Socrates told us, "the unexamined life is not worth living." I think he's calling for curiosity, more than knowledge. In every human society at all times and at all levels, the curious are at the leading edge.
Roger EbertRead
In the best of all possible worlds, directors would obsess about the quality of their storytelling, and not the details of their technical methods.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Storytelling quality should be prioritized over technical details in filmmaking.
Roger Ebert highlights the importance of storytelling in cinema, suggesting that directors should focus more on the essence of the narrative rather than getting bogged down by technical aspects. This perspective emphasizes that the heart of film lies in how stories are told and the emotional experiences they deliver to the audience.
Themes
StorytellingQualityDirectorsTechnicalFilmmaking
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote in a film studies class while discussing the role of narrative in cinema.
More from Roger Ebert
All quotes βVincent Gallo has put a curse on my colon and a hex on my prostate. He called me a 'fat pig' in the New York Post and told the New York Observer I have 'the physique of a slave-trader.' He is angry at me because I said his 'The Brown Bunny' was the worst movie in the history of the Cannes Film Festival... _x000D_ it is true that I am fat, but one day I will be thin, and he will still be the director of 'The Brown Bunny.'
Roger EbertRead
I was born inside the movie of my life. The visuals were before me, the audio surrounded me, the plot unfolded inevitably but not necessarily. I don't remember how I got into the movie, but it continues to entertain me.
Roger EbertRead
Why do alcoholics begin down the same hazardous road day after day? They are in search of that elusive window of well-being that opens when you drink your way out of a hangover and aren't yet drunk all over again. The alcoholic's day consists of trying to keep that window open.
Roger EbertRead
There are no guarantees. But there is also nothing to fear. We come from oblivion when we are born. We return to oblivion when we die. The astonishing thing is this period of in-between.
Roger EbertRead
Parents and schools should place great emphasis on the idea that it is all right to be different. Racism and all the other 'isms' grow from primitive tribalism, the instinctive hostility against those of another tribe, race, religion, nationality, class or whatever. You are a lucky child if your parents taught you to accept diversity.
Roger EbertRead
Similar quotes
The sun had, in the meanwhile, sunk behind the Ettersberg. We felt in the wood the chill of the evening, and drove all the quicker to Wiemar, and to Goethe's house. Goethe urged me to go in with him for a while, and I did so. He was in an extremely engaging mood. He talked a great deal about his theory of colors, and of his obstinate opponents; remarking that he was sure that he had done something in this science.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.
Robert FrostRead
Two types of films: those that employ the resources of the theater (actors, direction, etc...) and use the camera in order to reproduce; those that employ the resources of cinematography and use the camera to create
Robert BressonRead
What could be said about me...a man to whom only his painting matters? And of course his garden and his flowers as well.
Claude MonetRead
My whole theory about art is the disparity that exists between form, masses and movement.
Alexander CalderRead
Once I get onstage the tension explodes and I'm fine. I'm in another world - in a trance almost, doing what I love best, expressing myself through guitar.
Jimmy PageRead