In terms of the mechanics of story, myth is an intriguing one because we didn't make myth up; myth is an imprinture of the human condition.

In the '60s not everybody was wearing flowers in their hair and flowing caftans.

In the '80s, everyone wanted to be in opera. It was groovy.

Look, I had a passion for comic books growing up.

My father made sure that I had lots of levels of education - from ballroom-dancing to painting, commando training, theatre and magic.

Some of the greatest relationship films of all time, the two stars have hated each other, but mostly you see that chemistry.

The food in Sydney is an Asian Pacific cuisine. It's eclectic but above all it's fresh, inventive and creative and that's what I love about it.

The party is a true art form in Sydney and people practise it a great deal. You can really get quite lost in it.

There's a whole system in Hollywood where the director never speaks to the studio, but I like to engage them in a discussion. I listen.

Ultimately, you have to pursue your own path, not someone's idea of the right path. You need to stay on your path.

Western films don't do very well in India.

When you're in theater or the circus or film - to me it's all one - affairs happen. People fall in love.

You really think that on my films people tell me what to do? I don't think so. On my films I decide.

Historically, epics are set in Africa or Asia or the Wild West, but if you make an epic today it's hard to disassociate from the contemporary realities of those places.

I often think to myself, at the end of an interesting life it's maybe not such a bad thing to spend your last days with your friends sitting by the blue, blue ocean reliving the story of your life while sitting in the dangerous sun.

I've always loved the old epics that tell a simple emotional story, whether it's the tumultuous relationship between Rhett and Scarlett or Lawrence of Arabia's passion to get lost in a faraway place.

I've tried to make 'Strictly Ballroom' impossible to date. It does feel a bit '80s but I consciously made sure there was no technology in the movie that could date it.

If you wanted to show a mirror to people that says, 'You've been drunk on money,' they're not going to want to see it. But if you reflected that mirror on another time they'd be willing to. People will need an explanation of where we are and where we've been, and 'The Great Gatsby' can provide that explanation.

One of my great all-time loves in cinema, and I've seen it three times, is Bondarchuk's 'War and Peace.' Not a lot of people may have seen that film. It was made during the Soviet era.

One of the great things about Sydney is that it has a great acceptance of everyone and everything. It's an incredibly tolerant city, a city with a huge multicultural basis.