I remember that in Amateur, like most of my other films, a lot is not shown. I was more interested in what happens when people talk about something that happened in the past or something that will happen in the future or is simply happening somewhere else. There’s something else going on. The immediate intimate manoeuvering of people around each other while they are dealing with information. I thought that I don’t want them to talk about what is happening or will happen, I want to witness them doing; I want to look at the actual event. It’s funny, I talk to other filmmakers and they tell me “Well that’s why we got into filmmaking in the first place”. That was our first urge.” My first urge was to watch the people conversing or struggling with each other about other things.
The thing about calculation that I’ve always resisted is that there’s an assumption being made that I know who you are and I know what you think is important and what is funny and what is moving. And I really don’t think that’s true in life: I think that we’re mysterious to each other and that’s one of the reasons for instance that we keep telling ourselves stories. Stories can be told and retold because we really don’t know how we’re going to react.
Your talent often arises from your weaknesses and misconceptions.
