Jacques Rivette Quotes

“Many filmmakers pretend that they never see anything, which has always seemed odd to me.”

— Jacques Rivette

“And Twin Peaks, the Film is the craziest film in the history of cinema. I have no idea what happened, I have no idea what I saw, all I know is that I left the theater floating six feet above the ground.”

— Jacques Rivette

“For me, the film has to be incredibly bad to make me want to pack up and leave.”

— Jacques Rivette

“Their films would probably be better if they'd seen a few more films, which runs counter to this idiotic theory that you run the risk of being influenced if you see too much.”

— Jacques Rivette

And the fact that I see so many films really seems to amaze certain people.

— Jacques Rivette

“When you see the films of certain young directors, you get the impression that film history begins for them around 1980.”

— Jacques Rivette

“And I took a long time to appreciate Lynch.”

— Jacques Rivette

“Cocteau is someone who has made such a profound impression on me that there's no doubt he's influenced every one of my films.”

— Jacques Rivette

“I guess I like a lot of directors. Or at least I try to.”

— Jacques Rivette

“Whereas with Sirk, everything is always filmed. No matter what the script, he's always a real director.”

— Jacques Rivette

“I reject the word 'script' entirely-at any rate in the usual sense. I prefer the old usage-usually scenario-which it had in the Commedia dell'Arte, meaning an outline or scheme: it implies a dynamism, a number of ideas and principles from which one can set out to find the best possible approach to filming.”

— Jacques Rivette

“Kubrick is a machine, a mutant, a Martian. He has no human feeling whatsoever. But it's great when the machine films other machines, as in 2001.”

— Jacques Rivette