Saturday, January 31, 2009

Light Sleeper - Paul Schrader (1992)

Screened at the Harvard Film Archive with Paul Schrader in attendance

IMDB

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A few personal notes

  • PS wanted to do a mid-life crisis movie, but couldn't find the right subject until he remembered an old drug dealer acquaintance. The idea came to him in a dream.
  • The title "Light Sleeper" comes from the writings of St Paul
  • Artwork motift - Vermeer blowup, giant mural in restaurant, large artworks
  • Trash strike building up and up through movie
  • Religious motif - cologne as ointment and armani scarf as Pope's mitre
  • Sarandon eats, Dafoe doesn't
  • Dafoe talks about luck - a signifier for grace
  • As in Pickpocket, prison becomes a release for this man. At this point he can move forward and see what is ahead.
  • Schrader bad-mouthed Clint Eastwood and Darren Aronofsky - "The only person who should play a Christ figure in film is Christ."
  • Film gives Dafoe three voices - dialog, voice-over narration and a melodic/lyrical voice through the soundtrack
  • Schrader provides open spaces to allow us to listen to the lyrical voice
  • Taxi Driver is a mirror to this film with an active character rather than a passive character.
  • Schrader didn't see movies or TV until he was 18
  • Scorpio Rising appears on a television during the film.

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