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.
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.
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.
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.
Other films he 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.
But Schrader has received more recognition for his screenplays directed by others. Martin Scorcese has also filmed his 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).
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, where discussions were held for a limited release in the U.K. before its release on DVD.