“[Atmosphere] is a very important thing, one of the most important things in filmmaking. Direction begins exactly with atmosphere. I make the distinction between good and bad films based on atmosphere. The atmosphere of a debut film is ruthless evidence of whether the director has any future or if he’s just a mediocrity. For example, seeing Ivan’s Childhood, I realized – I was still an engineer then, and didn’t know anything about cinema – that here is a director that will go on to do great things.”