" Transcendental Style in Film " is a seminal work of film criticism published by in 1972 . In it, he identifies a shared cinematic language used by Yasujirō Ozu, Robert Bresson, and Carl Theodor Dreyer to express the "Transcendent"—the invisible, spiritual realm—through formal technique rather than traditional storytelling. The Three Stages of Transcendental Style
Schrader argues that this style functions through a rigid, three-step structure designed to push the viewer into a state of contemplation: Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer