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" In war films, even more than in other kinds of documentary, we've come to think that shaky, poor-quality footage is somehow more authentic than something classically 'well shot.' "
Kevin Macdonald
Documentary
Think
More
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" I was a teenager in the '80s, and I was always a bit dismissive of Houston, as I think a lot of people who considered themselves 'cool music fans' were. She was poppy, bubble gum, making music not considered very cool. But you can't help but dance to some of those songs or feel emotionally affected by 'I Will Always Love You.' "
Kevin Macdonald
Think
Cool
Dance
" I always loved digging away at the story, trying to find out things that people don't want you to find out and piecing it all together. I love the treasure hunt aspect of it, the thrill of the chase. "
Kevin Macdonald
Loved
People
Story
" I'm not particularly ethnically Scottish; I have one grandfather who is Scottish, although he's called Macdonald, and you don't get a lot more Scottish than that. The Scottish part of my family are from Skye, and I've always been very aware of that - always been very attracted to Scottish subject matter, I guess. "
Kevin Macdonald
Grandfather
Always
Family
" It's always nice to have the same people that you are familiar with and shorthand with, obviously, to be around you. "
Kevin Macdonald
You
Around
Always
" People think that the Italians invented neorealism, but actually, Humphrey Jennings did. He was revolutionary in using non-professional actors in his films, and he got extraordinary performances out of them. "
Kevin Macdonald
Extraordinary
Think
People
" Coming from documentaries, my biggest challenge was to understand actors' psychologies. American actors take it all very seriously; British actors don't enter into all this methody way of doing things. "
Kevin Macdonald
Doing
Challenge
American
" With fiction, I've grown to really love the challenge of lying, the challenge of telling a good tale that isn't truthful, and working with performers is endlessly fascinating. You know, learning what a good performance is, how to get a good performance, how much or how little you need to create emotion or to create character. "
Kevin Macdonald
Good
Love
Learning
" Every film that is made about the past is always a reflection of the present. "
Kevin Macdonald
Always
Present
Reflection
" People who die in an untimely way who are artists, somehow that validates their art, we feel. Why culturally we feel that, I don't know. "
Kevin Macdonald
Way
Art
Die
" My grandfather died before I started making films, but I definitely learnt this from him: believe in your own judgment and stick to your guns - 99% of the time, you'll be glad you did. "
Kevin Macdonald
You
Time
Own
" I think we're all greedy. Who do you know who says, 'I have enough! I don't need any more!'? It's part of human nature. "
Kevin Macdonald
Know
Nature
Think
" When we made 'Life in a Day,' we asked people around the globe to record their lives on a single ordinary day. When we were cutting that film, we talked about what it might be like if we chose a day that already had significance to people. The result is 'Christmas in a Day.' "
Kevin Macdonald
Life
Christmas
Day
" In some ways, making documentaries is like being a journalist. You interview people and then use the bits you want to use as opposed to the bits they want you to use. "
Kevin Macdonald
People
Some
Want
" If you can understand, you can feel compassion. "
Kevin Macdonald
Understand
Feel
Compassion
" I think my brother always wanted to be a film producer. "
Kevin Macdonald
Always
Brother
Film
" 'Uprising' was one of the first three or four albums I ever bought in 1980 when I was 13, and that had a strong impact on me. "
Kevin Macdonald
Four
Impact
Me
" I don't think of myself particularly as a Scottish director, but you are what you are because the first ten years of your life, and where you spend them, brand you. In that sense, I'll always be a Scottish director. "
Kevin Macdonald
Myself
Always
You
" As a filmmaker, I'm interminably curious and nosy, but certain times you meet people and think, 'I don't want to push you too hard because I can see this is painful for you.' "
Kevin Macdonald
Think
Push
You
" The relationship between director and subject can become very intense. It's a bit like therapy, with lots of transferences going on. It's easy to feel guilty. "
Kevin Macdonald
Easy
Become
Relationship
" I'm a cynical person who's normally attracted to the dark side of things. "
Kevin Macdonald
Dark
Dark Side
Person
" For me, the aim of making any film like this, any film about an artist, would be to send you back to the art. "
Kevin Macdonald
Art
You
Me
" The tradition has always been that in Roman films, the Romans are always British, and it's usually posh British: Laurence Olivier and his ilk. My take on all this was that it's a metaphor for empire and the end of empire. "
Kevin Macdonald
Take
Always
Tradition
" I recommend to any of you, that's always a good way to make a film: use the interesting bits. "
Kevin Macdonald
Use
Always
Good
" We should not confuse having a Flip camera with making a documentary. "
Kevin Macdonald
Having
Camera
Documentary
" I was fascinated by making a submarine movie, inspired by the Kursk disaster. This idea of being trapped down at the bottom of the sea seemed so terrifying. I was very interested in making a sub film which wasn't a military film. You think, Well, why are they there, then, if they're not in the military? Oh, well, they must be looking for treasure. "
Kevin Macdonald
You
Think
Sea
" I don't read many young adult books. "
Kevin Macdonald
Young Adult
Young
Many
" It's obviously presumptuous in some ways to talk about somebody's sexuality who's not here to describe themselves. "
Kevin Macdonald
Talk
Somebody
Some
" You can go to places in Africa and Asia and find Marley graffiti. In the slums of Nairobi, you see his lyrics painted on walls, and you realise he has this almost religious significance to the underclass of the world. He's a guy born in a hut with no bed, and now he's probably the most listened-to artist in the world. It's fascinating. "
Kevin Macdonald
Walls
Find
Born
" In my early career as a documentarian, I suppose I was trying to make films which - where it was all about making a big cinematic statement, and I think with 'Marley,' I slightly changed my direction and adopted a more mellow approach. "
Kevin Macdonald
Think
Early
Direction
" I've fallen out very badly with some of the subjects I've interviewed, because they see their lives a certain way; to step into a cinema and see your life depicted in another way can come as a terrible shock. "
Kevin Macdonald
Cinema
Life
See