Q: How did you choose your latest project?
A: My job is almost entirely about reading now, keeping up on the great writers. So David Ignatius had written the book and it had what I thought was a really great title, Penetration, later to be changed by his publisher to Body of Lies. But penetration is a great description of international intrigue in the Middle East, where they all fuck each other—both religiously and politically. We cover a lot of ground. You know, I like to move very fast now, because I’ve started to feel my oats in terms of being assertive. It’s taken awhile for me to think, Well, actually, you do know best.

Q: Wait, are you saying you’re just coming into your own now?
A: Well, mostly because I’m the most experienced person out of the whole fucking 800 on the lot, I’ve learned to really trust my intuition. I’ll always listen. If somebody wants, I’ll explain it and then I’ll see their eyes cloud over and I’ll realize that they’re never going to get it anyway and therefore I’d better stick to my guns. When you’re at a certain point in your time—age, that is, when you’re older—you start to realize that, actually, what you leave behind you does count, and so you start to become fundamentally aware of your own destiny, which sounds very grand. It’s not grand at all, actually. It means never just taking a job, and I’ve never taken a job for money. I’m enjoying myself now as a director more than ever before. Once the passion goes, you’d better take up golf, you know?

Q: Well, your movie A Good Year is about dropping out of the rat race and making wine. You’re 70 now—ever consider doing that yourself?
A: I live about eight minutes from the house in Provence where we shot that, you know? But I have someone else run the vineyard. I know what I should make and what I should consume, right? Coppola started his winery and label, but he also almost gave up movies, didn’t he? I want to be known as the guy who makes good movies, not good wine.