Derek Cianfrance Quotes

Powerful Derek Cianfrance for Daily Growth

About Derek Cianfrance

Derek Cianfrance, an acclaimed American film director, screenwriter, and producer, was born on August 10, 1974, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Growing up in a family of modest means, he discovered his passion for filmmaking at an early age. This passion led him to study Film Production at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Cianfrance's directing career began with short films like "Father's Day" (2006) and "The Miracle Region" (2007), which showcased his unique storytelling style marked by raw emotion, intimacy, and a deep exploration of human relationships. In 2010, Cianfrance released his first feature-length film, "Blue Valentine," starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. The movie, a poignant portrayal of a crumbling marriage, earned critical acclaim for its emotional intensity and performances. Two years later, he directed the critically acclaimed "The Place Beyond the Pines" (2012), which tells the intertwining stories of a motorcycle stunt rider turned bank robber and a rookie police officer. The film showcased Cianfrance's ability to create complex narratives that span generations. Cianfrance's latest work, "The Light Between Oceans" (2016), is an adaptation of the best-selling novel by M.L. Stedman. The movie revolves around a lighthouse keeper and his wife who discover a baby girl washed ashore and must decide whether to raise her as their own, a choice that ripples through generations. Throughout his career, Cianfrance has been influenced by the works of Terrence Malick, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg. His films are characterized by long takes, naturalistic performances, and an intimate exploration of human relationships, making him one of the most promising voices in contemporary American cinema.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The power isn't in the action, it's in the stillness between the actions."

This quote by Derek Cianfrance emphasizes the importance of pauses or still moments amidst action. It suggests that true power resides not just in what we do, but also in the reflective quietude that follows our actions. These silent spaces provide opportunities for introspection, strategic thinking, and emotional processing, ultimately enhancing our actions' impact and effectiveness. Therefore, it encourages us to embrace stillness as a critical component of action, rather than viewing it as idle time.


"I believe there are no accidents in life. Everything that happens to us is a choice we have made consciously or subconsciously."

This quote suggests that every event or circumstance that occurs in our lives, whether apparent by conscious decision or not, is essentially a result of a choice or series of choices we've made. It emphasizes the idea that we have control over our lives, even if we may not always be aware of it, and encourages us to take responsibility for our actions and decisions.


"True love, real love, doesn't work if you keep score."

The quote implies that a healthy and sustainable relationship should not be based on keeping track of favors, gestures, or sacrifices as it undermines the essence of genuine love. Instead, true love is characterized by mutual understanding, trust, and selflessness, where partners prioritize each other's happiness without expecting an equal return. It suggests that counting actions within a relationship can lead to resentment and dissolution of the love, while focusing on fostering emotional connections ensures its longevity and prosperity.


"The most important thing in making a film for me is not the technical aspects but rather capturing the essence of human emotion."

The quote emphasizes that for director Derek Cianfrance, the core objective in creating a film isn't mastering technical elements like cinematography or editing, but rather, it's about authentically portraying the intricate depth of human emotions. By focusing on capturing and conveying genuine feelings, he aims to create films that resonate deeply with audiences.


"I don't make movies to change people or to provoke them, I make movies that reflect life and my emotions."

Derek Cianfrance suggests that his films are a mirror reflecting real-life experiences and personal emotions rather than tools for explicitly changing or provoking an audience. This statement implies a focus on authenticity, introspection, and the shared human experience through the medium of cinema. The films serve as an outlet for Cianfrance's inner world, bridging the gap between his subjective feelings and the objective reality experienced by others.


I'm not asking actors to act. I'm asking them to behave. I want to see their being, not how they can fake it.

- Derek Cianfrance

Want, Asking, Them, Fake

When people think of biblical movies, they imagine sweeping epics like 'The Ten Commandments.' But 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew' is essentially a documentary about Jesus. It made me aware of how real life and personal experience can create more breathtaking, sensitive cinema than more sophisticated techniques.

- Derek Cianfrance

Sophisticated, According, Breathtaking

One reason Cassavetes is a hero to me is that his movies grew with him; they reflected the stages of his life. He made movies about where he was at that time. That's what I want to do with my films.

- Derek Cianfrance

Reason, Made, Films, Stages

I was a member of the VHS generation. I used to study movies as a kid because I had a VCR and could record a movie on HBO and just watch it repeatedly.

- Derek Cianfrance

Generation, Study, VCR, HBO

I shot 'Blue Valentine' on 16mm for the past, and for the present on the Red Camera. I feel that both formats are valid. The stories should dictate the format we shoot on. Filmmakers should have a choice.

- Derek Cianfrance

Past, Stories, Formats, Valentine

To me, discomfort is a gift in the films that I'm making.

- Derek Cianfrance

Gift, Making, Films, Discomfort

My older brother gave me a cassette tape of Mr. Bungle, and I couldn't stop listening to it. I used to drive around Colorado in a Mustang II - it was when they got away from the muscle-car Mustangs, so it was sort of old lady. I couldn't go above 45 mph in that car, but I would drive around listening to Mr. Bungle.

- Derek Cianfrance

Away, Used, Older Brother, Cassette

I don't really collect anything. I grew up in a family that collected things, and then they'd get sick, and people die, and then they have their basements full of stuff that goes from one box to the next, so I try not to get sentimental with stuff. I just try to collect memories; I guess that would be it.

