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Film Quotes by Spike Lee

45 Film quotes by Spike Lee

All Film quotes Spike Lee’s page

Spike Lee often talks about how the choices characters make send ripples through their lives. He also celebrates the electric energy of New York City, calling its crews and actors a source of constant inspiration. At the same time he reminds us that movies must earn money and can carry a thread of hope even when they show hard truths.

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Making films has got to be one of the hardest endeavors known to humankind.

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And one thing Hollywood does well is sequels.

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I am a hybrid. I do independent films and also do Hollywood films - I love them both.

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'She's Gotta Have It' was shot in twelve days and two six-day weeks.

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I don't think I'm a total pessimist, so I think you can find hope in all my films.

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I'll be vilified if I shoot a film in Toronto for New York. And rightfully so!

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I think it is very important that films make people look at what they've forgotten.

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I think it is very important that films make people remember what they have forgotten.

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I think black people have to be in control of their own image because film is a powerful medium. We can't just…

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First of all, what in this world does not revolve around money? But money is a big part of film, unlike a…

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I live in New York City, the stories of my films take place in New York; I'm a New York filmmaker.

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All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That's what I love.

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I never understood the concept of showing everything in the trailer. Why go to a movie if there's no surprise? I can't…

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I think it would be very boring dramatically to have a film where everybody was a lawyer or doctor and had no…

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I'm very careful about how I portray violence in my films. I do believe that violence, especially violent video games, are not…

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I don't think my films are going to get rid of racism or prejudice. I think the best thing my films can…

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I'm just trying to tell a good story and make thought-provoking, entertaining films. I just try and draw upon the great culture…

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This film [Chi-Raq]is a declaration. It's a scream. It's a warning. And I can really break it down to one scene. That's…

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I think the best actors in the world are here in New York City. And this city is just so vibrant the…

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I don't really analyze my stuff when I write. I write about stuff that I'm interested in, that I'm feeling at that…

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I think there's a lot of hope in my work. I don't think I'm a total pessimist, so I think you can…

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As a writer I want everybody to get a chance to voice their opinions. If each character thinks that they're telling the…

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A spine to my films that's become more evident to me is that many are about the choices people make, and the…

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There’s always been this hocus-pocus or magical, mystical thing associated with the making of film that sort of psyches people out and…

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You know that first of all your films have to make money no matter who you are.

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I tend to favour films that have multiple plot and story lines, multiple characters and ensemble pieces.

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Any film I do is not going to change the way black women have been portrayed, or black people have been portrayed,…

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'Do the Right Thing' was like the first film where I really felt comfortable working with actors.

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Surprises are good. I'm not of the thinking where you tell the audience everything. Sometimes I don't even want to see the…

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If people go to IMDB, they will see that I'm very comfortable with independent cinema, and doing studio films too. For me…

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Music is, for me, a great tool of a filmmaker, the same way cinematography, the acting, editing, post-production, the costumes are. You…

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Do the Right Thing' was my first union film. I looked at the rosters, and for the most part, it was white…

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Any time you talk about the look of the film, it's not just the director and the director of photography. You have…

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It is really important that young people find something that they want to do and pursue it with passion. I'm very passionate…

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There's an unwritten law that you cannot have a Jewish character in a film who isn't 100 percent perfect, or you're labeled anti-Semitic.

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I didn't dream about being a director. I didn't know I wanted to do something with film until the summer between my…

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I think that every minority in the United States of America knows everything about the dominant culture. From the time you can…

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'She's Gotta Have It' and 'School Daze,' I really didn't know what I was doing. And the biggest indicator of that was…

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People sometimes forget all the films that we've done. They remember the likes of 'Malcolm X' and 'Do the Right Thing.' But…

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I wouldn't be doing motherfu**ing films for almost three decades if every time I did something that someone didn't like I went…

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More by Spike Lee

Mike Tyson is the most complex person I've ever met in my life. I've known Mike since 1986. We're both from Brooklyn. I didn't…

A spine to my films that's become more evident to me is that many are about the choices people make, and the reverberations of…

I am very fortunate I can send my kids to private school, but everybody does not have the money. If you cannot get your…

I really don't deal with hypotheticals.

I've never seen black men with fine white women. They be ugly. Mugly dogs.

I may have been born yesterday, but I stayed up all night.

I consider Madonna a friend, and she sure knows how to work the publicity machine. Of course, I don't have breasts. If I did…

If you can't take a hit, you're not going to last long, that's for sure.

America doesn't have the moral right to tell other people what to do. To say the whole world has to fall into line is…

I'm worried just as much about Donald Trump as that crazy guy in North Korea - and he has a nuclear code. I'm worrying…

I think the best actors in the world are here in New York City. And this city is just so vibrant the energy is…

People sometimes forget all the films that we've done. They remember the likes of 'Malcolm X' and 'Do the Right Thing.' But I've been…

I ain't Martin Luther King. I don't need a dream. I have a plan.

Any film I do is not going to change the way black women have been portrayed, or black people have been portrayed, in cinema…

I think if people looked at my body of work, they'd see a great breadth of work.