Quotes

It's fun for me to bury my political and social comments here and there in a film.

In today's capitalistic society there are ranks and castes that are invisible to the eye. We keep them disguised and out of sight and superficially look down on class hierarchies as a relic of the past, but the reality is that there are class lines that cannot be crossed. I think that this film (Parasite, 2019) depicts the inevitable cracks that appear when two classes brush up against each other in today's increasingly polarized society.

My movies are based in genre, which is a universal language. Everybody speaks it.

[on Parasite (2019)] I just hope that it gives audiences a lot to think about. It is in parts funny, frightening and sad, and if it makes viewers feel like sharing a drink and talking over all the ideas they had while watching it, I'll wish for nothing more.

I was just a shy, naive 12-year-old cinema fan when I decided to become a director. I never imagined that the day I'd hold this trophy (Palme d'Or) would come. Merci.

[Cannes press conference for Parasite (2019), asked about rapid changes of tone in the film] I work a lot on my storyboard but I don't necessarily think specifically about that i.e., at this point in time it's going to be comedy, at the next moment it's going to be drama. I follow my instinct when I'm shooting - I don't calculate everything in detail i.e., will the gin & tonic be made with 40 per cent of gin and 60 per cent of tonic? I focus basically on the situation, the actual moment in time. I think spectators are more used to seeing genre films. As a director, quite frankly, I don't think about all these things in any conscious way. It's when I look at the end result, the final film, I suddenly realise, yes, maybe this scene looks very carefully thought out beforehand, but that's not the case.

[press conference for Parasite (2019) at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival] I view myself as a genre film director. I do make genre films, but I don't like to follow the conventional codes for genre films. I try to convey messages about society through these broken codes, and this time I'm very pleased indeed to have been able to make the film with these fabulous actors. We have all these very peculiar stories which I love and which are portrayed by the various actors. I think we've obtained a very, very satisfying result and I'd like to thank all the actors up here with me.

[Cannes press conference for Parasite (2019)] I follow my instinct - that's what I always try to do. For example, a priest has a Bible next to him and the lawyers use the book of laws, but we directors have no Bible - we just have our instinct. For example, if something doesn't go well in the course of the day, we go back home and we watch the films of our mentors, Hitchcock in my case, Claude Chabrol, Kim Ki-young. I watch their interviews as well - that's the kind of thing I do for the time being.

[on winning the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards (2020) for Parasite (2019)] Once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.

[after winning four Oscars at the 2020 Academy Awards ceremony] I will drink until next morning.

[on The 400 Blows (1959)]: The most beautiful feature film debut in the history of cinema.

Wes Anderson's films are delightfully strange and endearing.