WELCOME ! SO I attended a viewing of the 1985 film "Mishima" by Paul Schrader et al (George Lucas & Francis Ford Coppola also had a hand in this film, among others; including Paul's brother Leonard, and I even saw a few other Schraders on the credits, but Paul apparently was the main man in terms of making this film happen) and this was at Hammer Museum in Westwood (near UCLA and associated with UCLA, the film school from which Paul graduated after leaving Calvin College & Grand Rapids (MI). 
And it is the Grand Rapids connection which makes me most interested in Schrader. He comes from the same background and tradition as myself...(more later). Anyways, just to be clear I am NOT a representative of Schrader, nor affiliated in any way, just an interested person, not necessarily even a "fan" ...just interested in keeping tabs of what he's doing and saying.
And it is the Grand Rapids connection which makes me most interested in Schrader. He comes from the same background and tradition as myself...(more later). Anyways, just to be clear I am NOT a representative of Schrader, nor affiliated in any way, just an interested person, not necessarily even a "fan" ...just interested in keeping tabs of what he's doing and saying.
..., albeit I don't completely comprehend what he said...while the moderator joked "its all Lindsay Lohan"..; most of the talk was about the making of Mishima...a film which I had never seen before, & which is apparently based on a true story about a Japanese writer et al. I had a personal interest in seeing Paul Schrader because he grew up in my same tradition & same hometown of Grand Rapids (MI).
Of course he's several decades older & from a different era but we attended the same high school (grand rapids christian) & college (calvin). And of course he was a bit of a notorious legend by the time I was a student...with folklore about how he was a bit of a rebel at calvin college (the story goes that he was on the staff of the student newspaper "The Chimes" and got into some hot water over his reporting about a scandal re a professor having an affair.
If I recall correctly, a student went to the college chaplain for counseling about this affair expecting that the counselor-client confidentiality would be respected but the chaplain apparently used the information to get the professor fired; and if I recall, Schrader was critical of the chaplain & so the college became critical of Schrader, etc ..can't recall if Schrader got kicked out of calvin or fired from the chimes or exactly what, but something transpired,
He speaks of "calvinism" often, even as he took the podium to introduce himself this evening, but I wanted to know if he simply still has a personal faith in Jesus Christ or not. Nonetheless,I decided not to say anything...would have rather have spoken with him personally, but didn't get the chance. Tomorrow (8/5) he will return for a showing of "The Canyons" which so far has not gotten many favorable reviews (from some critics who have seen it early)
but it hasn't been released yet to the general public. This showing is sold out, but sometimes they have no-shows & release a few tickets to stand-bys. I don't have much curiosity about the movie,so I'm not sure I will even try to get a standby ticket, and my curiousity to see Paul Schrader in person has been fulfilled, so I may leave it at that.
I would like to hear him talk, some time, about growing up in grand rapids, etc, but don't know when that might happen,if ever, at least not in los angeles. I don't know if he has ever been invited back to calvin college or our Christian high school..
probably not given the nature of some of his films (ie profanity,nudity, etc) . He was asked about his late brother Leonard (also a screenwriter who was less-known than Paul) and Paul lamented that they had "fallen apart" after Paul became more successful & never had a chance to truly reconcile before he died. I still have some questions I would like answered..about his parents, about how calvinism apparently negatively influenced him, etc. Maybe some day.
