Diary of a Country Priest

It’s so funny, because people will say, ‘Your movies are so anxiety-inducing,’' Benny said. 'But then I think about watching Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead, and it’s a beautiful experience being anxious the entire time. I think that’s what we try to get to. We put you in the shoes of the character, and you’re trying to navigate this insane situation in a way where it’s not too much but it’s just enough, and that’s a very fine line.

Bringing Out the Dead in turn shaped 1 film

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I wanted to make a spiritual thriller, an existential thriller, and I thought the elements that Bresson and Bergman and Dreyer and Ozu, the elements that they brought to the spiritual film, could be transmuted into a thriller that would keep the audience on the edge of their seat.

The whole idea of the Man in the Room, the diarist, that came out of Bresson, Diary of a Country Priest. It’s a very clear line that started with Taxi Driver, First Reformed, and now Master Gardener.