"An extension of my work as a novelist" (Paul Auster)

This is an excerpt from a 2006 interview, re. Auster's new film The Inner Life of Martin Frost:

Céline Curiol: You wore two hats on this movie: writer and director. What are the advantages of doing both? What are the disadvantages?

Paul Auster: To tell the truth, I can't think of a single disadvantage. I'm not a full-time filmmaker, after all, and I tend to to think of my occasional forays into the world of movies as an extension of my work as a novelist, as a storyteller. Not all stories should be novels. Some should be plays. Some should be films. Some should be narrative poems. In the case of Martin Frost, it was conceived as a film from the start – just as Smoke and Lulu on the Bridge were. By directing my own screenplay, I profit from the fact that I know the text better than anyone else. I know the rhythm of the words, the rhythm of the images, and I can communicate these things directly to the actors and the crew.

– Taken from The Inner Life of Martin Frost by Paul Auster, published by Picador/Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2007, page 10. The excerpt is from an interview conducted on August 22, 2006, which precedes the screenplay in this edition.

LINK
Paul Auster Bio & Bibliography - Wikipedia