Michael Haneke

ISFJ

Quotes

 * “I always think about these things in advance, rather than on set, so that it doesn’t come to that point. It’s about finding the adequate and appropriate vehicle for conveying these things. Certainly, I wouldn’t never do anything in a film which the actors were not comfortable with playing. They feel protected when they’re with me.”
 * "It’s all about creating a sense of trust, so that the actors know that you’re there to support them, which leads them to be able to give their best."
 * “Not only did I have a happy childhood, but I’m a happy person. If you look around us, the world isn’t such a funny place, and all of us are capable of everything – the most horrific acts as well as acts of extraordinary beauty. It’s my responsibility to present this contradiction.”
 * "All my films deal with the same family. If you look at the films, then you’ll notice as well that they all have the same names. That’s because they’re the only people I know!"
 * "I don’t see myself as this sort of dark auteur. I think my works are realistic. I’m concerned with holding up a mirror to society.”
 * "Only when my story is complete, in the sense that I know all the major plot lines regarding the major characters, do I sit down to write. And that’s just so much fun! It’s really a pleasant process. Once you’re on the right track, you can indulge yourself. Before that, you can’t see the forest for the trees. When I have a thousand options, I actually have none at all. Film requires you to plan each detail meticulously, and this is exactly why it’s so different from writing a novel."
 * "Truthfully, reality is not transportable or explicable. In literature, it’s something that has been accepted by everyone, but in the movies, we are always four steps back. It’s not surprising that we are in this position, because it’s a reassuring point of view for the public and with it one can make a lot of money. But if you consider cinema as art, then you have to be a little bit more concrete and realistic."
 * Tom Shone: "The paradoxes of his cinema are rooted in the introvert’s dilemma: an acute sensitivity to the brutality of others that, expressing itself under duress, risks its own form of violence. Haneke calls himself “radically shy” and the implicit extremism in that label is a perfect fit."
 * Susanne Lothar: "His visual language is strictly formal. There's nothing accidental in his films...he has the film set out in his mind."