Paul Schrader’s ‘Oh, Canada’ SAG-Exempted, Starts Production in August

Some good news for Paul Schrader, his next film, “Oh, Canada,” has been SAG-exempted and can start production in August.

Back in May, Schrader told The New Yorker that, given these last few health-stricken years, he desperately wants to make, as he said, “one more” film.

Schrader’s ”Oh, Canada” will be an adaptation of his late friend Russell Banks’ 2021 novel “Foregone.” He’s decided to retitle It and the parallels between the main protagonist’s life and his own cannot be denied. Richard Gere is set to star in the lead role.

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, who is turning 77 in July, has had his fair share of health problems 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”.

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.”