Welcome to a curated collection of insightful quotes by Alejandro González Iñárritu, a visionary filmmaker whose work transcends boundaries and touches the depths of human experience. With a career spanning across various genres and languages, Iñárritu has established himself as one of the most prominent directors of our time. His films, marked by their profound storytelling and intricate character studies, delve into themes of identity, human connection, and the complexities of life itself.
Born in Mexico City, Alejandro González Iñárritu has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades for his contributions to cinema. From his early breakthrough with Amores Perros to his later masterpieces like Birdman and The Revenant, Iñárritu’s cinematic vision has captivated audiences worldwide, earning him multiple Academy Awards and widespread admiration from peers and viewers alike. His unique storytelling approach, characterized by nonlinear narratives and raw emotional intensity, challenges conventional filmmaking norms and invites audiences to confront the depths of their own humanity. Explore the profound wisdom and profound insights of Alejandro González Iñárritu through the compelling quotes below,
To shoot a conventional film means that you are always covering yourself. You are putting nets and, in a way, letting bad decisions take over. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
In hotels, every time I make a reservation and they never find my name, they never can pronounce it; it’s so long, and sometimes they confuse. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Freedom comes with a lot of responsibility. When you are by yourself, you have to develop a third eye. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I think I want to talk about life from the point of view of death. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I have never directed anything for the stage. I studied for three years in the theater, and it was a very, very scary experience to direct live, being so vulnerable without the possibility to control things, to be so exposed. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
It’s famous that comedians have a very dark personal state of mind. I think, in my case, it’s the same. The only way to get deep is to have a balance, or a counterbalance. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I think that when we wrestle with death… we start fearing life, because then we come to terms with something that is inevitable. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I think that my films are basically family stories, beyond the fact that they are global and have political and social commentary. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
‘Amores Perros’ is rock, ’21 Grams’ is jazz, ‘Babel’ is an opera, and ‘Biutiful’ is a requiem. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Fear of the unknown is a great creative partner. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
There was so much fear after 9/11, and that fear caused people to make the wrong decisions. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
When I think about growing up, I feel most affected by two travels that I made working in cargo boats when I was 16 and 18. One of them crossed through the Mississippi and Baton Rouge and Mobile, Alabama, and another went all the way to Europe. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
My mom had very low expectations for me, and she really had a point. I was a big problem at seventeen. If I had a kid like me, I would have those same expectations. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I don’t know if I have a career or not, or where it ends or it begins. I have been working, doing what I do for a long time. But my creative process has always been so tortuous. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
To make a film is easy; to make a good film is war. To make a very good film is a miracle. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I’m neurotic. I complain all the time. I’m a workaholic. And I’m never satisfied. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
We are the only alive creatures that are mortals; the animals are immortal, which is why they live stupidly. We are the only creatures that know that we will die, but that is a gift. It’s important because we know we have to take advantage and squeeze life and understand why we’re here in the first place. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I’m usually very critical of myself. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I can be unbearable sometimes asking for so many takes. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
When you have a fresh point of view that comes from the right side of the heart, it’s just so valuable. You can take it or not take it, but just that perspective can give you a lot of strength or make you reflect on a lot of things. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
You have to make millions on Friday night, because there are another 600 films waiting behind you, with explosions and everything. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
When we are looking for validation, that will never satisfy us. When we are looking for affection, for love, a little bit of that will be enough to be complete. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I have a lot of what you might call creative self-loathing – I have pretty high expectations, and they seem to consistently be higher than what I’m able to accomplish. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
‘Biutiful’ is not about death. It’s about life. It’s a hymn to life. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
You can better embrace life, you can enjoy it more, when you are conscious that it will end. You bite life. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Irony is a great tool to deal with things. It’s an intellectualization, a way to go above things, which can work. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I learned there are ways to approach life. You can never change the events, but you can change the way you approach them. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Americans easily forget that the air they breathe is the same as those in Europe or Africa or Asia; it’s the same air as Jesus breathed. I would like them to remember that connection. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
All of us want something in life, all of us have flaws, and all of us have strengths. So, I always try to discover those things in a character and then try to expose it in one way or another. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
