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. His influences include Robert Bresson, Yasujiro Ozu and Carl Dreyer, whose cross-cultural similarities he examined in Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer (ISBN 0306803356) in 1972. Despite his credentials as a director, Schrader has received more recognition for his screenplays directed by others.

Filmography (as director)

• Blue Collar (1978) (also co-writer)
• Hardcore (1979) (also writer)
• American Gigolo (1980) (also writer)
• Cat People (1982)
• Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) (also co-writer)
• Light of Day (1987) (also writer)
• Patty Hearst (1988)
• The Comfort of Strangers (1990)
• Light Sleeper (1993) (also writer)
• Touch (1997) (also writer)
• Affliction (1997) (also writer)
• Forever Mine (1999) (also writer)
• Auto Focus (2002)
• Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005)