Paul Joseph Schrader (born July 22, 1946) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screenwriterScreenwriters or scenarists or scriptwriters are people in a film crew who write/create the screenplays from which films and television programs are made....
and
film directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
. His influences include
Robert BressonRobert Bresson was a French film director known for his spiritual, ascetic style.-Life:...
,
Yasujiro Ozuwas a prominent Japanese film director and script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed since the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationship between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work.-Life:Ozu was born in the...
and Carl Dreyer, whose cross-cultural similarities he examined in
Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer (ISBN 0-306-80335-6) in 1972. Despite his credentials as a director, Schrader has received more recognition for his screenplays for others.
Schrader was born in
Grand Rapids, MichiganGrand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River and is approximately 30 miles from Lake Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 197,800, making it the 114th largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Kent County,...
, the son of Joan (née Fisher) and Charles A.
Paul Joseph Schrader (born July 22, 1946) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screenwriterScreenwriters or scenarists or scriptwriters are people in a film crew who write/create the screenplays from which films and television programs are made....
and
film directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
. His influences include
Robert BressonRobert Bresson was a French film director known for his spiritual, ascetic style.-Life:...
,
Yasujiro Ozuwas a prominent Japanese film director and script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed since the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationship between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work.-Life:Ozu was born in the...
and Carl Dreyer, whose cross-cultural similarities he examined in
Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer (ISBN 0-306-80335-6) in 1972. Despite his credentials as a director, Schrader has received more recognition for his screenplays for others.
Early life
Schrader was born in
Grand Rapids, MichiganGrand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River and is approximately 30 miles from Lake Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 197,800, making it the 114th largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Kent County,...
, the son of Joan (née Fisher) and Charles A. Schrader, an executive. Schrader's family practiced in the
CalvinistCalvinism is a theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
Dutch Reformed ChurchDutch Reformed Church was one of many branches of churches established during the Protestant Reformation in Europe in the sixteenth century. While the Dutch Reformed Church was based in the Netherlands, other churches holding similar theological views were founded in France, Switzerland, Germany,...
, and his early life was based upon the religion's strict principles and parental education. When he disobeyed his mother, she would stab his hand with a pin, asking, "You think that felt bad?
HellIn many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless...
is like that, only every second and all over your body". He did not see a film until he was eighteen years old, and was able to sneak away from home; in an interview he stated that
The Absent-Minded ProfessorThe Absent-Minded Professor is a 1961 Walt Disney Pictures film based on the short story "A Situation of Gravity", by Samuel W. Taylor. The film was reissued to theaters in 1967 and 1975, and released to video in 1981, 1986, and 1992...
was the first film he saw, and according to Peter Biskind's
Easy Riders, Raging BullsEasy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-And Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood is a book written by Peter Biskind and published by Simon and Schuster in 1998...
, he had a full blown panic attack right before he saw it.
Schrader received his BA from
Calvin CollegeCalvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism...
, with a required minor in Theology. He then earned an MA in Film Studies from the UCLA Film School graduate programme upon the recommendation of
Pauline KaelPauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career she was published by City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic....
. With her as his mentor, he became a film critic, writing for the
Los Angeles Free PressThe Los Angeles Free Press was among the most widely distributed underground newspapers of the 1960s. It is often cited as the first such newspaper. The Free Press was edited and published weekly, for most of its existence, by Art Kunkin...
, and later for
Cinema magazine.
Career
In 1975, Schrader co-wrote
The YakuzaThe Yakuza is a 1975 neo-noir gangster film directed by Sydney Pollack, written by Leonard Schrader, Paul Schrader, and Robert Towne.The Yakuza portrays the clash of traditional Japanese values during Japan's transition from the US occupation to economic success in the early 1970s...
with his brother,
LeonardLeonard Schrader was an Academy Award-nominated American screenwriter and director most notable for his ability to write Japanese language films and for his many collaborations with his brother Paul Schrader...
, a film set in the Japanese crime world, it was directed by
Sydney PollackSydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Born in Lafayette, Indiana to Russian Jewish immigrants, Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting...
and featured
Robert MitchumRobert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer. Mitchum is largely remembered for his starring roles in several major works of the film noir style, and is considered a forerunner of the anti-heroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life and...
