tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post533060566275751688..comments2022-03-24T16:11:50.124-04:00Comments on The Man From Porlock: Schraderfest 2011: Taxi Driver at the IU CinemaCraighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-6611328339741385052011-03-28T19:10:37.509-04:002011-03-28T19:10:37.509-04:00Not drunk, just harmlessly tipsy. Or at least that...Not drunk, just harmlessly tipsy. Or at least that's how it seemed. Completely in control of his faculties, though. The Reese/Renee thing was rather endearing, and he was very polite in answering her rather convoluted question -- which I <i>think</i> had to do with the issue of Schrader's focus on character vs. Scorsese's emphasis on "lifestyle." (She was quoting, I believe, Marty's own description of <i>Goodfellas</i>.)<br /><br />I led off with the Rosenbaum quote with some trepidation, his review not being completely complimentary. (Big surprise, I know.) But it was a good way to introduce the main players in the making of the movie. I really enjoyed hearing his thoughts on Bernard Herrmann.<br /><br />The Kael anecdote may sound exaggerated, but I've read enough about her by now to know that it sounds totally in character. Also, the Altman thing is just idle speculation. I just read a piece that mentions Schrader and Altman once attempting to arrange a tribute for Kael at the Museum of Modern Art, so it seems they weren't completely antagonistic. All those 70s-era guys were friends and rivals at the same time.<br /><br />My top three Schrader-directed films are, in order: <i>Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters</i>; <i>Blue Collar</i>; and <i>Affliction</i>. <i>Mishima</i> seems to be the one with Criterion-level staying power, his most visually imaginative film; it holds up very well. <i>Blue Collar</i> is rough around the edges but electrifyingly angry and passionate. <i>Affliction</i> is angry in a more tempered way, formalism at its finest.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-38921962523704514702011-03-28T18:14:00.954-04:002011-03-28T18:14:00.954-04:00"I don't care much for Jonathan Rosenbaum..."I don't care much for Jonathan Rosenbaum." HA! Awesome question, Craig. It's one of the first Q's I might have asked Schrader had I gotten your opportunity myself, but you've beaten us to it. Schrader has spoken!<br /><br />That's odd how Schrader hadn't read Kael's notes until you guys had given them to him. Kael's story about how she took his script and threw it into her closet sounds rather exaggerated, but if it's true, it's totally one for the books. As for Schrader's comments about modern Hollywood, I can see why he's getting sick of it, I guess--the kinds of movies he likes to write <i>don't</i> get as much attention as they used to. Still, Schrader shouldn't be too concerned. He's still got a devoted fanbase, and they'll always keep his career alive.<br /><br />I gotta commend you for asking him the <i>Nashville</i> question, too, even if the way you worded it may have confused him. I ask convoluted questions like this to directors all the time, often to get a response out of them that the public hadn't been aware of before. Your question helped reveal his distaste with Altman, and perhaps this bit of leaked detail will go into biographies of him long after he's departed. Not to say he should be damned for hating <i>Nashville</i> or anything, but I do think it's always interesting when noted directors express outrage over universally-celebrated films. Howard Hawks didn't like <i>The Godfather, High Noon</i> or <i>The Wild Bunch</i>, for example, and since then everybody's taken note of it. Same with Schrader and Altman, hopefully.<br /><br />"Renee Witherspoon". lol. He was drunk? Did he give any other drunken responses to questions?Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.com