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Director

Paul Schrader

USA · Grand Rapids

The theologian of cinema, obsessed with guilt, redemption, and the violent machinery of male desire. His films are confessions — austere, unflinching examinations of sin and the body as battleground between spirit and flesh.

Thematic context drawn from Senses of Cinema. Read the full critical essay →

b. Paul Joseph Schrader, 22 July 1946, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

The true transcendental film is one that takes the narrative from melodrama, from violence, from sex, from all the normal hooks that pull you into a movie, and gradually transcends them and goes to a higher place.

On Hardcore  ·  MUBI Notebook - Paul Schrader on 'First Reformed', his faith, and the future of film