There's no such thing as an anti-war film.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that all films addressing war inevitably reflect a pro-war stance, directly or indirectly.
Francois Truffaut's assertion that 'There's no such thing as an anti-war film' challenges the notion that any cinematic portrayal of war can be wholly critical or against warfare. It implies that such films may still glamorize or romanticize the act of war, thus failing to convey a truly anti-war message. The very medium of film, with its artistic choices and storytelling techniques, may inadvertently contribute to justifying or glorifying the conflict it seeks to criticize.
In practice
This quote could be shared during a film festival panel discussing the representation of war in cinema.
But the cinephile is … a neurotic! (That’s not a pejorative term.) The Bronte sisters were neurotic, and it’s because they were neurotic that they read all those books and became writers. The famous French advertising slogan that says, “When you love life, you go to the movies,” it’s false! It’s exactly the opposite: when you don’t love life, or when life doesn’t give you satisfaction, you go to the movies.
I love the way she projects two facets: a visible persona and a subterranean one. She keeps her thoughts to herself; she seems to suggest that her secret, inner life is at least as significant as the appearance she gives.
I want my audience to be constantly captivated, bewitched, so that it leaves the theatre dazed, stunned to be back on the pavement.
To be a film-maker, you are almost forced to be surrounded by contradictions... You must have talents of so many different kinds - talents that are contradictory.
The film of tomorrow will not be directed by civil servants of the camera, but by artists for whom shooting a film constitutes a wonderful and thrilling adventure.
I have always preferred the reflection of the life to life itself.
Let a man get up and say, Behold, this is the truth, and instantly I perceive a sandy cat filching a piece of fish in the background. Look, you have forgotten the cat, I say.
Silence is the sea, and speech is like the river. The sea is seeking you: don't seek the river. Don't turn your head away from the signs offered by the sea.
All men alike stand condemned, not by alien codes of ethics, but by their own, and all men therefore are conscious of guilt.
In their rules there was only one clause: Do what you will.
If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence. If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.
Water is the softest of all things, yet it is the most powerful. The ocean patiently allows all things to flow into it. It is always flexible. The Tao is not about grasping, but allowing, like water.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.