'Taxi Driver' Writer Schrader Receives Lifetime Achievement Award at Venice Film Festival

"The Originator Who Sparked a Revolution in Imagination, Aesthetics, and Language"

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Veteran Hollywood writer Paul Schrader will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice International Film Festival on August 31 (local time). Alberto Barbera, the artistic director of the Venice Film Festival, introduced him on the 4th as "the person who sparked a revolution of imagination, aesthetics, and language in Hollywood since the late 1960s." He added, "He has explored contemporaneity with intellectual curiosity and delivered beautiful films. He has also greatly contributed to advancements in technology, production, and distribution." Schrader expressed his feelings, saying, "It is a deep honor. Venice is the lion of my heart." The winged lion is the logo of the Venice Film Festival, originating from the biblical story of 'Saint Mark and the Lion.'

Schrader is famous as a master screenwriter in Hollywood. He wrote scripts for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988); Sydney Pollack's Three Days of the Condor (1975); and Brian De Palma's Obsession (1976). The intellectual insights contained in his early critical essays also appeared in his screenwriting, earning him the admiration of many directors. His analytical and cynical perspective was also prominent in the films he directed himself. Representative examples include his debut film Blue Collar (1978), which depicts three workers fighting against a corrupt labor union, as well as American Gigolo (1980) and First Reformed (2017). He is praised for building a unique worldview by addressing socially controversial themes with a peculiar tone.