Bennett Miller, Born: 30 December 1966, New York City, New York, USA

Honestly, my smartest business decision was to never do anything that I didn't love doing.

Some time ago, the classes, the walls, and the barriers separating the classes began to be dissolved...Show more »

Some time ago, the classes, the walls, and the barriers separating the classes began to be dissolved, at least in our minds, meaning that there is freedom in opportunity. With that dissolution, I think, comes an anxiety about your station in life, because wherever you are, there is a station above you, and with it now is the understanding that the only thing keeping you from it is not some law or societal construct -it's your own inadequacy if you fail to get there. There are prizes that we are meant to aspire towards. I do think that's part of the American concept. Show less «

My business life is really simple. It's like, get check. Put check in bank. Pay rent. I've never bou...Show more »

My business life is really simple. It's like, get check. Put check in bank. Pay rent. I've never bought a stock in my life. I never got caught up in that trip. And the truth is, I don't obsess about money ever. Show less «

I think I am missing a gene that most people have to enable them to feel happiness about success and...Show more »

I think I am missing a gene that most people have to enable them to feel happiness about success and these kind of things. Show less «

I think I approach things with an outsider's perspective.

I don't believe in God in the way I often see described by religion.

[on Foxcatcher] In some ways it's a small story, but yet it really felt familiar and it had resonanc...Show more »

[on Foxcatcher] In some ways it's a small story, but yet it really felt familiar and it had resonance. For me the more micro you look at it, the bigger it becomes. Within it are themes of wealth, power, class, decline and entitlement... There's a natural human tendency to judge things before we understand them. That simplifies things but deprives us of insights that could be taken from looking more carefully, being unflinching, taking a hard look at something we have an aversion to looking at. This film really wants to stare at the ambiguity of what happens. The discomfort of ambiguity is an essential aspect of the story. It pulls back the bow for a long time. It's not meant to crystallize until the end. Show less «

My nature is to try and look past apparent truths, to pull back layers and understand the psychologi...Show more »

My nature is to try and look past apparent truths, to pull back layers and understand the psychological motives behind phenomena. A nonfiction subject challenges you, it keeps you honest. Show less «

I think the mind has a way of getting to where it needs to get to. If you are persistent.

I am attracted to anything that does not feel derivative.

I want to work with performers who really are ready to lose their minds, you know? People who are es...Show more »

I want to work with performers who really are ready to lose their minds, you know? People who are established and have talent, but who are ready to break new ground and really be cracked open in a new way. Show less «

Every relationship probably has, at its inception, a hundred things that you could pick on and diver...Show more »

Every relationship probably has, at its inception, a hundred things that you could pick on and divert you from it, but the feeling is there. You figure out a way to make it work. Show less «

For me, personally, the value of a film is not determined by a review, but the health of the film is...Show more »

For me, personally, the value of a film is not determined by a review, but the health of the film is. Show less «

[on the tone and style of Foxcatcher] The tone comes from the style of filmmaking, which is more con...Show more »

[on the tone and style of Foxcatcher] The tone comes from the style of filmmaking, which is more concerned with observing a story instead of telling a story. It is a style that seeks to sensitize you to what is happening beneath the surface because so much goes unexpressed. The style tends to calm and smooth the waters so that you can see deeper. It is a turbulent story but the observing of it is ultra-focused. As far as tone in regards to being funny or serious or whatever else, it seemed to be an appropriate and natural manifestation of this extraordinarily awkward and ultimate tragic relationship. Show less «

You make a movie and you'd like it to be appreciated, respected, embraced.

People are attracted to entertainment, for sure, or jokes, excitement and romantically heightened st...Show more »

People are attracted to entertainment, for sure, or jokes, excitement and romantically heightened stories that might be false, but are still attractive fantasies. Show less «

A film cannot make it into the culture without the support of critics.

[on why his narrative features have all been fact-based] I imagine I'll do non-fact-based films as w...Show more »

[on why his narrative features have all been fact-based] I imagine I'll do non-fact-based films as well, but I'm attracted to stories that are allegorical, but also have a finite, material reality that can be examined. This is one of these stories that I think guards all sorts of truths. If you really stick with it and examine it, it begins to reveal things I can't imagine anybody fabricating. There's something very satisfying about creating cinema within the limitation of true events. Show less «

Every film, I believe, teaches you how to make that film.

It's great making a film and having it embraced and seen. I really enjoy that.