- Derek Cianfrance

Die, Next, Collected, Sentimental

I have kids. I can't hardly watch an afternoon football game with them without having to turn off the TV during the commercials. It's too much. I don't know when violence was deemed such a cinematic thing.

- Derek Cianfrance

Game, TV, Football Game, Hardly

One of the bad things about being a filmmaker, about being me, is I can hardly read a book anymore because every time I read something, I have a poaching mentality, like, 'Oh, can this be a movie?'

- Derek Cianfrance

Book, Bad, Movie, Hardly

When I cast great actors, I try to make extraordinary people ordinary, dealing with these extremely small intimate details of interpersonal relationships against an epic backdrop.

- Derek Cianfrance

Small, Dealing, Backdrop, Interpersonal

I love people that work with passion and love. When you make choices that way, there's reverberations, consequences. That's what I'm interested in, that echo, that ripple of choice.

- Derek Cianfrance

Love, Work, Echo, Ripple

I think 'GoodFellas' is just a perfect film. From an efficiency of storytelling standpoint, from an entertainment standpoint, from a performance standpoint, from a use of music standpoint, from a cinematography and editing standpoint - to me, it's just a perfect movie.

- Derek Cianfrance

Efficiency, Think, I Think, Standpoint

I never learned to be a writer. I never took screenwriting courses. I never read anyone's scripts. As a writer, my only guiding principle has been to write about things that scare me, write about things that make me feel vulnerable, write about things that will expose my deepest fears, so that's how I write.

- Derek Cianfrance

Been, Principle, I Write, Scripts

I think people need fantasy, but I think they also need to know that they're not being lied to. I think sometimes the fantasy can betray people and become more difficult for people's lives than just truth. I can't stand delusion. Delusion makes me sick.

- Derek Cianfrance

Being Lied To, I Think, Betray

I feel like the job of an artist is to confront their own darkness and their own demons and fears. And I want to make movies that feel human up on the screen. I don't really relate to dudes wearing spandex and capes.

- Derek Cianfrance

Artist, Own, Confront, Demons

The only time I judge an actor on set is if they're not failing; if they get it right all the time, I start to question it. I feel like it's too easy.

- Derek Cianfrance

Question, Like, Set, Only Time

In terms of Ray Liotta, when I was a teenager growing up in Colorado, I didn't have pictures of girls on my wall. I had pictures of Ray Liotta on my wall. Along with Mike Patton, he was one of my heroes.

- Derek Cianfrance

Had, Mike, Ray, Teenager

There was a time in my early 20s when I would leave a movie theater and just feel so alone and lonely afterwards. I just felt like my life was nothing like those characters up on the screen, so perfect all the time. Why didn't I talk like that? Why don't I look like that?

- Derek Cianfrance

My Life, Perfect, Movie, Movie Theater

When I grew up, a director was Cecil B DeMille, a guy sitting down with a megaphone speaking. He was the voice of God, the image of God. When I went to start making docs, I quickly turned the megaphone to my ear not to my mouth. It's more about funneling in the words and listening as doc filmmaker.

- Derek Cianfrance

Voice, Turned, Cecil, Sitting

When I was a kid, I had two nightmares: one was nuclear war, and the other was that my parents would get a divorce; and when I was twenty, they split up, and I just felt like I needed to confront all those things that scared me as a kid - entering young adulthood and trying to have relationships.

- Derek Cianfrance

Young, Other, Needed, Scared

There's this thing in Hollywood about the sympathetic character and likability. I've never understood that because the people I love most in my life are not likable all the time. My wife is not always likable. I'm certainly not always likable. My dad is not always likable. We're human beings.

- Derek Cianfrance

Love, My Life, Hollywood, Understood

There's one rule that I have on my movies, which is that anything that you want to do, you can do. But! There's a flip side to that, which is that anything I want you to do, give it a try also.

- Derek Cianfrance

Give, Side, Which, I Want You

There's something so glorious in giving control to the world. I think that's what I'm trying to do in my films - control the world but also let it be chaotic, let there be life.

- Derek Cianfrance

Think, I Think, Films, Chaotic

I love actors that are brave, that are courageous. And courage to me is not the absence of fear, it's the presence of fear, and they go to places that really scare them, because as an audience, that's where you feel danger.

- Derek Cianfrance

Love, Scare, Absence, Presence

Seeing 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew' was an extraordinary experience because it made me realise that all the biblical stories and images I'd ignored as a child had sunk in by osmosis. I saw that my childhood was deeply rooted inside me.

- Derek Cianfrance

Experience, Had, According, Sunk

I grew up Catholic, so I feel guilty about everything.

- Derek Cianfrance

Guilty, Feel, About, Catholic

I've always thought that guns are a cowardly tool in the hands of men and women trying to solve problems with each other. And cowardly in the hands of filmmakers. It's taken so lightly in films.

- Derek Cianfrance

Always, Other, Films, Tool

From making documentaries all these years, it doesn't feel right to lead someone. In narratives, I'm always trying to shoot as though it's really happening, and I trust my actors are going to make decisions that I'm going to be following. I want to follow them.

- Derek Cianfrance

Trust, Feel, Years, Documentaries

There's something so great when you're watching a movie when you slowly get to know somebody more, because it's like a real relationship.

- Derek Cianfrance

More, Movie, Like, Real Relationship

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