I've published a couple of short novels in France that I didn't want to publish in English because I loved the characters too much to subject them to American critics who were not exactly favorable toward my work.

It was just - I mean, 6,000 people giving you a standing ovation is quite an experience.

You couldn't make 'Heaven's Gate' today. Even were you to quadruple the resources to make the movie, you couldn't make it because the people don't exist.

I don't make movies to make a point; I make movies to tell stories about people.

I've had enough rejection for 33 years. I don't need more.

When I was fifteen, I spent three weeks driving all over Brooklyn with a guy who was following his girlfriend.

Working-class, blue-collar guys who volunteered for Vietnam were ascribed certain political beliefs. It's time that this was redressed. It had nothing to do with politics. Once these men got to Vietnam, it was a matter of survival.

Who cares about seeing 10,000 helicopter assaults? That's spectacle.

There's a need to dig up the past and analyze it.

I wouldn't look pretty as a woman.