Welcome to a compilation of insightful and provocative quotes by Gaspar Noé, the visionary filmmaker known for his daring and boundary-pushing cinematic creations. Gaspar Noé’s works are often characterized by their raw and unflinching exploration of human nature, tackling themes ranging from love and desire to violence and existential angst. With a distinctive visual style and a willingness to challenge conventional storytelling norms, Noé has cemented his reputation as one of the most audacious and uncompromising directors of contemporary cinema.
Throughout his career, Gaspar Noé has captivated audiences and critics alike with his bold and fearless approach to filmmaking. His films, such as Irreversible, Enter the Void, and Love, have stirred debate and controversy, pushing the boundaries of what is considered acceptable in cinema. Users can find a selection of Gaspar Noé’s most memorable and thought-provoking quotes below. Whether you’re a cinephile seeking inspiration or simply intrigued by Noé’s unique perspective, these quotes offer a glimpse into the mind of a true cinematic provocateur.
When you do a movie, it comes out of many different ideas that you had. Gaspar Noe
The voice of a kid can be so much more touching than an adult voice. Gaspar Noe
Lars von Trier makes funny, radical movies, some packing power. But, he’s not a provocateur. He’s making adult movies for an adult audience. Pasolini, too. Fassbinder, too. Gaspar Noe
If you can make something that looks new – novelty is exciting. Gaspar Noe
I am not the Marquis de Sade. Gaspar Noe
You know it’s a great story when you identify with the main character to the point that you forget you’re a spectator or a reader. Gaspar Noe
I tried ‘Black Panther.’ I escaped from the cinema after 20 minutes. I thought it was as bad as ‘Star Wars.’ I hated ‘Star Wars.’ Gaspar Noe
When I go to the DVD shop, I mostly buy documentaries because you learn a lot from documentaries. Gaspar Noe
With documentary, you just pick up a camera and start. Gaspar Noe
Sometimes you don’t want to abandon a project to go to another move and come back, so maybe because I have a manic obsession I stick to my idea, and I’d rather wait than do something that is not my main passion. Gaspar Noe
Before being humans with morals, people are mostly animals, fighting for domination and survival. Gaspar Noe
I always thought it would be good to do a psychedelic movie like ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ Gaspar Noe
Death is not evil. Death can be good news. It all depends. Some people come to this world and live in hell so birth is not always positive. Death can sometimes be positive. Gaspar Noe
I’ve always been respectful to all the people who do visual effects and special effects, because making movies is also making magic. Gaspar Noe
When you’re dead, you’re dead. I believe in shapes – you’re not conscious of it, but you’re like a tree that grows but takes a particular shape that is prewritten. Gaspar Noe
I have a lot of respect for those movies, like the old ‘King Kong,’ which create a grand world with the tricks. Gaspar Noe
I can’t stand musicals, but I love dance because it’s a corporeal language that can be so rich and sometimes so unusual. Gaspar Noe
I mostly get bored by comedies, action movies, science fiction movies – they are so predictable. Gaspar Noe
I’m so used to bad reviews. I really enjoy them when they’re very mean! Gaspar Noe
I would never watch the Oscar ceremony. Gaspar Noe
No director is independent. Gaspar Noe
Before being a person, man is an animal, with all its reptilian compulsions. And if at some point you block the conscious part of the mind, you’ve got all the reptilian compulsions that come out. Gaspar Noe
If I cared about who was winning the Oscar, it was when I was a kid when they were giving awards to ‘Midnight Cowboy’ or ‘The Godfather.’ Gaspar Noe
If I make a happy, happy movie one day, I’ll think it’s dull. Gaspar Noe
It’s very nice to hear something very soft to your ear when you have something very hard to your eyes. Gaspar Noe
I was reading some books by Michel Houellebecq, and the first thing that comes to mind is that they’re really funny, all the ways they describe the most depressing things. Gaspar Noe
There are periods in your life in which you dream much more as an artist – you remember your dreams in the morning, and there are periods in your life that for one month or two months you don’t remember any dreams. Gaspar Noe
I can’t prevent myself of being funny. Gaspar Noe
I think that in some ways ‘Climax’ is easier to digest than my other movies because the characters are easier to identify with. You love them because they’re young, they’re great dancers, they’re beautiful, and they are willing to construct something. They’re not losers like most of the characters of my previous movies. Gaspar Noe
