There is a lot of extreme emotion in Korean film. It's because there are a lot of extremes in Korean society.

As a director, or just a film fan who wants to enjoy the festival, Cannes is the worst place to be. But it must be a paradise for distributors and importers.

I really hate the creature film convention that says you have to wait until the end to see the monster. One hour and all you've seen is just the tip of the creature's tail.

I'm sure mothers are important across every culture, but particularly in Korean society, the role of the mother is of great importance.

No matter where I am working, I cannot make a film without 100% creative control and final cut. If there is such a guarantee, I can work anywhere.

The multilevel, the conscious and the unconscious, is natural when I write scripts, when I come up with ideas and stories.

I think each film should be regarded as its own specific text.

In Korean films there is only really a strong tradition of melodramas.

In the mid 1990s the Korean film industry was really open-minded.

I always write the script by myself.

I love the Japanese director Shohei Imamura. His masterpiece in 1979 called, the English title was 'Vengeance is Mine'.

You can usually tell that a man is good if he has a dog who loves him.

Can anything be so elegant as to have few wants and to serve them one's self?

Don't think needlessly, think wisely, and your thoughts will emit positive vibes through out you, and the Universe.

Women should have the same rights and respect and paychecks and everything, you know, they're human beings.

I don't work from drawings. I don't make sketches and drawings and color sketches into a final painting.

Someone is putting brandy in your bonbons, Grand Marnier in your breakfast jam, Kahlua in your ice cream, Scotch in your mustard and Wild Turkey in your cake.

Plants respond far better to moderate but consistent care than they do to occasional bouts of heroic intervention.

I opened a restaurant that had nothing but California wines.

Passion is never enough; neither is skill.

All creative effort - including the making of an omelet - is preceded by destruction.