A look into Paul Schrader's 2017 drama, exploring the many techniques used to address the themes of the film.
In this essay I will examine how Paul Schrader uses narrative and form in his 2017 film First Reformed to look at religious issues. In First Reformed we see the pastor of the First Reformed Church Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) struggle with his faith and is riddled by the guilt of his son dying in war. One of the few people that attend his services called Mary (Amanda Seyfried) asks if Toller can help her husband Michael (Philip Ettinger). Michael is a radical environmentalist who eventually commits suicide because Toller finds Michael’s suicide bomb vest. After this, Toller gets more involved in environmental issues but neglects every other aspect of his life, including an increasingly likely chance of having cancer. The only positive relationship Toller has throughout is Mary. As Toller gets more involved in environmentalism, he discovers that Ed Balq’s (Michael Gaston) company is a major source of pollution in the town. This directly affects Toller as Balq is a financial contributor to Abundant Life, the megachurch that keeps First Reformed afloat. This all comes to a head when Toller decides to use Michaels bomb vest to kill the attendees of First Reformed’s 250th reconsecration, including Balq. Toller cannot commit the act of martyrdom when he sees that Mary (who he told not to come) arrives. He strips off his vest and wraps himself in barbed wire. He is about to kill himself but suddenly Mary arrives and he and Mary kiss until the film cuts to black. I will look at whether First Reformed is overall more positive or critical to religion. I will also examine how Schrader uses film techniques to simulate a religious experience and make religious issues relatable to a general audience. He does this by using narrative, style (which includes camera and editing techniques), tone, performance, and character.
Paul Schrader was raised in a strict Calvinist house where he did not see a film until he was 17. He is still religious but is now an Episcopalian. Throughout his career Schrader has written and directed many films that vary between style, tone, narrative and genre. However before First Reformed he had never wrote and directed a film about religion, religious issues, and spirituality. He had written the film The Last Temptation of Christ and directed the infamous Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist but neither of those had the spiritual style that First Reformed has. This spiritual style is what Paul Schrader dubbed transcendental style and he wrote about it in his book Transcendental style in film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer. Schrader wrote this book when he was 24-years-old. Transcendental style is when films include ‘wide angles, a static frame, images preferred over dialogue, highly selective composed music, heightened sound effects, visual flatness, and repetition’ (Fauerso 2018). It uses these distancing devices to connect the audience to spirituality, giving them a meditative experience. There are ways in which some of Schrader’s films show elements of transcendental style, especially a film like Taxi Driver which takes directly from the transcendental film Diary of a Country Priest. However, Taxi Driver, like all of Schrader’s previous films, are too fast paced, too obsessed with ‘action and empathy, sex and violence,’ (Gross 2018) to be considered transcendental. The reason he decided to finally make the type of film that he had written about in his youth is because he realised, after a conversation with Pawel Pawlikowski, that he was at the right stage of his life to make it.
One religious issue that Schrader tackles is the church’s place in modern society. The film opens with the 250-year-old First Reformed church. The church is the definition of austere, painted completely in white and small. Around the church the bushes have no leaves because it is winter, leaving a colourless tone. Reverend Toller, wearing all black, matches this plainness in both appearance and personality, both are old-fashioned, shown by the church’s colonist architecture and Toller’s flip-phone. This is what Schrader believes church should be, stating that ‘you go to church to be bored’ (Gross 2018). However, many disagree with this since the attendance of Toller’s services are scarce. The church has mostly become a museum and gift shop, highlighted in scenes where Toller tells guests the important things the church did in the past. First Reformed needs funding from an evangelical megachurch called Abundant Life. Abundant Life is shown to be what religion must evolve to, to stay relevant in modern society. The church is huge, colourful, flashy and lead by Pastor Joel Jeffers, appropriately portrayed by the charismatic comic, Cedric the Entertainer. At times Abundant Life seems more like a business than a church. A flaw Jeffers, and the megachurch, have is the inability to relate to some of the bleaker aspects of religion and life. This is shown through Jeffers’ belittling of Thomas Merton, whom Toller admires, calling him “a monk who lived in a monastery in Kentucky and wrote books.” Jeffers and evangelicalism are not evil, they do preach ‘a prosperity gospel but never [devolve] into mere hucksterism’ (Andrews 2018: 44). It is not what Schrader believes church should be, but he knows that that does not make it inherently wrong.