. Although it failed commercially, it brought him to the attention of the
new generationNew Hollywood or post-classical Hollywood, sometimes referred to as the "American New Wave", refers to the time between roughly the mid-1960s to the early 1980s when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence in America, influencing the types of films produced, their production and...
of Hollywood directors. In 1976, he wrote the screenplay of
ObsessionObsession is a 1976 psychological thriller/mystery directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack...
for
Brian De PalmaBrian De Palma is an American film director. In a career spanning over forty years, he is probably best known for his suspense and thriller films, including such box office successes as Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, Carlito's Way, The Untouchables, and Mission: Impossible.Throughout the 1970s...
.
Schrader also participated in an early draft of
Steven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer. In a career of over four decades, Spielberg's films have touched on many themes and genres. Spielberg's early sci-fi and adventure films, sometimes centering on children, were seen as an archetype of modern...
's
Close Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban and Cary Guffey. It tells the story of Roy Neary, an Indiana electrical lineman, whose life changes...
(1977), but either the producing studio or Spielberg (Schrader does not remember who) disliked the religious overtone of his screenplay and opted for a lighter script.
His script of
Taxi DriverTaxi Driver is a film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. The movie is set in New York City, soon after the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro and features Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, Peter Boyle, Cybill Shepherd, and a young Jodie Foster...
was turned into the
Martin ScorseseMartin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation, a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Oscars, Golden Globe,...
film, which was nominated for a 1976
Golden Globe AwardThe Golden Globe Awards are presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to recognize outstanding achievements in the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in motion pictures and television...
and provided the critical acclaim and consequently available funding that enabled Schrader to direct
Blue CollarBlue Collar is the 1978 directorial debut of screenwriter Paul Schrader. This drama stars Harvey Keitel, Richard Pryor and Yaphet Kotto.-Synopsis:...
(1978), also co-written with his brother
LeonardLeonard Schrader was an Academy Award-nominated American screenwriter and director most notable for his ability to write Japanese language films and for his many collaborations with his brother Paul Schrader...
.
Blue Collar features
Richard PryorRichard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Pryor was known for his unflinching examinations of racism and customs in modern life, and was renowned for his frequent use of colorful, vulgar, and profane language and racial epithets...
,
Harvey KeitelHarvey Keitel is an American actor whose latest work is that of Detective Lieutenant Gene Hunt on ABC's crime drama Life on Mars...
, and
Yaphet KottoPrince Yaphet Frederick Kotto is an American actor, known for numerous film roles, and his starring role in the NBC television series: Homicide: Life on the Street.-Early life:...
as car factory workers attempting to escape their socio-economic rut through theft and
blackmailBlackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand made upon the victim is met. This information is usually of an embarrassing and/or socially damaging nature...
. Schrader recalls that shooting the film was difficult, because of the artistic and personal tension among him and the actors. Reportedly, Kotto broke a chair on Keitel's back; Pryor drew a pistol on Schrader, and refused to shoot more than three takes per scene. Schrader said that was the only occasion he suffered an on-set mental collapse; it made him seriously reconsider his career.
Besides
Taxi Driver (1976), Scorsese also drew on scripts by Schrader for
Raging Bull (1980), co-written with
Mardik MartinMardik Martin is an American screenwriter of Armenian descent. He was born in Iran and raised in Iraq. Although his family in Iraq was wealthy, he fled the country to avoid the draft and arrived in New York in a penniless state...
,
The Last Temptation of ChristThe Last Temptation of Christ is a novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1960. It follows the life of Jesus Christ from his perspective...
(1988),
Bringing Out the DeadBringing Out the Dead is a 1999 film directed by Martin Scorsese, and based on the novel by Joe Connelly with the screenplay by Paul Schrader...
(1999).
Peter WeirPeter Lindsay Weir AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir relocated to the US and directed a diverse group of American and international films -- many of...
made
The Mosquito CoastThe Mosquito Coast is a 1982 novel by Paul Theroux and a 1986 film based on the book. Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Andre Gregory , and River Phoenix star in the film directed by Peter Weir...
(1986) from Schrader's script.
Among Paul Schrader's films as director are:
Hardcore (1979),
American GigoloAmerican Gigolo is a 1980 thriller film, written and directed by Paul Schrader. Schrader based the film on French director Robert Bresson's Pickpocket...
(1980), the remake of
Cat PeopleCat People is a 1982 horror film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, and John Heard. The film co-stars Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, Ed Begley, Jr. and John Larroquette. Jerry Bruckheimer served as executive producer. Alan Ormsby wrote the screenplay, basing it...
