Bertrand Tavernier
“My characters are not completely heroic characters. Michael Powell told me that he liked films where the hero is wrong in three or four scenes but without the author of the film pointing them out. I adore that! To have somebody making mistakes. That's something that exists in all the films - whether the man is a cop or a tenor saxophonist.”
“I like characters who, because they really believe in their mission, become a pain in the arse for an institution. A teacher who really wants to teach and really wants to follow the implication of his work - how can you teach a kid who is starving? How? The people above him say that it's not his job and tell him to forget it. But can you forget it? Can you forget when you see a young kid scavenging in a dustbin? If you raise that question, then you become a problem.”
“When I do a film, I like to not only be involved with the emotion, but also the context around the character. I want to show the environment and I want, sometimes, to deal with social and political issues because they are organic to the jobs of people.”
“I like characters who, because they really believe in their mission, become a pain in the arse for an institution. A teacher who really wants to teach and really wants to follow the implication of his work - how can you teach a kid who is starving? How? The people above him say that it's not his job and tell him to forget it. But can you forget it? Can you forget when you see a young kid scavenging in a dustbin? If you raise that question, then you become a problem.”
“When I do a film, I like to not only be involved with the emotion, but also the context around the character. I want to show the environment and I want, sometimes, to deal with social and political issues because they are organic to the jobs of people.”