quotes from classic

I'm a filmmaker, but my working procedures are different. All my basic structuring is done during the filming. You know, how long I keep the shot, the exposure or the speed - slower or faster, etc. That's structuring. And then there is a second stage of structuring that comes later when I begin to put those pieces together.

more quotes from Jonas Mekas

In narrative cinema, a certain terminology has already been established: 'film noir,' 'Western,' even 'Spaghetti Western.' When we say 'film noir' we know what we are talking about. But in non-narrative cinema, we are a little bit lost. So sometimes, the only way to make us understand what we are talking about is to use the term 'avant-garde.'

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There is no other way to break the frozen cinematic conventions than through a complete derangement of the official cinematic senses.

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We need less perfect but more free films.

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It is important to know that what I do is not artistic. I am just a film-maker. I live how I live and I do what I do, which is recording moments of my life as I move ahead. And I do it because I am compelled to. Necessity, not artistry, is the true line you can follow in my life and work.

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When I came to New York in 1949, there was already an entire fresh avant-garde film movement blooming in New York and California. It was a very, very exciting period!

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I'm working in a form of cinema that can be described, and has been described, as a diaristic form of cinema. In other words, with material from my own life. I walk through life with my camera, and occasionally I film. I never think about scripts, never think about films, making films.

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There is nothing namable but that some men will, or undertake to, do it for pay.

more quotes from Herman Melville

At sea a fellow comes out. Salt water is like wine, in that respect.

more quotes from Herman Melville

Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.

more quotes from Herman Melville

Where do murderers go, man! Who's to doom, when the judge himself is dragged to the bar?

more quotes from Herman Melville

There is sorrow in the world, but goodness too; and goodness that is not greenness, either, no more than sorrow is.

more quotes from Herman Melville

There is no dignity in wickedness, whether in purple or rags; and hell is a democracy of devils, where all are equals.

more quotes from Herman Melville

Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

more quotes from Herman Melville

It is impossible to talk or to write without apparently throwing oneself helplessly open.

more quotes from Herman Melville

I am, as I am; whether hideous, or handsome, depends upon who is made judge.

more quotes from Herman Melville

There are hardly five critics in America; and several of them are asleep.

more quotes from Herman Melville

There are times when even the most potent governor must wink at transgression, in order to preserve the laws inviolate for the future.

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Truth is in things, and not in words.

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A smile is the chosen vehicle of all ambiguities.

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