(1982),
Mishima: A Life in Four ChaptersMishima: A Life in Four Chapters is an episodic, stylized 1985 film based on the life and work of the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, directed by Paul Schrader and written by Paul and his brother Leonard Schrader. The film features original music by Philip Glass and performances by the Kronos Quartet...
(1985), for which he was nominated for the
Palme d'OrThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded to competing films at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film...
prize at that year's
Cannes Film Festival-Jury:*Miloš Forman *Claude Imbert *Edwin Zbonek *Francis Veber *Jorge Amado *Mauro Bolognini *Michel Perez *Mo Rothmann *Néstor Almendros *Sarah Miles...
,
Light of DayLight of Day is a 1987 drama film starring Michael J. Fox, Gena Rowlands, Joan Jett and Michael McKean. It was written and directed by Paul Schrader. The original music score was composed by Thomas Newman and the cinematography is by John Bailey....
(1987), and an unconventional, visually inventive film
Patty HearstPatty Hearst is a 1988 biographical film directed by Paul Schrader and stars Natasha Richardson as Patricia Campbell Hearst and Ving Rhames as SLA leader Cinque...
(1988) about the kidnap and transformation of the heiress. His work in the 1990s included:
The Comfort of StrangersThe Comfort of Strangers is a 1990 film directed by Paul Schrader. The screenplay is by Harold Pinter, adapted from a short novel of the same title by Ian McEwan. The film stars Natasha Richardson, Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett and Helen Mirren...
(1990), adapted by
Harold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE , was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, director, political activist and poet. He was among the most influential British playwrights of modern times...
from the
Ian McEwanIan Russell McEwan, CBE, FRSA, FRSL, is a Booker Prize-winning English novelist and screenwriter.-Early life:McEwan was born in Aldershot, the son of Rose Lilian Violet and David McEwan. He spent much of his childhood in East Asia, Germany and North Africa, where his father, a Scottish army...
novel,
Light SleeperLight Sleeper is a 1992 film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, David Clennon and Dana Delany. Schrader's wife Mary Beth Hurt appears as a fortune teller....
(1993), a sympathetic study of a drug dealer vying for a normal life,
TouchTouch is a 1997 film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It is based on a 1987 Elmore Leonard novel of the same name, and stars Christopher Walken, Bridget Fonda, Skeet Ulrich, Tom Arnold, Gina Gershon, Lolita Davidovich, Janeane Garofalo and Paul Mazursky...
(1997), from an
Elmore LeonardElmore John Leonard, Jr. is an American novelist and screenwriter.His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, and Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, several of which have been adapted into successful motion pictures or TV movies.-Biography:Leonard...
novel,
Affliction (1997), from the
Russell BanksRussell Banks is an American writer of fiction and poetry.-Life:Banks lives in upstate New York, and has been named a New York State Author. He is presently also Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland...
novel, and the romantic thriller
Forever MineForever Mine is a 1999 film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Joseph Fiennes, Gretchen Mol and Ray Liotta.-Plot:Alan Riply , a young cabana boy working at an opulent beach hotel, falls in love with Ellen Brice , the wife of business mogul Mark Brice . Ellen returns his love, but when...
(1999).
He directed the biopic
Auto FocusAuto Focus is a 2002 American biographical film directed by Paul Schrader. The screenplay by Michael Gerbosi is based on the book The Murder of Bob Crane by Robert Graysmith...
(2002) about the life and murder of
Hogan's HeroesHogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to July 4, 1971, on the CBS network. Starring Bob Crane as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, the show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War...
actor,
Bob CraneRobert Edward "Bob" Crane was an American disc jockey and actor, best known for his performance as Colonel Robert E. Hogan in the television sitcom Hogan's Heroes from 1965 to 1971, and for his unsolved death....
. After that, he filmed
Dominion: Prequel to the ExorcistDominion: Prequel to the Exorcist is a 2005 horror/thriller film film directed by Paul Schrader.This is the original version of the third follow-up to The Exorcist. This film was essentially completed, then shelved by Morgan Creek Productions, who feared the film would be unsuccessful...
(see below).
The WalkerThe Walker is a 2007 drama film that was written and directed by Paul Schrader. It is a British-American independent production and was proclaimed to be the latest installment in Schrader's "night workers" series of films, starting with Taxi Driver in 1976, and then followed by American Gigolo in...