Another issue of church struggling to survive in the modern age is the need for funding from outside sources. The negative side of this is the funding that Abundant Life receives from Ed Balq. Balq is a conservative industrialist ‘whose company is also a major local polluter’ (Brody 2017). This brings forward the issue of whether the church must take a stand against environmentalism or not. The church has given a firm, public stance on many issues; abortion, murder, pre-marital sex, etc. However, these rules were established centuries ago, so the churches waning attendance could be due to its refusal to update itself, to give people answers to modern problems. The first debate we get regarding this is between Toller and Michael. Michael wants Mary to have an abortion because he does not think it is right to bring a child into a world that he believes is inevitably doomed. Toller outright defends the issue of abortion, saying that the baby inside Mary has as much a right to live as the environment. Toller finds it easy to defend this issue because he has already been given the answer. His position towards the environment however is a lot less solid. He argues that “A life without despair is a life without hope.” This clearly does not help as Michael later commits suicide. As the film progresses, trying to find the right answer to this issue becomes Toller’s main conflict. At one point he decides to debate this with Jeffers. Toller pleads for something to be done. Jeffers reminds Toller that God destroyed Earth once before “for 40 days and 40 nights,” and questions whether this inevitable destruction is part of Gods plan. Schrader personally believes that this argument ‘justifies all kinds of exploitation’ (Wilner 2018). Jeffers also tells Toller that he needs to focus more on himself before focusing on larger issues. This seems to have legitimacy as both Toller and Michael’s obsession with this issue leads them down a self-destructive path. Though this level of extremism that both men take may be because they need to fill the gap that religion has left in them. Perhaps though, all we can have is false hope, however the issue still is that the church is directly profiting from it. If we see significance in Michael’s name though, we can link him to St. Michael, who led an army of angels against the Devil. Schrader may see First Reformed’s Michael in the same way, someone whose death will spark a ‘war’ on environmental issues.
Paul Schrader uses transcendental style to allow the audience to experience religion and religious issues through style more than narrative. There are not many cuts, times where a shot lasts longer than it typically would, and the camera does not move very much. Along with this there is rarely a non-diegetic soundtrack and Ethan Hawke was directed to give a pull-away performance. Schrader also films in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio and originally planned on shooting in black and white. All of this is done to not manipulate the audience, in fact it distances them from the film. Especially since these techniques are inspired by European filmmakers, namely Robert Bresson. To find answers the audience must self-reflect and essentially meditate. This contrasts modern Christian blockbusters, such as God’s Not Dead, where ‘instead of exercising and challenging the imagination of their audience in ways that would make their audience better Christians, they shut down imagination and whisper sweet nothings into their ears’ (Wilkinson 2016). Those films try to force their audience into thinking a certain way by using the opposite of all the techniques related to transcendental style. They also have a level of simplicity where those who do not believe in Christianity are either converted or punished. These films alienate non-believers and do not challenge its Christian audience about religion and religious issues. Whereas First Reformed allows people from all religions and even atheists to reflect on the religious issues because they are portrayed as human issues, which they are. ‘Instead of being bullied into belief, religious or otherwise, the viewer is encouraged to meet these films on their own terms’ (Semley 2017). The use of the transcendental style in First Reformed helps the film replicate the kind of experience one would have if they attended the First Reformed church service. Schrader is testing his audience to see if they can watch this film, without distractions, in this new time where everything is fast-paced, with no time to reflect. Schrader is testing to see whether a film like First Reformed and old-fashioned church services can survive now or if today’s society has fallen to the evangelical approach of false hope, ignoring modern issues.
The ending is the most important part in determining First Reformed’s overall message to religion and religious issues. Toller’s plans of blowing himself up are foiled when he sees that Mary has decided to come to the reconsecration. Toller realises the error of his ways and ditches his bomb vest, to instead wrap himself in barbed wire, as an attempt at penance. He pours out a glass of drain cleaner. Before he can drink it, Mary appears, they embrace and then the film abruptly cuts to black. How you see the films message relies heavily on whether you think Toller lived or died at the end. Schrader has said that the film was intentionally ‘calibrated to be read in different ways,’ (Lincoln 2018) and there are many reasons to not believe in what is being shown on screen. The room gets lighter, Toller is wearing all white for the first time, the barbed wire does not harm Mary in any way, the camera departs from its usual motionlessness and the abrupt cut to black, which could be Toller finally dying. Mary also calls Toller “Ernst” for the first time here which shows that either way, Toller is finally being recognised as a person again. The different ways the endings can be linked to the different responses to the future of the planet, are you hopeful that Mary appeared and saved Toller’s life or do you despair that Toller killed himself? Contrastingly, perhaps both readings of the ending are hopeful. Mary appearing is important because, just like in the Bible, Mary ‘carried the seed of salvation’ (Lincoln 2018). Even if Toller drank the drain cleaner God came to him at the end and gave him a comforting feeling. This could be Schrader’s overall response to religious issues then: no matter what, God will be there to comfort you in the end. Just like in the Book of Job, Toller loses everything, including his wife and son, but it is all restored at the end, even if it is all just a comforting fantasy. Though, the film is purposely ambiguous because Schrader does not know the answers to all the questions he asked in this film and that is what he is telling us, there cannot be a clear answer because nobody has found one yet.
