At HBO, they seem to be well-informed. They make what I think are really quite mature films.
Bruce Beresford

Directing an opera is similar to directing a play. The singing must not get in the way of the drama.
Bruce Beresford

Everyone has seen photographs of Mexicans wearing those big sombreros. When you come to Mexico, the astonishing thing is, nobody wears these hats at all.
Bruce Beresford

Film is shot in fragments, and the same moments can be shot again and again until the director is satisfied.
Bruce Beresford

For a director, the most challenging scenes are the dialogue scenes.
Bruce Beresford

He's wrong. That's why his films look so terrible.
Bruce Beresford

I didn't get upset because I wasn't nominated, but I was a little surprised.
Bruce Beresford

I don't rehearse films as much as opera or theatre. When I began directing films I thought a long rehearsal was a good idea. Experience showed me that the best performance was often left in a rehearsal room.
Bruce Beresford

I'd really been interested in opera when I was about 16, and I really like staging them.
Bruce Beresford

In Australia, they set up a special fund to kick films off. It was quite an enlightened sort of move. You could go to this government bureau with scripts and and get finance for films.
Bruce Beresford


In my view, the operas of Carlisle Floyd will find a place in the permanent repertoire.
Bruce Beresford

In opera, everyone's watching from a fixed viewpoint, and that really challenges you. Lighting, the sets, stage groupings, the music-but doesn't relate too much to film.
Bruce Beresford

In silent movies, they tended to put the camera down, and everybody walked in front of it and acted, and then they all walked off. Cutting was quite infrequent.
Bruce Beresford

It is essential to do everything possible to attract young people to opera so they can see that it is not some antiquated art form but a repository of the most glorious music and drama that man has created.
Bruce Beresford

It's not enough to hit the notes. There is no point in the singers just standing there and sounding wonderful if they're not connecting with the characters they are portraying.
Bruce Beresford

On stage, the audience watches from a fixed viewpoint and the director cannot retake something he doesn't like. It has to work straight through.
Bruce Beresford

Perhaps the most difficult thing is shooting scenes set 6,000 feet up in the mountains of Mexico.
Bruce Beresford

Quite a few operas are still being commissioned around the world, although nothing apart from audience popularity can ensure more than a few performances.
Bruce Beresford

Tender Mercies is a very low-budget film, but it was a huge budget compared to anything I had done in Australia. My fee for Tender Mercies was something like five times all of my Australian films combined.
Bruce Beresford

The music of the most popular operas is so highly esteemed, it can stand endless revivals.
Bruce Beresford