(2007) and
Adam Resurrected (2008) currently in post-production.
The September-October 2006 issue of
Film Comment magazine published his essay "Canon Fodder" that attempts to establish criteria for judging film masterworks. Schrader headed the International Jury of the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival. Currently, he is a Jury Member of the continuing Filmaka short film contest.
On July 2 2009, Schrader was awarded the inaugural Lifetime Achievement in Screenwriting award at the ScreenLit Festival in Nottingham England. Several of his films were shown at the festival, including Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters, which followed the presentation of the award by East Midlands director Shane Meadows.
Exorcist: The Original Prequel
In 2003, Schrader made entertainment headlines for being fired from the
Exorcist: Dominion, a prequel film to
The ExorcistThe Exorcist is a 1973 U.S. horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl, and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her daughter through an exorcism conducted by two priests....
(1973). The originally slated director
John FrankenheimerJohn Michael Frankenheimer was an American filmmaker. He is known for making The Manchurian Candidate , Birdman of Alcatraz , The Train, and Seven Days in May ....
, died in 2002 of a stroke consequent to spinal surgery complications.
After the film was completed under Schrader's direction, the production company,
Morgan Creek ProductionsMorgan Creek Productions is an American film studio that has released box-office hits like Young Guns, Major League, True Romance, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Crush, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and others. The studio was co-founded in 1987 by James G...
/
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
disliked the resulting film and had it re-shot under director Renny HarlinRenny Harlin is a Finnish American film director and producer, mostly known for action movies.-Early life:Renny Harlin was born in Riihimäki, Finland to a nurse mother and a physician father...
; it was released as Exorcist: The BeginningExorcist: The Beginning is a 2004 prequel to the 1973 film The Exorcist. This is the second version of the third Exorcist sequel. It was adapted by William Wisher Jr., Caleb Carr and Alexi Hawley, and directed by Renny Harlin...
in 2004.
Schrader's version eventually had its premiere at the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film on March 18, 2005 as Exorcist: The Original Prequel, where its limited DVD release in the UK was discussed; in the U.S., it received limited cinema release under the title Dominion: Prequel to the ExorcistDominion: Prequel to the Exorcist is a 2005 horror/thriller film film directed by Paul Schrader.This is the original version of the third follow-up to The Exorcist. This film was essentially completed, then shelved by Morgan Creek Productions, who feared the film would be unsuccessful...
in mid-2005.
Moreover, after a troubled post-production, Dominion: Prequel to the ExorcistDominion: Prequel to the Exorcist is a 2005 horror/thriller film film directed by Paul Schrader.This is the original version of the third follow-up to The Exorcist. This film was essentially completed, then shelved by Morgan Creek Productions, who feared the film would be unsuccessful...
, Schrader had to cut the budget to finish his film; he asked Angelo BadalamentiAngelo Badalamenti is an American composer, known for his movie soundtrack work for director David Lynch, notably Blue Velvet, the Twin Peaks saga and Mulholland Drive.-Early life:...
and Dog Fashion DiscoDog Fashion Disco was an experimental band that originated out of Rockville, Maryland, from 1996–2007.- Biography :Notable for combining many different music styles Dog Fashion Disco was primarily considered an avant-garde metal band...
, the American experimental metal band to contribute a music score for little or no money.
Dominion: Prequel to the ExorcistDominion: Prequel to the Exorcist is a 2005 horror/thriller film film directed by Paul Schrader.This is the original version of the third follow-up to The Exorcist. This film was essentially completed, then shelved by Morgan Creek Productions, who feared the film would be unsuccessful...
received high praise from William Peter BlattyWilliam Peter Blatty is an American writer and filmmaker. He wrote the novel The Exorcist and the subsequent screenplay version for which he won an Academy Award.- Early life :...
(the author/screenwriter of The ExorcistThe Exorcist is a 1973 U.S. horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl, and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her daughter through an exorcism conducted by two priests....
); he said that this film is "a handsome, classy, elegant piece of work."
Personal life
Schrader is married to the actress Mary Beth HurtMary Beth Hurt is an American actress of stage and screen.-Personal life:Hurt was born Mary Beth Supinger in 1946 in Marshalltown, Iowa, the daughter of Delores Lenore and Forrest Clayton Supinger. Her childhood babysitter was actress Jean Seberg, also a Marshalltown native...
