Takeshi Kitano

“I intentionally shoot violence to make the audience feel real pain. I have never and I will never shoot violence as if it's a cool thing.”

“One thing I hate is people who just quote from books but never think.”

“When you've been betrayed, you have to have a sense of revenge.”

“An actor is someone who pretends to be somebody else. A movie star is somebody who pretends that somebody else is them.”

“The Japanese sensibility is the fusion of aristocratism and gangsterism.”

“What I am looking for is a certain grace.”

“Violence is my way of cinematic entertainment.”

“Instead of trying to be a good guy, I'm just trying to not be a bad guy.”

“The important thing is to have a dream, a dream that is not a dream.”

“My films are about losers, about people who have not been successful.”

“Tradition is something that is not just passed on, but also created.”

“I don't have what it takes to be a Hollywood director. I'm not a people person.”

“I think that all the things in my life that seem so tragic are not that tragic.”