I love mirrors. They let one pass through the surface of things.

Stupidity is infinitely more fascinating that intelligence. Intelligence has its limits while stupidity has none.

I'm not pessimistic about people in general, but only about the way they live.

You have to accept the fact that sometimes you are the pigeon, and sometimes you are the statue.

We live in an era where pizzas show up faster than the police.

I wanted to make a film about stupid people that was very vulgar and deeply stupid. From that moment on I can hardly be reproached for making a film that is about stupid people.

A woman confronting men is a proper subject, it is inexhaustible.

A woman is subject matter enough.

As far as I was concerned, either I was a homosexual or I wasn't, so making films would change nothing.

First I went to the Sorbonne to do my licence en lettres, but I also started to study law.

I am a Communist, certainly, but that doesn't mean I have to make films about the wheat harvest.

I brought the film like a flower to the world.

I'm not wild about hand-held shots.

Laying tracks gives you freedom without being too obvious.

Some colors are very difficult to render, and you must compensate to get the color you want on the screen.

There is no new wave, only the sea.

To observe a profoundly stupid individual can be very enriching, and that's why we should never feel contempt for them.

It's often wrong to write for specific actors because one ends up using what is least interesting about them, their mannerisms and habits. I prefer not to write for specific people.

I like making black and white films in natural surroundings, but I much prefer shooting a color film inside a studio where the colors are easier to control.

I remember an article, I can't recall who by, it was after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which said that now the Wall was down, there could be no more class war. Only someone with money could ever say such a thing.