Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. Following his commercial breakthrough with the science-fiction horror film Alien , his best known works include the neo-noir dystopian science fiction film Blade Runner , historical drama and Best Picture Oscar winner Gladiator , and science fiction film The Martian .
Scott is known for his atmospheric, highly concentrated visual style. Though his films range widely in setting and period, they frequently showcase memorable imagery of urban environments, whether 2nd century Rome , 12th century Jerusalem , Medieval England , contemporary Mogadishu , or the future cityscapes of Blade Runner. His films are also known for their strong female characters. Scott has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Directing . In 1995, both Ridley and his brother Tony received a BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 2003, Scott was knighted for his "services to the British film industry". In a 2004 BBC poll Scott was named the tenth most influential person in British culture. In 2015 he received an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London.
“Universe to me is, if you’d like, the final character.”
New York Times interview (2013)
Context: Universe to me is, if you’d like, the final character. Your landscape in a western is one of the most important characters the film has. The best westerns are about man against his own landscape. I think people have lost the ability to do that.
“I'm really intrigued by those eternal questions of creation and belief and faith.”
Esquire interview (2012)
Context: I'm really intrigued by those eternal questions of creation and belief and faith. I don't care who you are, it's what we all think about. It's in the back of all our minds.
Esquire interview (2012)
Context: I do despair. That's a heavy word, but picking up a newspaper every day, how can you not despair at what's happening in the world, and how we're represented as human beings? The disappointments and corruption are dismaying at every level. And the biggest source of evil is of course religion. … Can you think of a good one? A just and kind and tolerant religion? … Everyone is tearing each other apart in the name of their personal god. And the irony is, by definition, they're probably worshipping the same god.
“The disappointments and corruption are dismaying at every level.”
Esquire interview (2012)
Context: I do despair. That's a heavy word, but picking up a newspaper every day, how can you not despair at what's happening in the world, and how we're represented as human beings? The disappointments and corruption are dismaying at every level. And the biggest source of evil is of course religion. … Can you think of a good one? A just and kind and tolerant religion? … Everyone is tearing each other apart in the name of their personal god. And the irony is, by definition, they're probably worshipping the same god.
On the parting of the Red Sea in the tales of Moses, as quoted in "Exodus: Gods And Kings - How Ridley Scott And Christian Bale Are Rebooting The Biblical Epic" at Yahoo Movies (16 September 2014) https://uk.yahoo.com/movies/exodus-gods-and-kings-set-visit-97667462271.html
Esquire interview (2012)
On the relentlessly brutal tone of the works of screenwriter Cormac McCarthy
New York Times interview (2013)
