Can Paul Schrader Cheat Death? The Director on Taking ‘Oh, Canada’ to Cannes, Scorsese’s Dog Biting His Finger Off and Defending Kevin Spacey
Paul Schrader absentmindedly builds installation art out of seven prescription bottles, two inhalers and an empty martini glass, as we sit in a restaurant for seniors in a Manhattan high-rise. Outside, lights twinkle on the Hudson. In 1975, Schrader went to bed with a pistol under his pillow while writing “Taxi Driver.” “Having the option to end things is the only way I could sleep,” Schrader says.