Kathryn Bigelow

If there’s specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can’t change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.

One should make morals judgements for oneself.

The Communist regime didn’t consider this to be a shining moment in history and assigned no heroism to it. They classified it as merely an accident.

Whereas painting is a more rarefied art form, with a limited audience, I recognized film as this extraordinary social tool that could reach tremendous numbers of people.

You never think the universe will reward your first choice – it just doesn’t work like that.

Our film examines the heroism, courage and prowess of the Soviet submarine force in ways never seen before.

I like high impact movies.

My movement from painting to film was a very conscious one.

When James Cameron brought me the script, which I developed with both Cameron and Jay Cocks, I wanted to make it a thriller, an action film, but with a conscience, and I found that it had elements of social realism.

Right now, there’s the illusion of order and civilization, but there’s a tremendous amount of economic tension in this country and the educational system is constantly eroding.

I did a pilot for Anything But Love in 1988 that didn’t sell.

I don’t want to be made pacified or made comfortable. I like stuff that gets your adrenaline going.

One of the elements in the film that really fascinated me was not to look at the world in bi-polar terms of us vs them or east vs west, which was a by-product of the Cold War.

I don’t believe in censorship in any form.

Something becomes personal when it deviates from the norm.

There should be more women directing; I think there’s just not the awareness that it’s really possible.

Character and emotionality don’t always have to be relegated to quieter, more simple constructs.

The urge to purge the material I come up with is, I guess, an ongoing process.

When he brought it to me four years ago, Rodney King had just arrived, I was involved in the clean-up of L.A. and I guess it was part of my experience.

When I made my first film, I didn’t think of it as directing, so it wasn’t like I set out to become a director.

I think violence in a cinematic context can be, if handled in a certain way, very seductive.

On the other hand, I believe there’s hope, because the breakdown and the repair are happening simultaneously.