I think I'm more lucid portraying women because I don't have the feeling it's about me. Of course it's about me and my emotions, but it's not like when I'm in front of the male character I have to be, in front of a mirror. With the man, I try maybe to hide some personal things. And with a woman, because I am a man it's easier. It's strange, but it's like that.

[observation, 2014] It's not murder to have fantasy. But suddenly you realize, the period of today you have to be politically correct about your fantasies too. You could be judged about what you want to do in bed with someone. It's amazing - but it's the period of today.

I couldn't have been an actor. I tried but I couldn't speak in front of people. But to control, to direct - this was my role.

When we make a film, we are like children playing a game. I say to the actors, 'OK, you will be the doctor, you be the nurse ... and I am - I am the headmaster. I am the chef d'orchestre.'

When a woman discovers that her individuality is not only discerned, but also supported, she melts away.

To be a star, an icon, is very heavy. The problem with this kind of woman, especially Jeanne [Moreau] or Catherine Deneuve, they have been such huge stars since when they were so young, they can be disconnected from reality. And sometimes they are in a bad mood, it can happen. But they are clever enough that if you tell them 'Stop now,' you can say that to this kind of woman and they come back to reality very quickly.

I do films to be behind the camera, not in front of the camera. I'm sure I say very intimate things about myself in all my films, but it's better to say it not too directly, to be hidden behind a woman.