. Michael Haneke exercise character ideas I like to write for actors I know and with whom I've worked before. You can write to their strengths and weaknesses and write roles that are better suited to them. Michael Haneke weakness roles writing I consider all my films an experiment, at least in my mind. Michael Haneke experiments film mind In my film "Benny's Video," I depicted violence but I failed to say all that I had to say, so I wanted to continue the dialog and that's why I did "Funny Games." The irony is that after I shot "Funny Games," but it hadn't been released at all anywhere. Michael Haneke video violence games You cannot hurt animals, so what do I do? I kill the dog first. Then I do it with the boy. You're not supposed to break the illusion of this being a film, so I make the actor talk to the audience. Provocation is the principle of the whole film [ Funny Games]. It is very ironic. Michael Haneke hurt dog animal Of course I am a child of European culture. There are a number of great directors from which I learned, but there is nobody in particular I got inspired from. Michael Haneke numbers directors children