It’s hard for me to work for somebody else. I can work with someone, but not for someone. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Who cares about my opinions? Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
We have these ambitions that are very hard to accomplish because life puts us in our place. We have this battle with mediocrity. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
From the time we open our eyes, we live in a Steadicam form, and the only editing is when we talk about our lives or remember things. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
What good is making a jewel if nobody see it? But cost depends on the story. To get those performances in ‘Biutiful,’ you need that time. You need 60 takes in a scene and a year to edit. It’s not realistic to do it any other way. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Movies started out as an extension of a magic trick, so making a spectacle is part of the game. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I think we are all connected in this world. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
We have always existed in different forms – carbon, oxygen, water, heat. Maybe Heaven is this brief period when the elements realize they’re alive. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
People talk about the pain of defeat, but I think defeat has a lot of value. I think the wound of victory can be even more damaging than defeat. Very few people really know how to win. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I began to learn about the camera and the actors. That gave me a lot of the skills. At the same time, advertising gives you a lot of vices, for example, an obsession for a superficial look, but at the same time, it gives you the capacity to synthesize the story – tell a story in one minute. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I think bad movies are made around the world, not just in Hollywood. There are as many bad art films in the whole world as there are bad commercial films. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Too much knowledge and analysis can be paralysis. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I have dark skin. My nickname is El Negro. They call me El Negro in Mexico because even in my country, the dark skin is evidence of Indian blood, a sign that one technically belongs to a third class. Even my grandmother had some kind of differentiation with me, because I was darker than my siblings. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I think we are defined as human beings through our families, no matter what kind of family – through our relationships with parents, brothers and sisters. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I realized – and I am probably the last person in the world to realize this – that we live our lives with no editing. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I’m an intense person. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
My cinema is an extension of myself. A sort of life-testimony of my vital experience, with my few virtues and my numerous limitations. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Cannes or any other major festival is basically an animal in its own nature, creating very specific perceptions of films in a moment. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Everyone’s terrified of being mediocre. Everyone wants to be special. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
When you are shooting in a conventional way, you put nets around yourself. It’s very hard to fall and hit the ground. You can always manipulate things to make it not embarrassing. If the scene is a little bit bad, you can polish it or even take it out. You can hide your mistakes. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I think films are bigger than structure. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Two words guided the making of ‘Babel’ for me: ‘dignity’ and ‘compassion.’ These things are normally forgotten in the making of a lot of films. Normally there is not dignity because the poor and dispossessed in a place like Morocco are portrayed as mere victims, or the Japanese are portrayed as cartoon figures with no humanity. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I studied for three years in the theater, and it was a very, very scary experience to direct live, being so vulnerable without the possibility to control things, to be so exposed. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I learned with ‘Birdman’ that it’s liberating when you just lose yourself and go after something that terrifies you. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
That incredible bubble and high expectations built at festivals can work against a film. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I know how to work with people. I’ve worked with the same people for 10 years. I’m not that kind of auteur. I hear ideas. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I think that in order to be a film director, one has to be a warrior who shouldn’t be defeated by the daily onslaught of problems. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I’ve learned to lose with a smile on my face. That’s what the Oscar teaches you. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I’m very curious, I guess, as a human being. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I’ve never done a period piece or a comedy, and that could be something truly different for me. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I don’t like the ironic tone that our pop culture, in the world, has taken. Everything is ‘ironic.’ Everything is ‘cool.’ Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of death. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Cinema is universal, beyond flags and borders and passports. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
The way America sees Mexico, if they have any sense of it, is like Taco Bell. Our countries are neighbors, and the only hard food to get in America is true Mexican. It’s impossible to find, even in L.A. Why is that? Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Look, I’m no purist – there are good superhero films, and there are bad ones. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
