Raised in a strict Dutch Calvinist atmosphere, Schrader reportedly saw his first film at age 17. Following his parents wishes, he enrolled at Calvin College as a theology major. Just before his senior year, he took a film class at New York University and became convinced that movies could examine secular and spiritual issues. Encouraged by noted film critic Pauline Kael, Schrader attended the graduate film school at UCLA. He began his career as a film critic in Los Angeles and published a still-influential study, "Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer", in 1972. He declined offers to work full-time as a film reviewer and instead concentrated on a screenwriting career. His first produced script, co-written with his brother Leonard and Robert Towne, was for the Japanese underworld thriller, "The Yakuza" (1975). Schrader then collaborated with Scorsese for the first time on "Taxi Driver" (1976), a classic study of urban alienation with an existential hero at its core. "Obsession" (1977). co-written and directed by Brian De Palma, was an homage to Alfred Hitchcock with a somewhat spiritual twist. Schrader, however, grew disenchanted with the lack of control that screenwriters have when the final versions of "Rolling Thunder" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (both 1977) did not resemble what he wrote. Hoping to exercise more control, he made his directorial debut with "Blue Collar" (1978), a gripping, muckraking account of autoworker exploitation in Detroit. He did continue to churn out scripts, often in tandem with his brother, like "Old Boyfriends" (1978),
Schrader garnered attention with the flawed but interesting "American Gigolo" (1980). Critical reaction was decidedly mixed but audiences flocked to the film, as much for its glossy look as for Richard Gere in the title role. That same year, he penned what many have called THE film of the 80s, Scorsese's "Raging Bull". Again, the central male figure is a flawed human seeking redemption, which is one of the hallmarks of Schrader's work. After helming the uneven remake of "Cat People" (1981), he directed and co-wrote the ambitious, multi-layered biopic, "Mishima: A Life in Four Acts" (1985), a portrait of controversial Japanese author Yukio Mishima. The film took the "artistic merit" prize at Cannes for "John Bailey's visual conception, Eiko Ishioka's designs and the music of Philip Glass."
Schrader's subsequent work has encompassed controversial subjects ranging from the life of Jesus, in the Scorsese-directed "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), to terrorism, in 1988's "Patty Hearst". More recently, he has turned to fiction as a source for his films. Working from Harold Pinter's screenplay based on the Ian McEwan novel, Schrader helmed the fascinating but ultimately empty "The Comfort of Strangers" (1990). In 1997, he scripted and helmed "Touch", based on Elmore Leonard's novel about an innocent who discovers he can perform miracles and gets caught up in a media circus. With "Affliction", Schrader used the Russell Banks novel as a starting point for what many saw as one of his most personal films. Centering on a troubled middle-aged man (Nick Nolte) whose life spins out of control with disastrous results, "Affliction" received strong reviews in its festival screenings at Venice and Telluride and upon its 1998 theatrical release.
Schrader worked less in the period immediately following the triumph of "Affliction." Although his renewed collaboration with Martin Scorsese as the screenwriter on the director's 1999 film "Bringing Out the Dead" drew much pre-release interest, the film lacked the power and substance-if not the style-of the duo's earlier pairings. Schrader also wrote and directed the tortured and violent love story "Forever Mine," which was only able to summon a debut on the STARZ cable channel. Nevertheless, the film was dripping in a respectable amount of Schrader-esque angst and anguish, and the director managed to summon effective performances from stars Joseph Finnes and Gretchen Mol. Schrader's next big project was in more familiar territory, helming--as director only--"Auto Focus" (2002), a dark docudrama chronicling the kinky secret sex life of 1960s TV sit-com star Bob Crane ("Hogan's Heroes"), which ultimately led to the actor's untimely death. The film had its compelling segments and featured a terrific performance from Greg Kinnear as Crane, but otherwise did not have the visceral edge of Schrader's other works. Next, the director signed on to helm a surprisinging mainstream and commercially minded project, the prequel "Exorcist: The Beginning" (2004), after the original director, John Frankenheimer, died prior to production. Schrader battled the studio as he shot his version to completion, only to be fired and replaced--with the bulk of his material thrown out--by director Renny Harlin. When Harlin's film failed to scare up an audience, the studio then released Schrader's version under the title "Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist" (2005)--but released opposite the final "Star Wars" film, it was also mostly bypassed by all but the most curious.