"Cinema never saved anyone's life, it is not a medicine that will save anyone's life. It is only an aspirin." "What's so special about all those amazing British children's writers, those who gave us Alice in Wonderland and Robinson Crusoe and Pooh Bear and Peter Pan and Peter Rabbit and the rest, was that they didn't set out to seduce. The great children's writers were authentic, they copied no one, they didn't set out to make money or to preach ideas. They just transcribed their dreams." "I do think that kids today miss out on a lot of those guidelines. Parents are always at work; school doesn't necessarily give the framework; politicians are all corruption and scandal; even sporting heroes are tainted with drugs and what have you. Rules are important for kids." "People often say I'm a child at heart. In fact, I think I just have access to [my childhood], I have a very clear memory of it. We were all children once. We just need to show a bit of respect for it." "Why did I make Subway? Why did I do all that crazy undersea stuff in The Big Blue? Why did I go all black and nasty with Nikita?. I don't know. Because I did. I do what I do because I want to do it, because I want to explore, go looking for things." "I was never polluted by the world of cinema. I didn't even have a TV until I was 16. My expression is a reflection of the world I have seen, and in that world everyone was barefoot in bathing suits, following the order of the sea, the natural order of sunrise and sunset. I never went to the cinémathèque. I didn't know much about the masters of world cinema."