Anthony Minghella quotes

Anthony Minghella was a distinguished British film director and screenwriter, acclaimed for his poignant storytelling and richly crafted films. His works include celebrated movies such as "The English Patient," "The Talented Mr. Ripley," and "Cold Mountain." He earned numerous awards and was respected as one of the leading figures in contemporary British cinema. Here are 19 of his quotes:

I don't hold with the notion that only bad books make good movies.

Anthony Minghella

I work fitfully, in hope rather than in expectation, invent methods which last a week, and fill notebooks with tiny, illegible writing which often defies my own attempts to decipher it.

Anthony Minghella

Look at it this way: if you write the novel of 'Cold Mountain,' it costs exactly the same to produce and market as a novel set in a room. If you make the film, the disparity of costs is huge.

Anthony Minghella

Of course, like all film-makers I've been mesmerised by cinema since I was a child.

Anthony Minghella

I have always believed that there is a need for life-affirming films.

Anthony Minghella

No studio in Hollywood wanted 'Cold Mountain.' None. No one wanted 'Ripley,' no one wanted 'The English Patient.' That tells you there isn't really an appetite for ambitious movie-making out there.

Anthony Minghella

The imaginative leap for me of writing for women is no more difficult than the one of writing for men. I've always wanted to have women well represented in the work that I've done because I've always been around them and around the way they look at the world.

Anthony Minghella

My grandmother was a huge influence on me and the fact that there was this very strong, rather formidable presence of women in my life has been an enormous value.

Anthony Minghella

I had never thought of myself as a director and found out that I was not. I am a writer who was able to direct the films that I write.

Anthony Minghella

You know, you lose a lot of social skills if you're a writer. You spend too long alone. And it's forced me to address that.

Anthony Minghella

I never feel more myself than when I'm writing; I never enjoy any day more than a good writing day.

Anthony Minghella

I always listen to music, my passion and vice is music, I will be denied access to heaven because of the number of CDs I own, and I have gluttony for all types and colours of music.

Anthony Minghella

Being a writer-director can sometimes make you incredibly blinkered.

Anthony Minghella

The problem with growing up in a cafe was the cafe never closed, my parents worked every day of the year from morning to night. So it was a big menagerie of kids, business and cooking!

Anthony Minghella

As a teenager I was obsessed with music and with writing and performing songs.

Anthony Minghella

When I became the chair of the British Film Institute, I didn't understand how much of my time would be taken up with trying to make a case for the British Film Institute: what it's for, why it exists, why it needs its money.

Anthony Minghella

The only lesson to extract from any civil war is that it's pointless and futile and ugly, and that there is nothing glamorous or heroic about it. There are heroes, but the causes are never heroic.

Anthony Minghella