I discovered the 7th art at home when I was kid, through Charlie Chaplin's movies and those of my father who shot documentaries. He was my biggest influence. So I took his camera and started shooting.

A film that is bleached tends to have a more realistic quality.

I am always more interested in performance and character depiction, and my direction says as much.

But I notice that there is a lack of darkness in my movies and I don't know where that comes from.

I was always attracted by the European way of life, but I am deeply Swedish.

Cinema has become a global economy, totally international.

I always try to preserve my cinematographic style, even while I work in the US. I wish to always be European.

I made all their videos, apart from the last two, so if you ever see an Abba video on TV then it's my stuff.

But now I wish I could back to Stockholm to make international films there.

I love mixing amateurs and professionals.

I love improvising.

I always need a couple of highlights to really spark the passion for a project.

I can't go back and label myself as an outcast because I was a pretty well-adjusted kid, but I can certainly relate to the feeling of being an outsider.

Kevin, as the whole cast is, just wonderful people and great people, and people who are attracted to this kind of material and accepting the idea of going to Newfoundland and knowing the kind of lack of amenities.

ABBA: The Movie; I got a lot of grief for working on that.

My father would tell anyone who would listen that this dentist thing he was doing was not his passion; cinematography was.

It's just, for me, the natural standard: a woman should be able to decide over her own body.

I discovered the 7th art at home when I was kid, through Charlie Chaplin's movies and those of my father who shot documentaries. He was my biggest influence. So I took his camera and started shooting.

I got to work with my wife, Lena Olin, for the first time, which was great. I thought it might be difficult in some way to talk to one's wife in a different way but it was so not forced.

Many of the comedies I had made in Sweden were slightly based on semi-autobiographical experiences, so adapting novels was a very different experience.

My films do have characters who have trouble escaping the world around them.

My key interest in choosing scripts is character-driven stories, because there are so many stories that sacrifice character for plot.

It was important on The Shipping News to have my house far enough away from each location so I had this time in the morning to think about my shots and still remain open to surprises once I got to the set.

I imagined that it might be awkward to talk to your wife about her performance, so going into it I was a little nervous. But doing it was actually a wonderfully inspiring experience.

To see my wife getting inspired from my notes and thoughts, going in the direction I wanted, and have her surprise me with wonderful choices was a real treat.

I love involving actors at all levels - and they have to know that I want to hear their contributions, with dialogue, with story suggestions, with script changes, whatever.

My father was an amateur filmmaker who shot 8mm color documentaries.

I think I avoid stepping into sentimentality by trying to be as truthful as possible with performances.

I'm on this diet where you're supposed to eat only fish and meat.

I feel the need to work with my wife, Lena Olin, again.

I really want to have actors contribute their own ideas, with phrasings and ideas on all levels.

Art teaches nothing, except the significance of life.

The principal rule of art is to please and to move. All the other rules were created to achieve this first one.

I grew up with art from the innocent age of ten - with art, but with no sense of identity.

One does not devote one's life in art to shock an audience.

The other great development has been in photography, but that too was influenced by Conceptual art.

My art became very public.

Riding a race bike is an art - a thing that you do because you feel something inside.

The idea is, if I can't heal from my art, then how can you heal?

But in the finished art of the song the use of words has no connection with the use of words in poetry.

One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train.

I don't believe in art. I believe in artists.

Art cannot be modern. Art is primordially eternal.

Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.

We have often been attracted to the story of the other, the outcast. And he and I just loved working together, so it just kept happening, and our relationship is completely bound up with our work. We enjoy each other's art.

Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.

It is veneer, rouge, aestheticism, art museums, new theaters, etc. that make America impotent. The good things are football, kindness, and jazz bands.

At the University of Maryland, my first year I started off planning to major in art because I was interested in theatre design, stage design or television design.

Art is an expression of who you are. Parts that I play are my sculptures.