If a story doesn't give you a hard-on in the first couple of scenes, throw it in the goddamned garbage.
Samuel FullerRead
I don't care if it's a mystery story, a Western, or the story of Julius Caesar. To me it's the emotion, the lies, the double-cross, whether it's Brutus doing it to Caesar or Bob Stack doing it to Robert Ryan that defines what kind of drama it is.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The essence of storytelling lies in the emotions and conflicts it portrays, rather than the genre itself.
In this quote, Samuel Fuller emphasizes that the heart of drama transcends specific genres like mystery or Western. He suggests that the emotional depths, betrayals, and complexities of relationships, exemplified through characters and their actions, are what truly define a story. By referencing historical figures and their conflicts, Fuller illustrates that drama is universally human, focused on the emotional truths that resonate with audiences, regardless of the narrative framework.
Themes
DramaEmotionStorytellingConflictBetrayal
In practice
Example use cases
This quote would be perfect for a discussion on the significance of character development in drama classes.
More from Samuel Fuller
All quotes →A film is like a battleground. It's love, hate, action, violence, death—In one word, emotions.
Samuel FullerRead
Similar quotes
When you say 'design,' everybody thinks of magazine pages. So it's an emotive word. Everybody thinks it's how something looks, whereas for me, design is pretty much everything.
James DysonRead
One truth is the swing of the sentence, the beat and poise, but down deeper it's the integrity of the writer as he matches with the language.
Don DelilloRead
When I discovered the lyric poem, that advanced not by narrative steps but by blocks and layers of imagery, I said, 'Gee, I probably could do that. So let me try that.'
Billy CollinsRead
I shy away from the word 'creation.' In the ordinary, social meaning of the word - well, it's very nice, but fundamentally, I don't believe in the creative function of the artist. He's a man like any other.
Marcel DuchampRead
All you can do is show people...You tell stories that are true and compelling.
Bruce SpringsteenRead
Some of the songs come so fully, it's like they are pre-packaged. There have been a couple that came in the middle of the night. And I thought, jeez, I'll never forget that. And went back to sleep, and it was gone. You'll hear something years later that another songwriter that you respect writes, and you go, jeez, I think that was the remnants of that song that got sent to me.
John PrineRead