Paul Schrader
About the Book
As the first full-length study on Paul Schrader's films, this book examines how Schrader creates a cinema driven by issues of obsession, memory, estrangement, violence, and guilt. Representative of a new generation of American writer-directors of the 1970s, Schrader's films highlight the tension between old and new ways of telling a story and between the maintenance of commercial formulas and openness to individual expression. George Kouvaros draws on a personal interview conducted with Schrader and the director's prior commentary to trace common motivations and impulses behind such well-known films as Light Sleeper, American Gigolo, Affliction, Auto Focus, Taxi Driver, and Patty Hearst.About the Author
George Kouvaros is a professor of film studies in the School of the Arts and Media at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He is the author of Awakening the Eye: Robert Frank's American Cinema and Where Does It Happen? John Cassavetes and Cinema at the Breaking Point.Reviews
"Schrader was a big part of the American film renaissance of the 1970s--which produced films that challenged and provoked, although they sometimes failed to find an audience-and Kouvaros offers a good argument as to why his films matter."--Library Journal"A good book for film students and Schrader enthusiasts, and it provides ample springboards for further discussion of the director's oeuvre."--Pop Matters
Blurbs
"Across an impressive series of writings, George Kouvaros has been one of our ablest commentators on the performance of self by both film directors and their fictional characters on-screen. With his sharp and concise study of Paul Schrader, Kouvaros productively and compellingly brings these critical talents to bear on a complex, contradictory body of films in trenchant and far-reaching fashion."--Dana Polan, professor of cinema studies, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
"A much-needed source for those interested in Paul Schrader. This stimulating and engaging work illuminates his career and provides incisive analysis of his films, making it an especially valuable contribution to the field."--Cynthia Lucia, author of Framing Female Lawyers: Women on Trial in Film
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