Levels (2008)

José Padilha: Self

Quotes 

• José Padilha : [about Elit Squad being an action film]  I'm going to summarize you how I thought about "Elit Squad". I had a friend who worked in a bookstore. He was a writer, reader, of Jorge Luis Borges... one day I went to his bookstore and there was a Jorge Luis Borges book in the self-help section. It was "The Buddhism". Then I called him and said "Pedro, this is in the wrong section", he said "No man, I put this here to see if someone buys it, because the people only come to the self-help section!". It's about the same. It's about the same... this is the relation of my film with action.

• [first lines] 

  Beto Brant : We are really connected to the movies by our observation, by what moves you into making movies, which is the curiosity for the other, the interest for what can be observed and somehow try to capture that in a particular perception and share and think in public...

  José Padilha : Something that moves you, that makes you want to talk about a subject that is important to you, that you consider relevant.

  Beto Brant : You start seeing things that make you want to give your opinion, your disagreement, your retaliation... It's a will to express, to find a way with images inside the universe that fascinates you at that moment.