DP/30: First Reformed, Paul Schrader 

And American Gigolo, too.

Agreed. I wanted to bash that bastard in the face.

I just finished watching the film for the first time and I had that same reaction lol

Agreed!

He directed Nolte in the Excellent "Affliction", now they grew old in such a similar way.

It's the only good thing he has directed since Autofocus, so retirement isn't a bad idea.

I would also mention Carl Dreyer's "Ordet" as another influence. "First Reformed" is a remarkable film. I bought the DVD because I know I'll be watching it many times.

Sounds like emphysema, likely from addiction to tobacco.

Sölvi Elísabetarson lol true. All the interviews

azjkjk I really doubt it. I can’t imagine Paul Schrader watching anime.

That reminds, if an Evangelion movie were to be made they’d have to give it to a really artistic director. It would have to be given a big budget though. I think Denis Villenueve would make an amazing Evangelion film.

I thought the cinematography was really, really impressive and served the story and mood so perfectly.

I noticed he does that in almost every talk or interview he gives. The mic is picking it up. He usually stops in the middle of a sentence to sip. Repulsive.

I thought the same thing!!! Funny how no one else in the comment section thought about asking about this or anyting stay WOKE brother.

This film was very well received by critics and has nothing to do with illuminati but rather, how man is destroyed the planet. It is quiet, thoughtful, moody and it stays with your. Shrader was in the seminary and he said he finds God in the quiet, not the party of the mega churches' rock concerts.

He's a brilliant writer, but he's no director.

What are these mysterious illuminati? I've met free masons but never an illuminati. PS Did you mean "boring"? Probably was a film for the enlightened few.

@@mirandac8712 can you explain why

@@lightningbolt4451 It's just that he lacks a sensitivity to the medium. He was a fantastic critic, and he is the greatest American writer of his generation -- there is no second. Unfortunately his talent is sort of camouflaged by the movies. But really, who is the Hamlet of postwar America? Toni Morrison's cloying, sentimental Sethe? Or Travis Bickle? A look through the headlines will tell you. And Travis came from one person, and it wasn't De Niro and it wasn't Scorsese, and both will attest to this. The writer is the one who creates the character. However, movie directing is something else. It isn't really creative. It's managerial and it's interpretation, and obviously we're talking about an extremely high level of accomplishment and talent here, but everything in Schrader's movies is flat and cheap. I know he will say that that's what he was going for, and seek postmodern art as a defense, but in the end movie directing is more like being a great dancer or a great athlete. _Blue Collar_ though is a great movie, and so is _Hardcore_ -- they were before he in his own words "learned how to direct," which for him means wrapping it up in a bunch of nonsense stylistics. He could have at least followed the path of a Lumet, say. I think his infatuation with postwar art cinema of Europe and especially the "transcendental" style of Ozu and Bresson and Dreyer is unfortunate, because for one thing only Ozu is the truly great talent out of those three, but for another, it's easy to mistake those guys for being "distant" and "objective" and "cool." I think with directing there isn't any two ways about it, you have to be "hot." Hitchcock was, and Cronenberg is, and all the good ones are, including Ozu. The reason Ozu is the greatest director of all (Paul will agree) is the passion that is fused with every composition, no matter how elegant and complex. A writer can be analytical, but not a director. (I don't really think a writer can be, either!) -- just IMO :)