I don’t believe in telling people you can suffer this life because you’re rewarded in a future life. Gaspar Noe
I think life after death is in the mind of the people around you. It’s what’s left in this world in the memory of others, but when the flesh starts rotting, the spirit disappears. Gaspar Noe
Movies are best when your mind is open. Gaspar Noe
I want to make clear that I do not promote any belief of a lord or a reward after this lifetime. If you want to be rewarded, reward yourself during this lifetime. No one is going to help you out. Gaspar Noe
It’s funny how much the lie of a life after life works with people. Even people who are non-believers seem to think that their soul is going to survive. Gaspar Noe
My characters are never heroic. They are mostly lost and trying to find the right door to open and they end up opening the wrong doors. Gaspar Noe
Documentaries can provoke much more than narrative movies. Gaspar Noe
I forget myself when I dance. Gaspar Noe
I’m fascinated with old stories that you can read in newspapers that seem like catastrophe movies. Gaspar Noe
On my sets, everybody seems very relaxed. I always try to avoid any tension before it even begins. A shooting has to be like a party. The creative process must be joyful, even if the final result is meant to be sad or scary. Gaspar Noe
I still can’t get used to a smartphone. There’s something I really dislike about it, but for a new generation, life without smartphones never existed. Gaspar Noe
For the record, I’m straight. Gaspar Noe
I used to consume a lot of horror movies as a teenager, and some impressed me more than other ones. I would watch Romero’s movies, Dario Argento’s movies, ‘Eraserhead’ over and over. ‘Possession,’ ‘Repulsion,’ ‘Freaks.’ Gaspar Noe
80-percent of ‘Enter the Void’ is a traditional narrative movie. I suppose it’s more similar to ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ or ‘Videodrome’ than it is to ‘Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome’ by Kenneth Anger, which is very experimental. It’s the other 10% of 20% that reminds you of the language and glamour of dreams. Gaspar Noe
I’m very proud of every single movie, whether they make money or not. Gaspar Noe
Most of the directors that I show my movies before the final cut, are directors that I admire, and who do movies that are very different from mine. Gaspar Noe
Sometimes when I make a movie, my main goal is to show the movie to one particular director. Gaspar Noe
Love’ touches women more. They say it is feminist. Gaspar Noe
There is an animal instinct force in humans that creates passion. When you love sometimes you cross a border. Gaspar Noe
I remember ‘The Towering Inferno’ when it came out, I was probably 10 years old, but I could watch it seven consecutive days in the week. I would go and watch it over and over and over. Gaspar Noe
In ‘Climax’ there are all kinds of colours of skin, all kinds of genders, sexual preferences – but I don’t care, I chose my favourite dancers. Gaspar Noe
Un Chien Andalou’ can be replayed over and over and over. Gaspar Noe
Listen to the works of your idols, not your teachers. Gaspar Noe
My father offered me a Super8 camera that he bought in some Brazilian airport. I was 16, and shot a reel with my best friend Juan Solanas jumping from the Pont Neuf bridge. It was my first psychological drama. Gaspar Noe
I don’t think of my movies as provocative. Gaspar Noe
I spent a long time on my first movie, which was the sequel to a short film that I did called ‘Carne.’ And I had no money. I shot it over a period of three years, a bit like David Lynch directed ‘Eraserhead.’ Gaspar Noe
I really disliked promoting ‘Love’ in America. Gaspar Noe
Narrative cinema is just an imitation of life. Why would you prevent yourself and the audience of the same images, of the same that happened in real life? Gaspar Noe
Yeah, I was only in New York from the age of six months until five years old. But my very first memories are all of New York. I remember my first rainbow on a beach in New York. I remember jumping on a bed in New York. Gaspar Noe
I like not cutting scenes. I like going from one head to another head talking. I like that energy. Gaspar Noe
I don’t like the word provocateur. It sounds like a social disease coming from France. Gaspar Noe
Life is a short game. If you want to be bisexual, pansexual, do it. Gaspar Noe
When you make shorts, people don’t get paid. It’s mostly about being diplomatic that you’re going to do a masterpiece of short cinema. Gaspar Noe
I get very, very bored by TV series or TV movies. But when you see great acrobats on TV, my eyes stick to the screen. I can watch them forever. Gaspar Noe
