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Paul Schrader

American screenwriter and film director (born 1946)

3.76body-of-work score · ranked #297 of 2631 directors · 7 films in our library

A director's score is the sum of their films' composite canon scores — methodology.

Born
July 22, 1946 · Grand Rapids
Nationality
United States
Work
screenwriter, film director, film critic, director
Reference
Wikipedia · Wikidata
Portrait of Paul Schrader
Jay Dixit · CC BY-SA 4.0

Films in our library, ranked

Ranked by composite canon score across 20+ authoritative lists, awards and polls — our ordering, with every placement citing its evidence on the film's page.

  1. 1
    First Reformed

    2017 · United States · drama

    Film Comment year-end poll 2018 #3 · Rolling Stone 100 Best of the 21st Century #39

    0.782 citations
  2. 2
    Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

    1985 · Japan / United States · biography, drama

    Letterboxd Top 250 #50 · Siskel's annual top 10 1985 #6 · Criterion Collection spine #432

    0.744 citations
  3. 3
    Affliction

    1997 · United States · crime, drama

    Kehr's annual top 10 1998 #2 · Hoberman's annual top 10 1998 #6 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

    0.663 citations
  4. 4
    The Card Counter

    2021 · United States · crime

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 2021 #9 · Film Comment year-end poll 2021 #17

    0.542 citations
  5. 5
    Blue Collar

    1978 · United States · drama, crime, mystery

    Siskel's annual top 10 1978 #4 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Kehr's annual top 10 1978 #9

    0.533 citations
  6. 6
    American Gigolo

    1980 · United States · drama, crime, mystery

    Sarris's annual top 10 1980 #5 · Ebert's annual top 10 1980 #9

    0.342 citations
  7. 7
    The Comfort of Strangers

    1990 · United States / Italy / United Kingdom · drama, thriller

    Criterion Collection spine #1041

    0.161 citation

Complete filmography

All 25 directorial credits recorded on Wikidata, in chronological order; films in our library link to their canon-score page.