Abel Ferrara's Quotes

Abel Ferrara (born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker, known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies, his use of neo-noir imagery and gritty urban settings. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best known movies include Ms .45 (1981), King of New York (1990), Bad Lieutenant (1992) and The Funeral (1996).

Abel Ferrara's selected quotes:

Abel Ferrara about Energy:

As an old-time New Yorker, it's not that I miss the '70s and '80s or whatever ...
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Abel Ferrara about Hands:

Most filmmaking is about shaking hands and just starting.

Abel Ferrara about Think:

Where I come from you're not raised to think on your own. It's not that you're ...
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Abel Ferrara about Dying:

I'm not a big fan of talking about dying. And then I make a movie where ...
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Abel Ferrara about Know:

I don't know what DVD commentaries are about. I'd like to strangle the person who came ...
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All quotes from Abel Ferrara sorted alphabetically:

Abel Ferrara about Process:

A script is not a piece of literature it's a process.

Abel Ferrara about Energy:

As an old-time New Yorker, it's not that I miss the '70s and '80s or whatever. I miss the fact that there was a certain kind of energy that exists when people can live for nothing.

Abel Ferrara about Earth:

As barbaric is we are, it's a miracle we haven't blown ourselves off the face of the earth so far.

Abel Ferrara about Care:

I don't care if I get $50 million to do a film.

Abel Ferrara about Life:

But I'm never gonna get to a point in my life where what it costs to shoot a movie is going to determine what it is. The limits of my imagination is the only thing that's gonna stop me.

Abel Ferrara about Working:

Certain actors wanna get paid, they think working in a low-budget movie is being ripped off. But for others it's like, 'Yes, let's do it.'

Abel Ferrara about Know:

I don't know what DVD commentaries are about. I'd like to strangle the person who came up with that concept.

Abel Ferrara about Problem:

I don't have a problem with Werner Herzog.

Abel Ferrara about Like:

I'm a lapsed Buddhist like I'm a lapsed Catholic. I take it to a point.

Abel Ferrara about Yourself:

I was raised a Catholic and when you're raised a Catholic they don't teach you to think for yourself. You're taught not to think too deeply about things.

Abel Ferrara about Age:

I was born in the Bronx, and then my father moved us to the country at an early age.

Abel Ferrara about Dying:

I'm not a big fan of talking about dying. And then I make a movie where I kill everybody.

Abel Ferrara about Characters:

I'm about my characters.

Abel Ferrara about Funny:

It's funny, the hardest thing to do is to make something look like it's fast, loose and improvised, and get somebody to laugh.

Abel Ferrara about God:

It's only Western civilization that, God forbid, you talk about dying, when it's the only thing we know for certain, right? Everyone's going to die, so what's the big problem? 'Oh, God. Don't talk about it. Don't think about it.' I mean, I'm one of them. I'm not a big fan of talking about dying.

Abel Ferrara about Listen:

Listen, anybody who has a film festival has the right to show what they want.

Abel Ferrara about Change:

Making money is not gonna change anything about what I am, except I won't answer the door.

Abel Ferrara about Life:

Life is what happens when you're doing other things, right?

Abel Ferrara about Experience:

Mulberry Street was the beating heart of the Italian-American experience, but you don't find those gangsters now. I live with a bunch of yuppies and models.

Abel Ferrara about Hands:

Most filmmaking is about shaking hands and just starting.

Abel Ferrara about Rock And Roll:

My existence is about making movies, so I've just got to rock and roll with the punches. You want to make movies on telephones, I'm there.

Abel Ferrara about Finish:

That's the thing about making a movie: You never finish editing. They just take it away from you.

Abel Ferrara about Life:

The last day of your life is still going to be a day.

Abel Ferrara about Rose:

With 'New Rose Hotel,' I knew that I was getting paid a $100,000 fee to write, produce, and direct, and that's all I was going to get.

Abel Ferrara about Think:

Where I come from you're not raised to think on your own. It's not that you're pushed to read the Bible. The Bible is read to you.

Abel Ferrara about Happen:

The secret is not to make a film that causes something like Virginia Tech to happen. The secret is to make a film that stops it happening.