Directed by Paul Schrader

Directed by Paul Schrader

6 Episodes

In anticipation of his latest opus, OH, CANADA, we’re revisiting the films of one of American cinema’s most provocative moral philosophers. For over forty years, Paul Schrader has probed the guilty soul of the modern world in a relentless search for existential meaning. Raised in a strict Calvinist household—a rigorous upbringing that would influence his cinematic philosophy and his study of the “transcendental” styles of directors like Yasujiro Ozu and Robert Bresson—Schrader exploded onto the scene with his screenplay for Martin Scorsese’s TAXI DRIVER, an anguished howl of urban alienation that established him as one of the leading figures of the 1970s New American Cinema. Specializing in explorations of damaged souls driven to shocking extremes in their search for salvation, he has experimented with a range of styles, genres, and tones—ranging from the profoundly serious to the coolly ironic to the self-consciously sleazy—in daring works like HARDCORE, MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS, and AUTO FOCUS. Grappling with weighty themes of faith, violence, sin, and redemption, Schrader’s films are fascinating windows into his personal obsessions.

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Directed by Paul Schrader

6 Episodes

  • Affliction
    1:54:21
    Affliction
    Episode 1

    Affliction

    Episode 1

    Directed by Paul Schrader • 1997 • United States
    Starring Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn

    Driven by powerhouse performances from Nick Nolte and an Oscar-winning James Coburn, Paul Schrader’s searing adaptation of the novel by Russell Banks is an emotionally intense exploration of family, ...

  • Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
    2:01:31
    Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
    Episode 2

    Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

    Episode 2

    Directed by Paul Schrader • 1985 • Japan, United States

    Paul Schrader's visually stunning, collagelike portrait of acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima (played by Ken Ogata) investigates the inner turmoil and contradictions of a man who attempted an impossible harmony between s...

  • The Comfort of Strangers
    1:44:50
    The Comfort of Strangers
    Episode 3

    The Comfort of Strangers

    Episode 3

    Directed by Paul Schrader • 1990 • United States
    Starring Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett, Natasha Richardson

    Two couples are drawn into a dark psychosexual vortex in Paul Schrader’s stylish take on the erotic thriller. Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson are a British couple hoping to repa...

  • The Canyons
    1:39:41
    The Canyons
    Episode 4

    The Canyons

    Episode 4

    Directed by Paul Schrader • 2013 • United States
    Starring Lindsay Lohan, James Deen, Gus Van Sant

    “American Psycho” author Bret Easton Ellis and acclaimed director Paul Schrader join forces for this daring and infamously divisive erotic thriller about youth, glamour, sex, and surveillance. Manip...

  • Light Sleeper
    1:43:25
    Light Sleeper
    Episode 5

    Light Sleeper

    Episode 5

    Directed by Paul Schrader • 1992 • United States
    Starring Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, Dana Delany

    Willem Dafoe stars in this moody character study as John LeTour, a drug dealer who faces a midlife crisis now that his supplier (Susan Sarandon) wants a change of career. LeTour reencounters an ol...

  • Paul Schrader in Conversation
    24:09
    Paul Schrader in Conversation
    Episode 6

    Paul Schrader in Conversation

    Episode 6

    A legendary screenwriter, director, critic, and cinephile whose work searches for spiritual salvation in the modern world, Paul Schrader did not in fact see a movie until he was a teenager—a result of his being raised in a strict Calvinist household that forbade filmgoing. In this edition of Adve...

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