Barry Levinson

"For me, personally, I am not sure there is a great Cassavetes film. But the body of work is profound and inspiring. And it endures, which is the ultimate achievement. He allowed actors to create a spontaneity and sometimes an inarticulate dialogue that added to the heartbreak and humor of his characters. He’s a man who had the courage to tell stories in his own way. And that is his great legacy."

"I was a young kid when it came out, and I sat in the dark and listened to dialogue that was at a level I had never heard before. And I think that’s when I began to pay attention to dialogue in movies. When the show ended, I stayed and I watched it again. I didn’t know about screenwriters, and I waited to see the credits. Who wrote this? And from that day on, I paid attention to who the writer was for every movie I saw."

"For me, personally, I am not sure there is a great Cassavetes film. But the body of work is profound and inspiring. And it endures, which is the ultimate achievement. He allowed actors to create a spontaneity and sometimes an inarticulate dialogue that added to the heartbreak and humor of his characters. He’s a man who had the courage to tell stories in his own way. And that is his great legacy."

"When I first saw it, I had never seen anything like it. I knew nothing about filmmaking. But I knew that the guy with that French name had made a film that was changing the rules."

"A truly cynical film, way ahead of its time. Very few cynical films make it in America. This one didn’t, initially. But time has been its friend. But then time has always been a friend of Billy Wilder."

"For me, personally, I am not sure there is a great Cassavetes film. But the body of work is profound and inspiring. And it endures, which is the ultimate achievement. He allowed actors to create a spontaneity and sometimes an inarticulate dialogue that added to the heartbreak and humor of his characters. He’s a man who had the courage to tell stories in his own way. And that is his great legacy."

"For me, personally, I am not sure there is a great Cassavetes film. But the body of work is profound and inspiring. And it endures, which is the ultimate achievement. He allowed actors to create a spontaneity and sometimes an inarticulate dialogue that added to the heartbreak and humor of his characters. He’s a man who had the courage to tell stories in his own way. And that is his great legacy."

"For me, personally, I am not sure there is a great Cassavetes film. But the body of work is profound and inspiring. And it endures, which is the ultimate achievement. He allowed actors to create a spontaneity and sometimes an inarticulate dialogue that added to the heartbreak and humor of his characters. He’s a man who had the courage to tell stories in his own way. And that is his great legacy."