How Paul Schrader “Persuaded” Barry Diller to Replace John Travolta with Richard Gere in ‘American Gigolo’
The legendary filmmaker, who is being honored with a retrospective and lifetime achievement award at the Lucca Film Fest, on how he would like to be remembered, still writing screenplays “on spec” and why “humanity is phasing itself out.”
Paul Schrader, at the age of 78, is getting a bit philosophical, a trifle introspective and if the truth be told, he is extremely pessimistic about the future.
The legendary former film critic turned screenwriter-director — his long list of credits include, as screenwriter, Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980) and, as writer-director
American Gigolo (1980), First Reformed (2017) and this year’s Oh Canada — will arrive in Tuscany this week, as a special guest of the Lucca Film Festival. On Sept. 25 he will teach a Masterclass to university students, and the day after, on Sept. 26, he will receive a lifetime achievement award. There will also be a retrospective of his greatest films.
