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I had always studied French and was obsessed with French films. I hated the way American films always had happy endings. I liked the way French films had dark and unpleasant characters; it was much more realistic.

If you go back and watch 'The French Connection,' it's been cannibalized so many times. There are certain movies like that, where you see the original and think, 'This isn't so great.' And the reason it isn't so great is because everyone has copied it.

I grew up watching a lot of French cinema.

My favourite film is 'Le Diner de Cons,' a French movie.

Unless it's something very clever like 'Memento,' most independent films have a very tough life out there.

I love 'An American in Paris.' That's the one for me. Some of the visual ideas in that film are just haunting and very free.

'Pulp Fiction' is an amazing film, and I haven't made one nearly as good.

But 'Memento' was so successful, such a huge cult hit, almost on the scale of a large film. If that had happened, with all the acclaim, before the next job, I'd have found it very difficult to figure out what to do next.

I don't see a lot of films. I'm quite choosy, but there's certain films that stick out.