Neil Jordan
Neil Jordan
Neil Patrick Jordanis an Irish film director, screenwriter and novelist. He won an Academy Awardfor The Crying Game. He also won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival for The Butcher Boy...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth25 February 1950
CountryIreland
Neil Jordan quotes about
way stories storytelling
Well, I suppose I'm interested in ways of storytelling and in stories that are about storytelling.
regret confused thinking
Well, if you're talking about the current climate, there's a lack of content in American film because I think people are deeply confused about their emotions, and they don't regret certain aspects of their own foreign policy.
children fantasy horror
The Company of Wolves doesn't belong in any category, so it's difficult to prepare an audience for it. It's not a horror film, it's not a fantasy film, it's not a children's film - so what is it?
dream too-much directors
In Dreams... well, I was slightly overcompensating with that. I was a bit like a director for hire, so maybe I was putting too much imagery that was familiar to me into it.
dream character example
For example, the character of Claire in In Dreams wasn't imagined enough by me. Annette Bening is a great actress, and she gave a great performance, but because I hadn't fully written it essentially the character wasn't finished.
dark journey opposites
It's the opposite journey from what I've usually done with films. I find it very easy to go from, say, a lit, pleasurable environment, like what you see outside there, to a very dark place. But the opposite journey, which is what this movie takes, is much more complicated.
nice long hollywood
It's nice to work with Hollywood because there is never any question of resources put at your disposal to make a film as long as it is the right thing to do.
character certain hard
It's hard to know whether certain characters come to life or not, they either come to have their own life or they don't. I've written many things in which the characters just remain inert.
book heart scripts
I've also worked hard portraying an Ireland which is fast disappearing. Ireland was a very depressed and difficult place in the 1980s, and I've tried to include that in the script. I worked really hard to find the heart of the book.
decision way imagine
I had made a decision, although I hardly knew it yet. It's often that way with decisions, they're made in some hidden part of us and the awareness secretes itself slowly into that conscious part of us that imagines it decides.
directors certain situation
But everyone gets burnt, don't they? Certain things are outside of your control. I suppose the only thing you can learn as a director is to not put yourself into situations where it can get outside of your control. And that's what happened.
writing film ifs
I can't do a film if I don't start with the writing.
thinking people together
When you've written a movie, you then get together with a whole lot of people and make it. In many ways, I think it is far nicer to be with people rather than being completely solitary.
enjoy
I do enjoy working with writers.