Quotes from Jean Renoir

The saving grace of the cinema is that with patience, and a little love, we may arrive at that wonderfully complex creature which is called man.

Everybody has his reasons.

The truly terrible thing is that everybody has their reasons.

The real hell of life is everyone has his reasons.

A director makes only one movie in his life. Then he breaks it up and makes it again.

You see, in this world, there is one awful thing, and that is that everyone has his reasons.

Everyone has his reasons." Octave (Jean Renoir) in "The Rules of the Game.

The really terrible thing is that everyone has his reasons.

We do not exist through ourselves alone but through the environment that shaped us.

The foundation of all civilization is loitering.

The most skilled hand is never anything but the servant of the mind.

All great art is abstract.

There is no realism in American films. No realism, but something much better, great truth.

I considered that the world, and especially the cinema, was burdened with false gods. My task was to overthrow them. Sword in hand, I was ready to consecrate my life to the task. But the false gods are still there. My perseverance during a half-century of cinema has perhaps helped to topple a few of them. It has likewise helped me to discover that some of the gods were real, and had no need to be toppled.

The truly terrible thing is, everyone has his reasons

Painters know that material needs are relative; and that the satisfactions of the mind are absolute.

His nudes and his roses declared to men of this century, already deep in their task of destruction, the stability of the eternal balance of nature.

All technical refinements discourage me. Perfect photography, larger screens, hi-fi sound, all make it possible for mediocrities slavishly to reproduce nature; and this reproduction bores me. What interests me is the interpretation of life by an artist. The personality of the film maker interests me more than the copy of an object.

Among seekers of truth, painters perhaps come closest to discovering the secret of the balance of forces of the universe, and hence of man's fulfillment.

Curiously enough, Sanson's assistant disapproved of Dr Guillotin's invention. it had ruined the profession by making it too easy. facility always opens the doors to amateurs. In olden times, in order to cut off a head with the axe, one needed some training in the profession, not to mention a few natural gifts such as a sharp eye and a steady hand. But what merit is there in manipulating a machine which does the whole job for you?

He knew now that corruption is inherent in power, and, even worse, stupidity!

The world of Rnoir is a single entity. The red of the poppy determines the pose of the young woman with the umbrella. The blue of the sky harmonizes with the sheepskin the young shepheard wears. His pictures are demonstrations of over-all unity. .... Renoir believed in the Chinese legend that a mandarin can be killed at a distance by an unconsciously lethal gesture made in Paris.

A Director Makes Only One Movie in His Life. Then He Breaks It Into Pieces and Makes It Again.

The awful thing about life is this: everyone has their reasons.