Paul Schrader

The Profile

Paul Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director and critic. He wrote Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ and Bringing Out the Dead, and directed American Gigolo, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Light Sleeper, First Reformed and The Card Counter. His films often explore isolation, guilt and faith with a cool, neo‑noir sensibility.

Collaborated extensively with Martin Scorsese (screenplays for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, Bringing Out the Dead). Directed American Gigolo, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Light Sleeper, The Canyons, Dog Eat Dog, The Card Counter and Oh, Canada. Mishima was produced by George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. The Card Counter was produced by Martin Scorsese. Gus Van Sant makes a cameo in The Canyons. Schrader appears on-screen in Dog Eat Dog as “the Greek”. Frequent collaborators/actors in the reviewed works include Richard Gere, Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaac and Uma Thurman.

Eight DeBaser reviews chart Paul Schrader from American Gigolo and Mishima to Light Sleeper, The Canyons, Dog Eat Dog, The Card Counter and Oh, Canada. Critics spotlight his neo‑noir mood, lonely men at night, and cool formal rigor. Collaborations with Scorsese and actors like Gere, Dafoe, Isaac and Thurman recur. Overall tone: admiring, with a taste for stylish pessimism.