My life and my films, του Jean Renoir

"An essential element in the quality of any work of art is simply the quality of the public from whom the artist gets his living. Mack Sennett’s was an ideal public, a working-class public largely composed of newly arrived immigrants. Many of them knew very little English: the silent cinema exactly suited them. Today's public is composed of the children of those primitive audiences. They come from the university; they live in the world of advertising, newspapers and weekly reviews; they behave according to the principles instilled in them by the most effective publicity media, the most 'artistic' and the most entertaining. For their benefit the film-factories churn out heroism or love or, worst of all, psychology." P. 14

"A metro station can be as mysterious as a haunted castle. I think I now have a better understanding of the relationship between the film maker and the viewer. The latter is grateful to the former for having shown him that the stairway in his house may lead to the castle of Sleeping Beauty." P.54

"One false god which remains omnipotent is that which is known as 'good taste', which in fact is nothing but taste for mediocrity. Society opposes every attempt at novelty in the name of good taste. My friends and I sturdily aligned ourselves on the side of bad taste. Other expressions exasperated us - for instance. 'It's exaggerated,' which simply expressed people' embarrassment at being confronted with something which was beyond them." P. 59

 "The word 'friendship' does not suit India, one has to say 'love'." P. 71

'It is true to say that the fashionable entertainments in Berlin between the wars were boxing and homosexualism..." P. 95

"My father never talked to me about art. He could not bear the word. If his children chose to go in for painting, acting or music, they were free to do so, but they must never be pushed. The urge to paint a picture must be so powerful that it could not be resisted. My father said of Mozart, whom he worshipped, 'He wrote music because he could not prevent himself,' to which he added, 'It was like wanting to pee.' He considered that the mode of expression was unimportant. If Mozart had not made music he would have written poems or planted gardens." P. 99

"I regard dubbing, that is to say, the addition of sound after the picture has been shot, as an outrage." P. 106

"Even at the beginning of his career legends sprang up around Michel Simon. He was reputed to be particularly interested in unorthodox sexual practices. He did not deny it, and indeed I think these rumors amused him. He was a believer in healthy foods long before they became fashionable...If any mention was made of his so-called perversity he would reply, 'There's only one thing on earth that has little life in it, and that's a woman's clitoris.'  He loved animals, especially monkeys; he was even said to have a love-affair with a she-monkey, but I personally doubt the truth of the tales that were told about him." P. 110-111

"It was the heyday of the 'October Group', and Surrealism was glittering with its early brilliance. We dreamed of founding a 'Societe du Geste Gratuit' of which the aim would be to reward totally pointless actions. For example, anyone who set fire to the house of a neighbor who had done him no harm would be rewarded. Anyone who stopped the traffic to let an old woman cross the street would be condemned, whereas anyone who stopped the traffic for no reason at all would be rewarded. It was a theory that favored universal peace. Crimes as a rule are committed for a purpose, wars are declared in the hope of conquest. By making these acts profitless we should have peace on earth except for a few madmen." P. 113

"There exist in this world rare human beings who are possessed of gifts both for commerce and for the art of entertainment. Charlie Chaplin is the outstanding example, and on a more modest financial level one may cite the Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman. The latter has contrived to make films of his own choosing and to survive, thanks to an organization that seems to me in all respects remarkable. He works in collaboration with the Royal Theatre in Stockholm, and in winter, when the weather is not suitable for outdoor photography, he works for the stage. With the return of summer weather he makes films. His actors are paid both by the theatre and by the films in which he casts them. This is a wonderfully economical system of production." P. 120

"Bad taste is often a source of inspiration to the greatest artists. Neither Cezanne nor Van Gogh had good taste." P. 166

"The Sologne is a region of marshes entirely devoted to hunting, a sport which I detest. I consider it an abominable exercise in cruelty." P. 170

"My father, who mistrusted imagination, said: 'If you paint the leaf on a tree without using a model you risk becoming stereotyped, because your imagination will only supply you with a few leaves whereas Nature offers you millions, all on the same tree. No two leaves are exactly the same. The artist who paints only what is in his mind must very soon repeat himself." P.171

 "Progress has robbed us of the sometimes clumsy hallmark of the craftsman who made a particular door. In the old days when I went through that doorway I would have a word to say to that craftsman, but I can get no joy out of a chat with a mechanical saw." P.204

"This fondness for disguise causes Americans to incline to the acting profession. They are born actors. Nothing is easier than to direct a crowd of American extras." P.209

"A custom which I believe to be peculiar to American studios was the suspending of operations while the star was having her period. The news being discreetly announced by an assistant director, everything stopped. I don't know if this tribute to the laws of nature is still practiced." P. 211

"Among the customs she brought with her from France was the glass of wine for the postman." P. 214

"We must forget the bistro in Magagnosc. The chances are, in any case, that we won't find it; it has probably vanished under a mountain of cement. We must never let ourselves be separated from the beloved, because after a long absence she will have become another person." P.282