Sidney Lumet Quotes

For any director with a little lucidity, masterpieces are films that come to you by accident.

All good work requires self-revelation.

Everything becomes creative if the person doing the job is

All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen.

In drama, the characters should determine the story. In melodrama, the story determines the characters.

Good style, to me, is unseen style.

The varying physical characteristics of the actors may also necessitate changes. Sean Connery is six feet four. Dustin Hoffman isn't.

It's art. It's commerce. It's heartbreaking and it's fun. It's a great way to live.

I only said 'Titanic' is unwatchable because one can not watch it.

There's no such thing as a small part. There are just small actors.

Don't let the difficulty of actually achieving a shot make you think that the shot is good.

There are no minor decisions in movie making. Each decision will either contribute to a good piece of work or bring the whole movie crashing down around my head many months later.

Work is my norm. I have mad energy, insane energy, a kind of stamina in terms of work that's a little crazy.

The nature of the work is to prepare for a good accident .

Suffice to say that the theme (the WHAT of the movie) is going to determine the style (the HOW of the movie).

There's a powerful magic about being a writer that I still marvel at.

If I don't have a script I adore, I do one I like. If I don't have one I like, I do one that has an actor I like or that presents some technical challenge.

There are no personal revelations other than feelings arising from the work itself

Over-length is one of the things that most often results in the destruction of the movie in the cutting room.