Famed screenwriter and filmmaker Paul Schrader found himself having something of a comeback in 2017 when his Ethan Hawke-led feature “First Reformed” was critically acclaimed and ended up with multiple Oscar nominations.
His follow-up was last year’s “The Card Counter” which also scored solid reviews and some critics award nominations along with making Obama’s favorite films of the year list. Now, Schrader returns with “Master Gardener,” a film that’s being dubbed a final chapter in his recent thematic trilogy of “men who cannot forgive themselves”.
Speaking with IndieWire about the project, which premiered out of competition this weekend at the Venice Film Festival, Schrader says he expects this one to generate controversy, saying quite plainly: “this one is going to p–s people off… Obama’s not putting it on his top 10 list.”
Joel Edgerton stars in the film as Narvel Roth, a horticulturist placed in the witness protection program after turning on some of his fellow white supremacists.
The film focuses on the relationship that forms between him and Maya (Quintessa Swindell), the mixed-race grand-niece of a wealthy dowager (Sigourney Weaver) who owns the former plantation home where Narvel works as a gardener.
Talking about the film, Schrader revealed that the character was originally conceived as a mob hitman until it was changed to a more contemporary direction:
“The outrageousness of having a Proud Boy find love was just too outrageous to pass up. This theme of American racism kept growing.”
Whilst many filmmakers get softer as they age, Schrader seems to be going in the opposite direction, but admits it’s a struggle to do such material in the current cultural landscape:
“People want something to argue about, but on the other hand, they’re being very woke in a counterproductive way. All it takes is one internet a—- to call this a ‘slave master sexual fantasy’ film, then that could be repeated until it’s a meme. This film is a real gumbo of no-nos.”
Reviews for the title so far have been good-mixed, with Edgerton’s performance in particular drawing strong notices even as the movie’s allegory and otherwise overall energy has met a more muted reaction. A review at THR says: “the director’s quintessentially religious vision of transgression and forgiveness never builds the necessary dramatic truth here to warrant much reflection.”
Esai Morales, Rick Cosnett, and Eduardo Losan co-star in the film which hasn’t set a U.S. release date or distributor at this point.