I like laughing about cruel things because life is cruel. Gaspar Noe
I like 3D. Gaspar Noe
I was considered a crazy guy. Gaspar Noe
The truth is that… if you put any idea out there that’s kind of flashy, you have many, many people that are going to be copying it. This happens whether you do movies, paintings or music. Gaspar Noe
The American horror movies are more moralistic, they have not only good characters, but characters where the ultimate danger is death. What I like about European cinema is they have another sense of what’s good, what’s bad, and sometimes all the characters are far more complex than just that. It’s less binary, the Giallo genre. Gaspar Noe
Seventies cinema – ‘Taxi Driver,’ ‘Deliverance’ – that was the best period of American cinema. Gaspar Noe
I enjoyed using cranes and using all these CGI images on ‘Enter the Void.’ Gaspar Noe
I’ve always wanted to make a poster out of my bad reviews and frame it. Gaspar Noe
Tokyo’s like a huge pinball machine. The first time you’re there, and you don’t understand what’s going on, it’s like ‘ding ding ding ding ding’ everywhere. The lights are changing, the neon lights are moving. Gaspar Noe
Every single life is about construction and destruction. Gaspar Noe
I’m not interested in constraining human beings like rats in a laboratory. Gaspar Noe
Charisma is charisma. Gaspar Noe
I got used to long takes with ‘Irreversible’ and ‘Enter the Void’ and also with ‘Love.’ Gaspar Noe
I don’t believe in life after death. But I still enjoyed the idea of doing a movie that would portray that collective dream, that collective need. Like flying saucers are a collective need for people who need to believe in flying saucers. You don’t need to believe in flying saucers to do a movie about Martians or flying saucers. Gaspar Noe
Even the most achieved life ends up in the hospital with your body and brain falling into pieces. Gaspar Noe
For all of my movies, half of the press always hates it. Gaspar Noe
The truth is, when you make movies, you have to learn how to lie. You have to convince people to give you money and you pretend they’ll get double, triple or 10 times as much. Gaspar Noe
I’m a happy person. When a happy person makes a cruel movie, it becomes funny. Gaspar Noe
There are two major masterpieces that really brought the language of dreams or nightmares to the screen. The initial one is Dali and Bunuel’s ‘Un Chien Andalou,’ and then later, David Lynch’s ‘Eraserhead.’ Gaspar Noe
When you make a movie, you’re just having fun with the audience. Gaspar Noe
I did this very cheap movie called ‘Love,’ and then I decided I wanted to make an even cheaper movie so people don’t get involved and can’t tell you how to rewrite it or how to avoid losing money. The good thing about doing these quite cheap movies is that you have much more freedom. Gaspar Noe
Alcohol makes you stupid. Gaspar Noe
In my case, I feel very protected when I see a movie. That’s why I like making violent movies or radical movies. Gaspar Noe
I really don’t care about the Oscars. Gaspar Noe
Most people who have a baby don’t want to be filmed while they have a baby. Gaspar Noe
I watch the Cannes awards ceremony because I relate more to the films that are competing in Cannes than the ones competing for the Oscars. Gaspar Noe
One day, if I had to do a horror movie, it will be a very realistic war movie. For me, war is horror. Gaspar Noe
When your brain and body stop working, it turns into hell. Death is at that point desired. It’s the best thing that can happen. Gaspar Noe
If Kubrick made me love forever the film language, Scorsese made me love actors. And ‘Raging Bull’ is my favorite male performance ever. Gaspar Noe
If there’s one movie character that I wish I could be, for sure it’s Travis Bickle. Gaspar Noe
I went to see some voguing ballrooms and krump battles, and I was hypnotized by their body language. These guys, who are usually very poor, become stars onstage once a month in a ballroom or in a battle. Gaspar Noe
When your mother dies in your arms, your perception of life changes. I think the whole thing is just a fleeting illusion. Gaspar Noe
Avatar’ is very mind-blowing – or eye-blowing, maybe – especially in 3-D. Gaspar Noe
Weapons are the source of death. In every American movie, there are machine guns, whatever. Gaspar Noe
If you take pleasure in what you’re doing, certainly the audience might, too. Gaspar Noe
Jason and the Argonauts’ is the very first movie that I ever remember watching. My parents were living in New York and I was a very young kid. And I remember being in front of my TV all alone watching skeletons fighting with swords. For me it was magic. Gaspar Noe
I would have a problem directing a scene like most directors do, in that TV style. I would get bored, I don’t enjoy editing in the classic way. Gaspar Noe