To conclude, Paul Schrader addresses religious issues in a way that is not common and one that he has never tried before. He uses style, including shots lasting longer than expected, pull-away acting, a rare use of non-diegetic music, static shots, and an overall austere feeling. By using transcendental style, he does not give clear answers to the religious issues that he highlights. These issues include: Religions place in modern society and whether it should adapt, if religion should take a clear position on modern issues such as environmentalism and what should that position be, will God forgive us for what has happened to the world and whether He will be there for us in the end. Instead, Schrader lets audience members from all backgrounds, reflect and meditate on what they are watching. Some think it is ‘one of Schrader’s most pessimistic works to date,’ (Nam 2018: 19) others see the ending as strangely optimistic. It is purposely complex, ‘a movie about questions, not answers,’ (Wilner 2018) because life is complex and nobody, religious or otherwise, has found the correct answers to the issues that Schrader contemplates in First Reformed.
Bibliography
Films
Bresson, Robert (1951) Diary of a Country Priest
Cronk, Harold (2014) Gods Not Dead
Schrader, Paul (2005) Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
Schrader, Paul (2018) First Reformed
Scorsese, Martin (1976) Taxi Driver
Scorsese, Martin (1988) The Last Temptation of Christ
Online Articles
Brody, Richard., 2017. The Reckless Passions Of Paul Schrader’S “First Reformed”. [online] The New Yorker. Available at: <https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-reckless-passions-of-paul-schraders-first-reformed> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
Fuerso, Neil., 2018. The Transcendental Style For A Fallen World. [online] Glasstire. Available at: <https://glasstire.com/2018/07/21/the-transcendental-style-for-a-fallen-world/> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
Gross, Terry., 2018. Paul Schrader And Ethan Hawke Test Their Faith In 'First Reformed'. [online] Npr.org. Available at: <https://www.npr.org/2018/06/12/619165319/paul-schrader-and-ethan-hawke-test-their-faith-in-first reformed#:~:text=Filmmaker%20Paul%20Schrader%20grew%20up,make%20a%20film%20about%20faith.&text=%22I%20was%20intoxicated%20by%20action,in%20the%20transcendental%20tool%20kit.%22> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
Lincoln, Kevin., 2018. Let’s Talk About The Ending Of First Reformed. [online] Vulture. Available at: <https://www.vulture.com/2018/06/lets-talk-about-the-ending-of-first-reformed.html> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
Semley, John., 2017. Director Paul Schrader And Cinema’S Relationship With Religion. [online] The Globe and Mail. Available at: <https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/paul-schrader-examines-cinemas-relationship-with-faith/article34497602/> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
Wilkinson, Alissa., 2016. I'm A Christian And I Hate Christian Movies. [online] Thrillist. Available at: <https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/christian-movies-why-gods-not-dead-and-faith-based-films-hurt-religion> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
Wilner, Norman., 2018. Paul Schrader On God, Climate Change And The Film That Almost Killed Him. [online] NOW Magazine. Available at: <https://nowtoronto.com/movies/news-features/paul-schrader-first-reformed-director> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
Articles
Andrews, Charles., 2018. Too Much In the Garden: Paul Schrader’s First Reformed. Michaelmas, vol. LXXXII(no.1), pp.43-45.
Nam, Sean, and Paul Schrader. “Hungering and Thirsting For Righteousness: An Interview with Paul Schrader.” Cinéaste, vol. 43, no. 3, 2018, pp. 18–23. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26532806. Accessed 17 Jan. 2021.
Books
Schrader, Paul., 1988. Transcendental Style In Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer. New York, N.Y: Da Capo Pr.
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