Biography
Author Profession: Director
Nationality: Australian
Born: September 17, 1962
My father made sure that I had lots of levels of education – from ballroom-dancing to painting, commando training, theatre and magic.
Baz Luhrmann
Father, Dancing, Magic
I am always worried when someone says, ‘This is perfect.’
Baz Luhrmann
Perfect, Worried, Cool,
Why live life from dream to dream, and dread the day when dreaming ends.
Baz Luhrmann
Dream, Live Life, Ends
In the ’80s, everyone wanted to be in opera. It was groovy.
Baz Luhrmann
Opera, Groovy, Wanted
So, what is creative freedom? We can make what we want, how we want. The only constraint is: not for any budget.
Baz Luhrmann
Creative, Want, Constraints
I grew up around jazz. I love jazz.
Baz Luhrmann
Jazz, Grew Up, Grew
Having grown up far, far away in a small country town in Australia, I was only slightly aware of hip-hop.
Baz Luhrmann
Country, Australia, Hip Hop
One of my great all-time loves in cinema, and I’ve seen it three times, is Bondarchuk’s ‘War and Peace.’ Not a lot of people may have seen that film. It was made during the Soviet era.
Baz Luhrmann
War, People, Three
Opera was the cinema of its time, so to bring back that popular appeal, you just need to unleash its visceral immediacy and excitement. Most productions don’t manage that – but when an opera does do it, you never forget it.
Baz Luhrmann
Doe, Needs, Cinema
At a very young age I was allowed to go into the cinema and watch adult films.
Baz Luhrmann
Age, Adults, Watches
In 1977, hip-hop literally wasn’t outside the boroughs. But I was profoundly aware of the city through films like Saturday Night Fever, The French Connection, and Network. I had a friend who visited New York, and I asked him what it was like. He said, “Oh, it’s great. Just wear a coat and don’t look anyone in the eye.”
Baz Luhrmann
New York, Eye, Night
There’s a whole system in Hollywood where the director never speaks to the studio, but I like to engage them in a discussion. I listen.
Baz Luhrmann
Directors, Hollywood, Speak
Australia, to the rest of the world, is just far away, and Australia in the Thirties was the faraway of the faraway,
Baz Luhrmann
Australia, World, Far Away
The food in Sydney is an Asian Pacific cuisine. It’s eclectic but above all it’s fresh, inventive and creative and that’s what I love about it.
Baz Luhrmann
Creative, Asian, Cuisine
The party is a true art form in Sydney and people practise it a great deal. You can really get quite lost in it.
Baz Luhrmann
Art, People, Lost
The cold-audition process is not a science, so I ignore that.
Baz Luhrmann
Auditions, Cold, Process
Some of the greatest relationship films of all time, the two stars have hated each other, but mostly you see that chemistry.
Baz Luhrmann
Stars, Two, Chemistry
Look, I had a passion for comic books growing up.
Baz Luhrmann
Growing Up, Book, Passion
I mean the future has become old fashioned.
Baz Luhrmann
Mean, Old Fashioned
I mean, ‘8 ½’ to me is such a great dissertation on the whole, you know, act of filmmaking and creativity.
Baz Luhrmann
Creativity, Mean, Filmmaking
