The shop received a staggering haul today that was comprised of seven titles each from Germany and France. Among the arrivals were a pair of new additions to the shop’s inventory: “Taking Off” by Milos Forman and Paul Schrader’s “The Comfort of Strangers.”
Although best known as the screenwriter responsible for penning classics like Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” and “The Last Temptation of Christ” (as well as Brian De Palma’s “Obsession” and John Flynn’s “Rolling Thunder”), Paul Schrader has had a distinguished career in the director’s chair, too, helming the likes of “Blue Collar,” “Hardcore,” “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters,” and “Affliction.” For “The Comfort of Strangers,” Schrader assembled an impressive cast and crew that features Christopher Walken, Helen Mirren, Rupert Everett, and Natasha Richardson in the leads, music by Angelo Badalamenti, cinematography by Dante Spinotti, and a script by Harold Pinter based on a novel by Ian McEwan to tell the story of a couple on vacation in Venice who encounter a mysterious stranger after getting lost looking for a restaurant late one evening. The film’s climax has to be seen to be believed — I must have literally sat there with my mouth agape for a solid 45 seconds. I can only imagine what the folks in the courtyard outside the shop must’ve thought….