Making a film means, first of all, to tell a story. That story can be an improbable one, but it should never be banal. It must be dramatic and human. What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) English film director

In François Truffaut, Hitchcock: A Definitive Study [Le Cinéma Selon Hitchcock], ch. 4 (1966) [tr. Truffaut (1967)]
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Why he avoids making "slice of life" films. Interview of Hitchcock by Truffaut.

Sometimes paraphrased as "Drama is life with the dull bits cut out."