Paul Schrader

Paul Schrader (born 22 July, 1946 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a screenwriter and film director, renowned for his characters that fall into desperation while their world crumbles around them. His influences are Robert Bresson, Yasujiro Ozu and Carl Dreyer, which he wrote a book of essays about in Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer (ISBN 0306803356) in 1972. Despite his credentials as a director, Schrader has received more recognition for his screenplays directed by others.

Career History

Raised as a strict Calvinist, Schrader did not see a film until he was 18. After studying at Calvin College, he went on to Columbia University and then UCLA's graduate film programme on the recommendation of Pauline Kael. Under Kael's mentoring he became a film critic, writing for LA Weekly Press and later Cinema magazine.

In 1975 Schrader co-wrote The Yakuza, a film set in the Japanese crime world directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Mitchum, which although it flopped at the box office, brought him to the attention of the new generation of Hollywood directors. In 1976 he wrote the screenplay of Obsession for Brian De Palma

Also that year, Martin Scorcese filmed his script of Taxi Driver which was nominated for a 1997 Golden Globe Award, and provided the acclaim and funding that enabled Schrader to direct, Blue Collar (1978), written by his brother Leonard Schrader. Starring Richard Pryor and Harvey Keitel, it was a story of car workers trying to get out of their rut through robbery and blackmail.

Martin Scorcese has also filmed Schrader's scripts for Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Bringing out the Dead (1999), and Peter Weir directed The Mosquito Coast (1986).

Other films Schrader has directed include, Hardcore (1979), American Gigolo (1980), the remake of Cat People (1982), and Mishima (1985), for which he was nominated the Palme_d'Or at that year's Cannes Film Festival.

Exorcist: The Original Prequel

In 2003 he made entertainment headlines by being fired from Exorcist: Dominion, a prequel to The Exorcist, on which he had replaced John Frankenheimer, the original director chosen, after Frankenheimer's death in 2002 from complications after surgery. After the film was completed, the production company, Morgan Creek/Warner Brothers did not like the way he had directed it. Subsequently, the film was completely reshot, with Renny Harlin directing and released (now known as Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)). Schrader's version eventually premiered at the Brussels International Festival Of Fantastic Film on March 18, 2005 as Exorcist: The Original Prequel, where discussions were held for a limited release in the U.K. before its release on DVD.

Reference

• Interview with Paul Schrader in Empire Online

External links

• Paul Schrader at IMDb