To direct actors is difficult. To direct actors in another language is more difficult, but directing non-actors in another language is one of the craziest things that I have done and one of the most rewarding experiences I have had. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I see only one requirement you have to have to be a director or any kind of artist: rhythm. Rhythm, for me, is everything. Without rhythm, there’s no music. Without rhythm, there’s no cinema. Without rhythm, there’s no architecture. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Innocence can be more powerful than experience. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
To question your own process is a necessity. If you don’t question yourself, it’s impossible to improve. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I think the most experimental way to a film is to tell the story the traditional way, because everyone is doing the other thing. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
If you stretch tragedy, it will always become comedy. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
As a city, it is always compelling. But every day in Mexico City, I give thanks that I am alive. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Movies become art after editing. Instead of just reproducing reality, they juxtapose images of it. That implies expression; that’s art. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Now is a time where there are so many social networks, such need for validation… you don’t have to be a star or a politician to want to have likes or dislikes. Now there is a disease of popularity in the whole society. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
When I was sixteen, I was an absolutely romantic guy. I fell in love every week. I mean, I was in love with everybody, but unfortunately, nobody was in love with me. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Life and death are illusions. We are in a constant state of transformation. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I have a notebook, and I know what decisions will be made in pre-production. Everything is pre-determined in the pre-production period. I visually design the whole thing, and I know when things will happen. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I’m an intense person. My own vision of life has always been heavy. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I’m scared of horses, and I don’t know how to shoot them, but that’s what excites me. After 40 years old, if you don’t do some things that really terrify you, I don’t think they’re worth doing. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I think that people would like to, at all times, reject death and disease with technology. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
‘Babel’ is about the point of view of others. It literally includes points of views as experienced from the other side. It is not about a hero. It is not about only one country. It is a prism that allows us to see the same reality from different angles. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I think there’s nothing wrong with being fixated on superheroes when you are 7 years old, but I think there’s a disease in not growing up. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I like so many different directors: Scorsese, Coppola, Cassavetes, Jarmusch, Gus van Sant, Woody Allen and the greats like Fellini, Bergman, Tarkovsky and among current filmmakers von Trier, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Directing non-actors is difficult. Directing actors in a foreign language is even more difficult. Directing non-actors in a language that you yourself don’t understand is the craziest thing you can possibly think of. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Cinema is a mirror by which we often see ourselves. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Really, Mexico City has always been this big, complex monster of a city that has always had real problems and needs, and I’ve always found my way through it in different ways. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
The corporation and the hedge funds have a hold on Hollywood, and they all want to make money on anything that signifies cinema. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Everybody is looking for validation, no matter who you are, and I think that’s a need of the human condition – to look for affection or recognition or validation. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
‘Russian Ark,’ I adore – I almost cried at the end of that film, it’s so beautiful. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Filmmaking can give you everything, but at the same time, it can take everything from you. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
It’s harder to make real audio than special effects audio. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
For the actors, the talent is to serve the demands that I ask of them, to do it with naturality and truth, and to be honest when we were terrified. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Millions of Mexicans leave their kids in order to take care of other kids. That’s a very painful thing. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
It’s not anthrax or terrorism or AIDS that is the worst ill in our world: The most horrible disease in the world is hate. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
To become a celebrity, a name – and I’ve actually met some that speak of themselves in the third person – it’s scary. They become an object, not a human, complex, questioning thing where the cells are always changing. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
‘Birdman’ came from a very beautiful side of me, from a part of honesty and surrender about things. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
When you have something that is bothering you, and then you articulate, take the time to really express it and see it clearly, to recognize. To acknowledge that is already a liberating energy. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
When I have been exposed to so many films that are so bad, my soul gets crushed. I just feel intoxicated. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
You have kids studying master class visual arts who are pushed to make films that will be successful economically; that’s what they focus on. So they work for corporate interest instead of artistic expression. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
I didn’t have a normal academic career. I never studied cinema. I learned from life. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
If you stretch tragedy, it will always become comedy. That’s the comedy that I like. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu