“I was tired of all these films of Third World countries that dealt with just the hardships and the poverty and all the pain and conflicts, ... I wanted to capture the greater spirit of life and something that is more positive.”
“The importance of shooting in the country and on the actual land and using real Vietnamese actors and hearing real Vietnamese dialogue ... all that was more important to me and I was able to deal with (the censor),”
“He so much protects the vision of the director, ... He always said, 'I'm making your film Tony. I'm not making my film or the studio's film. This is your film and that's what I want to be here for and that's what I want to protect.'”
“All the things I hated about my first experience, the heat and humidity and the crowds, would become all the things I would embrace about the country, and love those differences and love being stuck in those traffic jams with thousands of bicycles and people driving by with 30 ducks on their motorbikes and the dirt roads and all that stuff,”
