Paul Schrader names his favourite movie he’s made
Although Paul Schrader didn’t watch a film until he was 17, he has made a whole career out of the art form, penning some of the most critically-acclaimed films of all time. Growing up in an intensely religious environment, Schrader was not allowed to indulge in cinema until he sneakily consumed 1961’s, The Absent-Minded Professor, which he didn’t like.
However, he didn’t let this put him off, and by the time he’d finished his studies in philosophy and theology, he began working towards a master’s in film studies. By the late 1960s, Schrader was a film critic for the Los Angeles Free Press, publishing his book Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer in 1972.
Yet Schrader made his definitive mark on the film industry when he wrote the screenplay for Martin Scorsese’s classic New York drama Taxi Driver, released in 1976. The film, starring Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Jodie Foster and Albert Brooks, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival and has since become a cult favourite.
In the 1970s, Schrader wrote other scripts, such as Brian De Palma’s Obsession, before releasing his directorial debut, Blue Collar, in 1978. This was closely followed by Hardcore, which polarised critics. Since then, Schrader’s movies have typically received mixed reviews, such as American Gigolo and Cat People, whereas his scripts, like Scorsese’s Raging Bull and The Last Temptation of Christ, have been considerably more successful.
However, in 2017, Schrader released the psychological drama First Reformed, which received widespread praise and is often regarded as his best film. The movie stars Ethan Hawke as a pastor grappling with his beliefs and faith. Clearly, the film was inspired by Schrader’s incredibly strict religious upbringing, returning to themes that were prevalent in his script for Taxi Driver.
Drawing influence from filmmakers such as Carl Theodor Dreyer, Ingmar Bergman and Robert Bresson, First Reformed poses questions about faith in the modern age, uncertainty and humanity. The filmmaker even asserted in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the influence of Taxi Driver and Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer combined to form his magnum opus. “Fifty years later, those two seeds which fell in the petri dish came [together], wound up and I made First Reformed.”
Understandably, the film, which received an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Original Screenplay’, holds a special place in Schrader’s heart. In an interview with Vulture, he once revealed that “My whole-life favourite of course is First Reformed.”
Watch the trailer for First Reformed below.
