Paul Schrader’s writings on technology’s impact on film expression released

In this book which has been released by Tehran-based major publisher Chesmeh in 115 pages, Schrader points out: “I’d been interested in how film history interacts with film technology, so I thought I’d try that. This was the initial topic of the course: “Films That Changed Filmmaking.” Columbia grad student Robert Brink helped organize the classes and this series of articles in 2014.

There are many perspectives from which to view film history—sociological, psychological, economic, political. Most often it’s viewed through the prism of art movements and a mixture of all of those modes, and often framed as a progression of artists. But the artist doesn’t invent the technology, and it’s important to remember that.

Motion pictures and photography are the first art forms that are solely the product of mechanical and chemical technology. All the other art forms existed in some pre-technological fashion—drawing, dance, oration—but there were no movies before there were machines. So it’s interesting to view the history of movies as the history of movie technology. You can track this history by tracking its technological advances—in short, a history of toys.

A lot of technology begins as toys—that is, something inherently not very useful. Entertainment technologies often appear first as tricks, diversions, baubles. A camera obscura, a zoetrope. Even Edison and the Lumières didn’t see the artistic ramifications of their inventions.

But then the toys evolve and become something more. They become aesthetic tools. When viewing the history of film as a history of technology, the important thing is not so much the first moment that a film technology appears—though that’s critical—but the defining moment when that toy becomes a creative tool.

Looking at film history from the usual perspectives can feel like, well, history. It feels old. So my hope in taking this technological point of view is to try to get you to see things from the filmmaker’s perspective.”

Schrader first received widespread recognition through his screenplay for Martin Scorsese's ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scorsese, writing or co-writing ‘Raging Bull’ (1980), ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ (1988), and ‘Bringing Out the Dead’ (1999).

He has also directed 24 films, including ‘Blue Collar’ (1978), ‘Hardcore’ (1979), ‘American Gigolo’ (1980), ‘Cat People’ (1982), ‘Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters’ (1985), ‘Light Sleeper’ (1992), ‘Affliction’ (1997), and ‘First Reformed’ (2017); the latter earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Schrader's work is known for its frequent depiction of alienated men struggling through existential crises, a premise known as "God’s lonely man”.

Ali Ameri Mahabadi is an Iranian film critic, journalist, filmmaker and translator. Among the books translated from English to Persian are:

‘How to Study Television’, by Ron Cowdry, Keith Selby; ‘The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (Critical Approaches)’, by John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson; ‘Experimental Cinema in the Digital Age’, by Malcolm Le Grice; ‘The Aesthetics of Digital Cinema, The Collected Essays’; and ‘Cinema Genre’, by Raphaelle Moine.