An utterly fascinating New Yorker piece on these last few health-stricken years in Paul Schrader’s life gives us a perspective on how he desperately wants to make, as he says, “one more” movie.
It’s a grim read that gives us the detail-by-detail trials and tribulations he’s had to contend with ever since embarking on his latest film ‘Master Gardener.’ But he’s not done yet, he wants to make one more after that one.
Two weeks ago, I mentioned how Schrader’s next film will be an adaptation of his late friend Russell Banks’ 2021 novel “Foregone.” He’s decided to title it “Oh Canada” and the parallels between the main protagonist’s life and his own cannot be denied.
This is said to be a very grim novel about a dying artist who comes to terms with his own life. Here’s an excerpt from the New Yorker interview:
With each of his last few films, Schrader has said that he would be at peace if it were his last. “Now I’m going a step further,” he told me. “I’m saying, I want there to be one more. I don’t want an open-ended deal, just give me one more. Give me ‘Foregone.’ Give me ‘Ivan Ilyich.’ Give me the Huston ‘Dead’ film. Huston made that in a warehouse in Valencia. In a wheelchair. With oxygen.” I told Schrader he wasn’t there yet. “No,” he said. Then he pointed to a tank in the corner of the room. “There’s the oxygen.”
Schrader had also mentioned during a Q&A at the New York Film Festival that he was working on another project that had to do with a “trauma nurse working in Puerto Rico.” The Banks adaptation doesn’t seem to be this one.
Schrader, who is turning 77 in July, has had his fair share of health issues these last few years. He filmed “The Master Gardener,” with an oxygen tank and, despite being sick, refused to go to a hospital during the last week of production. At the Venice premiere of the film, he cryptically stated that it would be his "last rodeo”.
The maestro will not go down without a fight. He’s now adamantly waiting for production on “Oh, Canada” to begin this summer.
Schrader’s 5-decade filmmaking career has been quite the journey. Not counting his own directorial efforts, he’s also written these incredible scripts for “Taxi Driver,” “Rolling Thunder,” “Raging Bull,” “The Last Temptation of Christ” and “Bringing Out the Dead.”
If I had to choose his best films as a director they would have to be “Blue Collar,” “Mishima,” “Affliction,” “Auto Focus,” and “First Reformed.”
Still no distributor for "Bucking Fastard," "Alpha Gang," "The Last Photograph," "Closing Night," and "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd." The issue seems to be quality more than a lack of willingness to buy.