What we're doing for another person is more important than what we're feeling for them. Michael Haneke More Quotes by Michael Haneke More Quotes From Michael Haneke Every form of anti-Semitism, every form of xenophobia plays on the fear of the unknown, and unfortunately there are all too many politicians who know how to manipulate that. The dumber people are, the more they feel the need for a broad set of shoulders they can lay their head against. Michael Haneke manipulatepoliticianpeople I consider all my films experiments. Michael Haneke experimentsfilm My films are intended as polemical statements against the American 'barrel down' cinema and its dis-empowerment of the spectator. They are an appeal for a cinema of insistent questions instead of false (because too quick) answers, for clarifying distance in place of violating closeness, for provocation and dialogue instead of consumption and consensus. Michael Haneke empowermentdistancecinema That is one of the characteristics of fascism, the idea that the state can provide all of the answers for everyone. Michael Haneke fascism It is boring to have all the answers. Only political people have answers. Michael Haneke politicalanswerspeople The dumber people are, the more they feel the need for a broad set of shoulders they can lay their head against. Michael Haneke broadspeopleneeds People expect me to be dark and gloomy, then write that I'm a jolly chap, and after all, that is what I am. I think it's a case of an absolute romantic naivety that there should be a parallel between the work and the artist. Michael Haneke artistdarkwriting If a director says he doesn't care how many people see his films at all, I simply don't believe him. Otherwise why would he bother to make the film? The only explanation would be that it would be an act of masturbation. I think that every creator is looking for a receptor. He's looking for an audience. There are two parts of the equation: a creator and, necessarily, the receiver of the work. It's the same thing for a painter who wants his paintings to be seen. Michael Haneke twobelievethinking At its best, film should be like a ski jump. It should give the viewer the option of taking flight, while the act of jumping is left up to him. Michael Haneke flightjumpinggiving The film [the white Ribbon] does try to use German Fascism as an example, but not specifically Fascism... the results of German Fascism. It shows how people are prepared or indoctrinated for an ideology... people who are already in a state of repression who have been humiliated by society and who clasp at a straw that's offered to them. And how that's then developed into a form of indoctrination. Michael Haneke whitetryingpeople When making a film, I'm never concerned about whether the theme is new or whether it's been done before in cinema or not. I'm led to make films if there's a theme that interests me or I experience something in my own life that confronts me with something that I want to deal with. Michael Haneke cinemadonewant It's impossible to consider living without ideals. However, when ideas lead to ideology, that's a very dangerous thing. Ideology then leads to creating the image of an enemy, and it leads to the murder and massacre that we've seen since the beginning of time. Michael Haneke creatingenemyideas If I'm reading a book that doesn't leave me with questions, moving questions, that I feel confronted with, then for me it's a waste of time. I don't want to read a book that simply confirms what I already know. Michael Haneke readingbookmoving What I like are films that take me seriously, that don't treat me as more stupid than I am. Michael Haneke treatsfilmstupid Usually music is used to hide a film's problems. Michael Haneke filmusedproblem I never use soundtrack; it is always part of the story. Michael Haneke soundtracksusestories I've never let producers tell me what to do. Even when I was making television, I always did what I wanted to do, and if I couldn't, I didn't do it. It was a freedom that, these days, young directors starting out don't have. Michael Haneke starting-outdirectorstelevision To be perfectly honest, I think that as I'm growing older, I'm just growing more impatient. I'll be very happy if at some point people say, 'Michael's grown wiser and softer in his old age.' But we'll have to wait and see what my next project is. Michael Haneke waitingpeoplethinking As a European filmmaker, you can not make a genre film seriously. You can only make a parody. Michael Haneke genreparodyfilm A feature film is twenty-four lies per second. Michael Haneke fourtwentieslying
