It's a cliche, but Americans are puritanical. In their movies, they are scared of sex, but they overindulge in violence. I could have cut a G-rated version of 'Y Tu Mama Tambien' that would have pleased the American ratings board, but it would have been five minutes long.

Alfonso Cuaron

Categorized in : Sex Long Cutting

I'm interested in new worlds, new universes, new challenges. I always said the only reason to make a film is not for the result but for what you learn for the next one.

Alfonso Cuaron

the-next-one challenges world

When I learned to switch jealousy for admiration, it unblocked a lot of things.

Alfonso Cuaron

admiration

You have to be very focused about the music that you have inside.

Alfonso Cuaron

focused

Style is just an impression. Style itself is hollow. Style, its ok style as long as it is part of a language. Style for style itself is just something very hollow.

Alfonso Cuaron

style language long

Technology is technology. Technology doesn't have a, it is not good or bad. Technologies are tools.

Alfonso Cuaron

technology tools

I guess I have a short attention span! I'm interested in new worlds, new universes, new challenges.

Alfonso Cuaron

challenges attention world

We're born first humans then after they stamp our passport.

Alfonso Cuaron

stamps born firsts

Every film is difficult. Making films, you're always going to have problems, there's always going to be challenges.

Alfonso Cuaron

film problem challenges

Learn from your experience shooting your film, and then move on to the next.

Alfonso Cuaron

shooting next moving

I was not aware of how much I loved 'Canoa' until I saw it after doing 'Y Tu Mama Tambien' and realized that my voice - over about the story's historical context - that narrator - came from 'Canoa'.

Alfonso Cuaron

narrators voice historical

I learned there's an amazing unexplored territory in terms of narrative. Before, I thought the unexplored territory was the form, the way you shoot a movie. Now, I'm learning about the beautiful marriage between form and narrative.

Alfonso Cuaron

territory narrative beautiful

When you strip hope from people, it leaves a void, and that void needs to be filled. And very likely, that void is going to be filled by an ideology... Hope and faith are so connected. Now, when ideology connects with faith, the ideology becomes an item of faith, not a point of discussion.

Alfonso Cuaron

void people needs

I left Mexico for artistic survival. If I had stayed, I would have been forced by the government, who control the movie business, to direct TV shows or commercials or infomercials for the government.

Alfonso Cuaron

tv-shows survival government

I produce the way I would love to be produced: In ways to create the best conditions to make your movie, but also to create a space in which the director calls the shots.

Alfonso Cuaron

space directors way

The great thing about the moon landing is that my grandmother got the first color TV in order to be able to see the moon landing that was in black and white.

Alfonso Cuaron

grandmother black-and-white moon

The only reason you make a movie is not to make or set out to do a good or a bad movie, it's just to see what you learn for the next one.

Alfonso Cuaron

the-next-one next reason

When you work with kids, people tell you to be very delicate, but that's the last thing you should do with kids. They feel patronized if you're like that. They just want you to be normal.

Alfonso Cuaron

want kids people

I have this thing that, once I finish a movie, I never see it again.

Alfonso Cuaron

Y Tu Mama Tambien' is one of the first unrated movies to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. But many video stores won't take a movie that's not rated, so I had to make the movie an R.

Alfonso Cuaron

video awards firsts

My mom, she was, she studied chemistry. And later on she changed and majored, she changed later in her career, in her life and studied philosophy and then she did a perfect clash, connection between chemistry and philosophy and she became a witch.

Alfonso Cuaron

careers mom philosophy