Paul Schrader explains lifelong obsession with guilt at Venice film festival premiere

Paul Schrader, the veteran writer-director, used the Venice Film Festival press event to discuss why his work repeatedly explores guilt and redemption. He linked this fixation to his upbringing in a Dutch Calvinist environment, echoing Freud’s claim that early programming solidifies by the late childhood years. Schrader said the imprint is inescapable, shaping the themes of his latest film, The Basics of Philosophy, which premiered out of competition.

The drama follows Jack Huston’s character, a philosophy professor whose orderly life unravels when a past wrongdoing resurfaces, with Sofia Boutella, Daniel Zovatto, Bill Pullman, Dana Delany, Shiloh Fernandez, Karl Glusman and Elizabeth Petruso in supporting roles. Martin Scorsese returns as executive producer, extending a long-standing collaboration. Actors described the film’s focus on ordinary people confronting hidden sins rather than overt villains.