From the Vaults: “Are You Talking to Me?”

Although The Austin Chronicle began publishing in 1981, our searchable online archives only go back as far as 1995 (or thereabouts). However, our collective memory extends back even further and that’s how this 1991 piece in which Richard Linklater interviews Paul Schrader came to be reprinted.

Several weeks ago, Austin Film Society Programmer Lars Nilsen was at the Chronicle office talking with Team Screens here about the upcoming AFS schedule. One of the things he highlighted (as well he should) was the amazing Jewels in the Wasteland program in which AFS Artistic Director Richard Linklater presents and discusses afterward films from the much-maligned Eighties that are indeed standouts and have been important to him in developing his aesthetic. The final film in the series is Paul Schrader’s Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, which screens tonight, June 3.

Looking at that, I remembered that Linklater had interviewed Schrader for the Chronicle sometime around 1990. Thumbing back through our bound print volumes, I discovered “Are You Talking to Me?” which was published in the Chronicle’s May 24, 1991 issue on the occasion of the Austin release of Schrader’s film, The Comfort of Strangers. Locating it and making a lousy photocopy, I sent the interview over to Lars, who then beseeched Kati Mellor to transcribe it anew. Next thing I know, the piece has roared back to life in AFS Viewfinders, where you can currently read it.

When “Are You Talking to Me? was published in May 1981, Slacker still hadn’t had its national release. Linklater’s breakthrough film had been playing at Austin’s Dobie Theatre for the past year, but was not set to bow nationally until July 5, 1991. The timing lends a special resonance to some of Linklater’s questions about whether Schrader would still go out to L.A. if he was just starting in the business in 1991, or how international productions stacked up against Hollywood financing. (In 1994, Linklater’s Before Sunrise would be financed primarily by Austrian funds.) The filmmakers – one in his ascendency and the other in mid-career, both Ozu aficiondos – found plenty to talk about.

The Comfort of Strangers is a twisted drama about two couples based on a novel by Ian McEwan. Harold Pinter wrote the screenplay. The film stars Christopher Walken, Natasha Richardson, Rupert Everett, and Helen Mirren. Visit the Austin Film Society website for ticket reservations.

"Are You Talking to Me?" – An AFS Viewfinders reprint