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Patty Hearst (1988); Auto Focus (2002)

Patty Hearst (1988)
July 19, 2013 - 7:30 pm

Patty Hearst (1988)

Directed by Paul Schrader

The strange, true saga of kidnapped heiress-turned-urban-guerilla fighter, Patty Hearst, seems ready made for director Paul Schrader, given his recurring fascination with the instability of identity and impassive characters pushed to their breaking points.  Schrader devises a series of ingenious aesthetic solutions to the problem of telling a story in which the main character remains a polarizing enigma, even to herself.  

Atlantic Releasing Corporation. Producer: Thomas Coleman, Michael Rosenblatt, Marvin Worth, Linda Reisman. Based on the book “Every Secret Thing” by Patricia Campbell Hearst. Screenwriter: Nicholas Kazan. Cinematographer: Bojan Bazelli. Editor: Michael R. Miller. Cast: Natasha Richardson, William Forsythe, Ving Rhames, Frances Fisher, Jodi Long. 

35m, color, 108 min.

Watch the trailer below.

Auto Focus (2002)

Directed by Paul Schrader

At the intersection of sex, celebrity and technology, filmmaker Paul Schrader plumbs the true-life tragedy of Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear), titular star of “Hogan’s Heroes,” a self-described “normal, red-blooded American man” who loses himself in a swirl of anonymous bodies, pornography and video tape.  As Crane sinks deeper into self-destruction, he remains oblivious to the schism he’s created between his clean cut image and the sordid reality of his obsessions. 

Sony Pictures Classics. Producer: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski, Todd Rosken, Pat Dollard, Alicia Allain. Based on the book “The Murder of Bob Crane” by Robert Graysmith. Screenwriter: Michael Gerbosi. Cinematographer: Fred Murphy. Editor: Kristina Boden. Cast: Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, Rita Wilson, Maria Bello, Ron Leibman. 

35mm, color, 105 min.

Watch the trailer below.