To me, its far more efficient to mobilize the imagination. Its far more efficient to hear a creaking step, for example, than to see the face of a monster, which usually looks ridiculous, and where you know that the blood is ketchup. – Michael Haneke

To be perfectly honest, I think that as Im growing older, Im just growing more impatient. Ill be very happy if at some point people say, Michaels grown wiser and softer in his old age. But well have to wait and see what my next project is. – Michael Haneke
Funny Games was conceived as a provocation. My other films are different. If people feel my other films are, or respond to them as provocation, then thats quite different. Funny Games is the only one of mine where my intention was to provoke the audience. – Michael Haneke
Today mythical thinking has fallen into disrepute we often dismiss it as irrational and self-indulgent. But the imagination is also the faculty that has enabled scientists to bring new knowledge to light and to invent technology that has made us immeasurably more effective. – Karen Armstrong