Quotes from Jose Padilha

As it turns out, what looks like science sometimes is not.

I have to be clear with myself and very conscious of what I am trying to say. Misunderstandings will always take place; it's unavoidable.

I think the media needs a little criticizing now, as it did in the '80s, don't you?

If you are in Brazil and you grew up in a right-wing dictatorship, you think Marxism is liberating. But if you grew up in Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union is controlling everything and killing people, then you think capitalism is liberating. Neither of those two things are true and it doesn't take a lot brains to understand this.

Measurements, observations, descriptions can only be considered scientific when they are independently confirmed by other people.

You're looking for the best way of shooting it, but sometimes the best way of shooting it is changing the script.

It's all about this abstract entity called the story. It's all about the best way to tell the story, and to make a movie about the issues that this story is about. Filmmaking is storytelling, for me.

How can I make a movie about the violence of the police if the police aren't going to let me film it?

I don't actually like blocking actors. I prefer giving actors freedom. They don't have to step on a precise mark with me. Instead of giving marks to the actors I like to give marks to the camera.