You see, in this world there is one awful thing, and that is that everyone has his reasons.
Jean RenoirRead
A film director is not a creator, but a midwife. His business is to deliver the actor of a child that he did not know he had inside him.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The director's role is to help actors realize their potential rather than create something from nothing.
This quote by Jean Renoir emphasizes the transformative role of a film director in the creative process. Instead of merely imposing their vision onto the actors, the director's task is to draw out the hidden talents and emotions within the actors, akin to the process of a midwife assisting in childbirth. It suggests that great art is often a collaboration where the director facilitates the natural expression of the actor's abilities.
Themes
DirectorArtCreativityActingTheatre
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be mentioned during a film panel discussion to highlight the collaborative nature of filmmaking.
More from Jean Renoir
All quotes →To the question, ‘Is the cinema an art?’ my answer is, ‘what does it matter?’... You can make films or you can cultivate a garden. Both have as much claim to being called an art as a poem by Verlaine or a painting by Delacroix… Art is ‘making.’ The art of poetry is the art of making poetry. The art of love is the art of making love... My father never talked to me about art. He could not bear the word.
Jean RenoirRead
A director makes only one movie in his life. Then he breaks it into pieces and makes it again.
Jean RenoirRead
The real hell of life is that everyone has his reasons.
Jean RenoirRead
I believe that perfection handicaps cinema.
Jean RenoirRead
A Director Makes Only One Movie in His Life. Then He Breaks It Into Pieces and Makes It Again.
Jean RenoirRead
Similar quotes
There may be stranger reasons for being alive. There are books There’s interlibrary loan. There are books you can fall into and pull up over your head.
Jo WaltonRead
The Arts are man's most useless ... and essential ... activity.
Eugene IonescoRead
Fairy tales have always got to have something a bit scary for children - as long as you make them laugh as well.
Roald DahlRead
Chess and me, it's hard to take them apart. It's like my alter ego.
Bobby FischerRead
I'd rather have just one person who reads and feels my work deeply than hundreds of thousands who read it but don't really care about.
Derek WalcottRead
All art is a memory of age-old things, dark things, whose fragments live on in the artist.
Paul KleeRead