Writer, director talks ‘Taxi Driver’

Writer-director Paul Schrader arrived at IU on Thursday to present the digital restoration of the landmark film “Taxi Driver,” directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Schrader. He sat down with the Indiana Daily Student to discuss his perspective on his craft.

On writing “Taxi Driver”
“The whole thing came about from suffering, not a desire to write a commercial film or sell a script.”

On his parents’ religious opposition to film
“When my father died, I went into his house, and there were all the videotapes of all my films, but they were all in their original shrink wrap.”

On the future of film
“Film, the projected image in a darkened room, is a 20th-century phenomenon. It may be becoming a thing of the past.”

On filmmaking and analysis
“The creative life and the critical life are two
different animals. The film critic is like a medical examiner. He wants to find out why they died, how they lived. The writer is like a pregnant woman, working to ensure that the thing is born alive. If you let the medical examiner into the birthing room, he will kill that baby.”

On the role of director
“You just have to assume that your way’s the right way.”