Harvey Keitel is passionate about film and other arts as key forces to bring people together and enable change. And if you don’t believe him, believe Aristotle, he says!
The legendary actor sat down for a chat with The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday during the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), whose double anniversary 60th edition in its 80th year runs through July 11, to discuss the state of film and the world, among other things.
“I feel in today’s tumultuous world, when people are so against each other for banal reasons — they’ve never heard the expression ‘no bias’ to let people be who they want to be without objecting to it, without killing each other over religion or color or politics — that’s where the arts come in,” Keitel offered. He then quoted the Greek philosopher Aristotle, saying: “Words alone are not enough to change a culture. Aesthetic force is needed, and that is the artist. So, film festivals like Karlovy Vary, Cannes, the Tribeca Film Festival, etc., where artists can come and show their wares and share how they feel about life with people, can provide the aesthetic force that’s needed to instigate change.”
Change is “a tool for growing as a people to cure our biases and start becoming human beings instead,” Keitel continued. “That is particularly needed now, because of all the wars, fighting, politics.”