; the couple have two children, a daughter named Molly and a son named Sam. He was trained at the AFI ConservatoryThe AFI Conservatory is a division of the American Film Institute founded in 1969, located in Hollywood's Griffith Park. Dubbed by some as "Juilliard for Filmmakers," the school is the only existing Master of Fine Arts conservatory in advanced film education...
. His brother was a screenwriter and director Leonard SchraderLeonard Schrader was an Academy Award-nominated American screenwriter and director most notable for his ability to write Japanese language films and for his many collaborations with his brother Paul Schrader...
, with whom he collaborated on the screenplays of Blue Collar and Mishima.
Filmography (as director)
- Blue Collar
Blue Collar is the 1978 directorial debut of screenwriter Paul Schrader. This drama stars Harvey Keitel, Richard Pryor and Yaphet Kotto.-Synopsis:...
(1978) (also co-writer)
- Hardcore (1979) (also writer)
- American Gigolo
American Gigolo is a 1980 thriller film, written and directed by Paul Schrader. Schrader based the film on French director Robert Bresson's Pickpocket...
(1980) (also writer)
- Cat People
Cat People is a 1982 horror film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, and John Heard. The film co-stars Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, Ed Begley, Jr. and John Larroquette. Jerry Bruckheimer served as executive producer. Alan Ormsby wrote the screenplay, basing it...
(1982)
- Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is an episodic, stylized 1985 film based on the life and work of the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, directed by Paul Schrader and written by Paul and his brother Leonard Schrader. The film features original music by Philip Glass and performances by the Kronos Quartet...
(1985) (also co-writer with his brother and sister-in-law)
- Light of Day
Light of Day is a 1987 drama film starring Michael J. Fox, Gena Rowlands, Joan Jett and Michael McKean. It was written and directed by Paul Schrader. The original music score was composed by Thomas Newman and the cinematography is by John Bailey....
(1987) (also writer)
- Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst is a 1988 biographical film directed by Paul Schrader and stars Natasha Richardson as Patricia Campbell Hearst and Ving Rhames as SLA leader Cinque...
(1988)
- The Comfort of Strangers
The Comfort of Strangers is a 1990 film directed by Paul Schrader. The screenplay is by Harold Pinter, adapted from a short novel of the same title by Ian McEwan. The film stars Natasha Richardson, Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett and Helen Mirren...
(1990)
- Light Sleeper
Light Sleeper is a 1992 film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, David Clennon and Dana Delany. Schrader's wife Mary Beth Hurt appears as a fortune teller....
(1992) (also writer)
- Witch Hunt (1994) (TV)
- Touch
Touch is a 1997 film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It is based on a 1987 Elmore Leonard novel of the same name, and stars Christopher Walken, Bridget Fonda, Skeet Ulrich, Tom Arnold, Gina Gershon, Lolita Davidovich, Janeane Garofalo and Paul Mazursky...
(1997) (also writer)
- Affliction
Affliction is a 1998 film written and directed by Paul Schrader from the novel by Russell Banks. It stars Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn, Willem Dafoe, Mary Beth Hurt and Jim True....
(1997) (also writer)
- Forever Mine
Forever Mine is a 1999 film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Joseph Fiennes, Gretchen Mol and Ray Liotta.-Plot:Alan Riply , a young cabana boy working at an opulent beach hotel, falls in love with Ellen Brice , the wife of business mogul Mark Brice . Ellen returns his love, but when...
(1999) (also writer)
- Auto Focus
Auto Focus is a 2002 American biographical film directed by Paul Schrader. The screenplay by Michael Gerbosi is based on the book The Murder of Bob Crane by Robert Graysmith...
(2002)
- Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist is a 2005 horror/thriller film film directed by Paul Schrader.This is the original version of the third follow-up to The Exorcist. This film was essentially completed, then shelved by Morgan Creek Productions, who feared the film would be unsuccessful...
(2005)
- The Walker
The Walker is a 2007 drama film that was written and directed by Paul Schrader. It is a British-American independent production and was proclaimed to be the latest installment in Schrader's "night workers" series of films, starting with Taxi Driver in 1976, and then followed by American Gigolo in...
(2007) (also writer)
- Adam Resurrected (2008)
- xtrem City (2010)Starring Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan born November 2, 1965, sometimes credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian actor and a prominent Bollywood figure, as well as a film producer and television host....
