The director Paul Schrader’s overarching theme, throughout his career (which started with “Blue Collar,” from 1978), has been the meaning of life—or, rather, the passion-infused ideals that give life meaning. In “Patty Hearst,” from 1988, which I discuss in this clip, he extends the notion into a domain where it seems not to belong. The subject of the film, of course, is the famous case of the nineteen-year-old heiress who, after her kidnapping in 1974 by a violent political group of ostensible revolutionaries, the Symbionese Liberation Army, joined it, taking part in an infamous bank robbery and other crimes, and was eventually arrested. Schrader—aided greatly by his lead actress, Natasha Richardson—depicts something surprising and extraordinary: the power of absurd ideas and wild rhetoric to possess the imagination. Without sacrificing his critical judgment, Schrader retains a remarkable sympathy both for Hearst and for those who wrenched her from her life and made her—even if in deed only—one of their own.
Goings On
What we’re watching, listening to, and doing this week, online, in N.Y.C., and beyond. Paid subscribers also receive book picks.
Our Local Correspondents
Why You Can’t Get a Restaurant Reservation
How bots, mercenaries, and table scalpers have turned the restaurant reservation system inside out.
By Adam Iscoe
Profiles
Padma Lakshmi Walks Into a Bar
Since leaving “Top Chef,” Lakshmi has found herself in a period of professional uncertainty. What better time to try standup comedy?
By Helen Rosner
Annals of Gastronomy
A Martini Tour of New York City
My month of vermouth-rinsing and fat-washing.
By Gary Shteyngart
Our Local Correspondents
Donald Trump Is Being Ritually Humiliated in Court
At his criminal trial, the ex-President has to sit there while potential jurors, prosecutors, the judge, witnesses, and even his own lawyers talk about him as a defective, impossible person.
By Eric Lach