My two elder sisters married Englishmen and went abroad.

Perhaps naively I thought people understand what humor was, that it was invented by the human race to cope with the dark areas of life, problems and terrors.

The movie business is very much like that: people in authority making purely emotional decisions instead of interesting rational ones.

There are things that Scotsmen get and other people don't get in the dialogue. Scottish characters can be pinpointed by a phrase, targeted very quickly.

At the moment, my mother is the only one left in Glasgow, although it's certainly my home.

It means that if they misunderstood Comfort and Joy, they misunderstood my other films.

I was quite surprised how easily people wanted to pigeonhole things I've done.

It's easier for me to get three times the amount of money I really want.

I went to the Glasgow Youth Theatre and they just let me in. But I was so shy that I was there for about six weeks without actually introducing myself.

I'd made these experimental films but I thought the major chore of a filmmaker was to relate to actors.

I didn't think Comfort and Joy was going to be a box-office smash.