Michael "Mike" Figgis (born 28 February 1948) is an English film director, screenwriter, and composer. Read full biography of Mike Figgis →
I like to work my camera as if it were a musical instrument.
In a way, the history of jazz's development is a small mirror of classical music's development through the centuries. Now jazz is a living... →
Obviously, I try to make the films work for an audience. That's the main point of making a film, and in retrospect, one can see that certain... →
You can do really slow movements with it, like zooming in for a minute and a half. The audience isn't aware that the camera has moved, but... →
The world is an infinitely fascinating, tragic and humorous place.
There's a sadness to the human condition that I think music is good for. It gives a counterpoint to the visual beauty, and adds depth to pictures... →
I play piano and trumpet. I studied classical guitar.
The power of sound to put an audience in a certain psychological state is vastly undervalued. And the more you know about music and harmony, the more... →
In discussing the process with the actors, I made it clear to them that they could improvise but that the sum total of their improvisation needed to... →
Films take up so much time, and with theatre, you do have to plan a period of time that you can be free.
Then I became interested in drama, and almost by accident, I drifted into film.
But I don't have such a strong desire to need to get away from filmmaking.
I had no plans to be a director.
Michael "Mike" Figgis (born 28 February 1948) is an English film director, screenwriter, and composer.