Filmography (as writer only)
- The Yakuza
The Yakuza is a 1975 neo-noir gangster film directed by Sydney Pollack, written by Leonard Schrader, Paul Schrader, and Robert Towne.The Yakuza portrays the clash of traditional Japanese values during Japan's transition from the US occupation to economic success in the early 1970s...
(1975)...Directed by Sydney PollackSydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Born in Lafayette, Indiana to Russian Jewish immigrants, Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting...
(with Leonard SchraderLeonard Schrader was an Academy Award-nominated American screenwriter and director most notable for his ability to write Japanese language films and for his many collaborations with his brother Paul Schrader...
)
- Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver is a film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. The movie is set in New York City, soon after the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro and features Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, Peter Boyle, Cybill Shepherd, and a young Jodie Foster...
(1976)...Directed by Martin ScorseseMartin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation, a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Oscars, Golden Globe,...
- Obsession
Obsession is a 1976 psychological thriller/mystery directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack...
(1976)...Directed by Brian DePalma
- Rolling Thunder
Rolling Thunder is a 1977 film starring William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was directed by John Flynn. The screenplay was by Paul Schrader and Heywood Gould.- Plot synopsis :...
(1977)...Directed by John FlynnJohn Flynn was an American film director and screenwriter known for making efficient, no-nonsense crime-thrillers The Outfit and Rolling Thunder....
- Old Boyfriends (1979)...Directed by Joan Tewkesbury
Joan Tewkesbury is an American film and television director, screenwriter, producer and actress. She had a long association with Robert Altman, writing two of his most acclaimed films, Nashville and Thieves Like Us...
(with Leonard SchraderLeonard Schrader was an Academy Award-nominated American screenwriter and director most notable for his ability to write Japanese language films and for his many collaborations with his brother Paul Schrader...
)
- Raging Bull (1980)...Directed by Martin Scorsese
Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation, a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Oscars, Golden Globe,...
(with Mardik MartinMardik Martin is an American screenwriter of Armenian descent. He was born in Iran and raised in Iraq. Although his family in Iraq was wealthy, he fled the country to avoid the draft and arrived in New York in a penniless state...
)
- The Mosquito Coast
The Mosquito Coast is a 1982 novel by Paul Theroux and a 1986 film based on the book. Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Andre Gregory , and River Phoenix star in the film directed by Peter Weir...
(1986)...Directed by Peter WeirPeter Lindsay Weir AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir relocated to the US and directed a diverse group of American and international films -- many of...
- The Last Temptation of Christ
The Last Temptation of Christ is a 1988 film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the controversial 1960 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. It stars Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ, Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot, Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene, David Bowie as Pontius...
(1988)...Directed by Martin ScorseseMartin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation, a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Oscars, Golden Globe,...
- City Hall
City Hall is a 1996 film directed by Harold Becker. Al Pacino and John Cusack star as an idealistic Mayor of New York and his deputy mayor....
(1996)...Directed by Harold Becker-Biography:After studying art and photography at the Pratt Institute, Becker began his career as a still photographer, but later tried his hand at directing television commercials, short films and documentaries. Becker made his film debut in 1972 when he directed The Ragman's Daughter along with...
(with Bo GoldmanRobert "Bo" Goldman is an American writer, Broadway playwright and Academy Award winning screenwriter.-Early life and education:...
, Nicholas PileggiNicholas Pileggi is an Italian-American author and screenwriter.- Career :Pileggi is best known for writing the book Wiseguy, which he adapted into the movie Goodfellas, and for writing the book and screenplay Casino. The movie versions of both were co-written and directed by Martin Scorsese...
, and Ken Lipper)
- Bringing Out the Dead
Bringing Out the Dead is a 1999 film directed by Martin Scorsese, and based on the novel by Joe Connelly with the screenplay by Paul Schrader...
(1999)...Directed by Martin ScorseseMartin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation, a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Oscars, Golden Globe,...
- Torch (2007)...to be directed by Harold Becker
-Biography:After studying art and photography at the Pratt Institute, Becker began his career as a still photographer, but later tried his hand at directing television commercials, short films and documentaries. Becker made his film debut in 1972 when he directed The Ragman's Daughter along with...
Further reading
- Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer (1972) (ISBN 0-306-80335-6)
- Schrader on Schrader and Other Writings (2004) (ISBN 0-571-22176-9)
External links