Quotes from Jean-Pierre Jeunet

In Hollywood everything is formatted, everything is compulsory, so therefore we have to follow the law of benefits and profit and money, let us say the law of Hollywood.

Quand le doigt montre le ciel, l'imbécile regarde le doigt. [When a finger is pointing up to the sky, only a fool looks at the finger.]

It's always more interesting and more difficult to make something positive than negative. To be negative is very easy.

I believe in imagination. I was a worker when I was 17. Between 17 and 21, I was a worker in the telephone company and imagination saved my life.

In France, it's very suspect when you have a success.

I hate to lose time on the set. On the set, you have to go at a good pace, because the clock is your master. For that reason, I have to know exactly what I'm trying to get beforehand.

If you make the right choice in casting, your work is nearly done already. You don't have to spend a lot of time directing the actors, because they're so well suited to the parts.

I write scripts by myself. It's not for everybody. It's someone's personal work. I need to be in love with the subject.

For me, the most important word in cinema is the word freedom. For example, in Europe, we've got freedom, we've got the final cut and that's something which is marvellous.