Carl Theodor Dreyer on what mattered most to him as a filmmaker:
"What interests me — and this comes before technique — is reproducing the feelings of the characters in my films. That is, to reproduce as sincerely as possible the most sincere feelings possible. The important thing for me is not only to catch hold of the words they say, but also the thoughts behind the words. What I seek in my films, what I want to obtain, is a penetration to my actors' profound thoughts by means of their most subtle expressions. For these are the expressions that reveal the character of the person, his unconscious feelings, the secrets that lie in the depths of his soul. This is what interests me above all, not the technique of the cinema."
— Carl Theodor Dreyer, interviewed by Michel Delahaye, Cahiers du Cinéma, no. 170 (September 1965), translated by Rose Kaplin