On casting Ethan Hawk<\/a> (Spoiler alert!)<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a certain physiognomy in playing a man of the cloth, be it Montgomery Clift in \u2018I Confess,\u2019 Belmondo in \u2018Leon Morin\u2019 or Claude Laydu in \u2018Diary of a Country Priest.\u2019 So, you\u2019re thinking about actors who have that physiognomy, maybe Jake Gyllenhaal, Oscar Isaac, but Ethan was 10 years older than them and his face was getting some very interesting wrinkles. I started thinking he\u2019s just right for this. I sent him the script and he responded right away.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Shooting fast, took only 22 days of filming. Richard Brody on first reformed – (The reckless passions of Paul Schrader)<\/a> <\/p>\n On naming the Pastor “Ernst Toller” – <\/a><\/p>\n Yup. I did. I came across the name years ago in a poem by W.H. Auden, but there were two things about the name I liked. One was the \u201ctolling\u201d of the bells. The other was the playwright who escaped Nazi Germany to come to America and then committed suicide<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Willem Dafoe Dafoe and Schrader have collaborated many times, The Light Sleeper<\/em>, The Affliction<\/em> and Auto-Focus<\/em> etc. <\/p>\n Light Sleeper, American Gigolo etc. <\/a> (Mishima, Patty Hearst and Auto Focus were incredible biopics, and Schrader directed late Natasha Richardson twice – she played Patty Hearst and was also in the Comfort of Strangers, scripted by Harold Pinter based on a short novel by Ian McEwan.) <\/p>\n Polygon Interview <\/a>– (First Reformed, Taxi Driver filmmaker Paul Schrader will change how you think about movies)<\/p>\n \nWhich modern, American filmmakers have mastered leaning in? On Mishima.. ( His Final Performance, the Suicide of Yukio Mishima <\/a>) <\/p>\n Read his letter to his brother Leonard Schrader<\/a> (His visit to Jean Renoir in Beverly Hills )<\/p>\n I spent the afternoon at Jean Renoir\u2019s home in Beverly Hills, and was very entertained. Jean (as we friends call him) is shooting four short stories for French TV. During some continental business haggles he decided to come back to L.A. for two weeks. He told Max Laemmle, manager of the Los Feliz Theater, that my article on Boudu was the best he had ever read. He then sent me a letter to thank me, enclosing an autographed photo, asking for a tear sheet for Michel Simon, and inviting me to his home.![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.mutanteggplant.com\/vitro-nasu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/1aaa2FR-1-e1535996574286.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n(“First Reformed” directed by Paul Schrader)<\/p>\n
\nBudget\t$3.5 million. (Investers got their money back) <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
\n(The Light Sleeper)<\/p>\n
\nPaul Schrader: In America, [Wendy and Lucy and Meek\u2019s Cutoff director] Kelly Reichardt works<\/a> that way. Gus van Sant did that three film trilogy [Gerry, Elephant, and Last Days]. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/a>
\nPaul Schrader directing Mishima, A Life in 4 Chapters, his sister in law acted as his interpreter with Japanese crew and actors.
\n(Philip Glass composed the soundtrack, Eiko Ishioka designed the set, Mishima was Schrader’s most theatrically stylised film.)
\nHis brother Leonard knew Mishima.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nSo Joel and I (Joel is an old friend of the Renoirs) were there this afternoon. This is an exceedingly kind, gracious, and fragile person. Just like his films: you can\u2019t help but love him. We had a very interesting conversation about Bresson, Simon, Moreau, Magnani, Chabrol, Truffaut, but I remember the afternoon primarily as an experience, like a warm bath. His home is covered with original paintings by his father, Picasso, Cezanne, Braque, etc. In his living room hangs a larger-than-life-size portrait of Jean at 17 painted by his father: he is young and handsome, has a shotgun and hunting dog. Jean, now past 70, bald and pink-faced, was sitting in a chair in front of that painting. I think I\u2019ll always remember that view. He is, as he describes Picasso, \u201ca force of nature.\u201d I think he is a greater artist than his father, for he invented the vocabulary before he embellished it. You think my head\u2019s swelling. Peut-\u00eatre.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n