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Lindsay Lohan Held Canyons Director Paul Schrader “Hostage,” No-Show at Venice Film Festival

Paul Schrader, Lindsay Lohan
Paul Schrader told reporters that he's finally "free" from Lindsay Lohan after more than 16 months working on The Canyons together.

After nearly a year and a half of unpredictable tantrums and headline-making antics, director Paul Schrader is finally finding himself "free" of Lindsay Lohan's wily ways.

"Today I am free," he told reporters at the Venice Film Festival on Friday, Aug. 30, in statements translated from Italian. "In the past 16 months, I have been hostage to Lindsay Lohan. She is a great actress, she should be here, but her behavior is unspeakable."

Related: PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan's most OMG moments

The Taxi Driver writer, who has worked with such Hollywood legends as Robert De Niro and Richard Gere, directed the troubled 27-year-old actress in The Canyons, which showed at the film festival — without its leading lady in attendance.

"Yes, nobody thought it was a good idea for her to go," a source tells Us Weekly of Lohan's noticeable absence. "That sort of atmosphere, the festival, the parties. The culture of it is drinking and celebration and not in line with keeping her on the right track."

Related: PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan's courtroom couture

Lohan recently completed a 90-day court-mandated rehab stay, during which she reportedly turned over a new leaf. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, the former Disney star revealed that she's been making efforts to be "really honest" with herself about her issues and her past.

"Having all the chaos around me that I was so comfortable with — I somehow inside of me know I wanted to go in jail," she told the talk show host. "I think that was subconsciously going on in my head through my actions … just to have some peace. I came into it just really craving more spirituality, really open and ready to get really honest."

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In July, Schrader wrote an essay for Film Comment comparing his Canyons star to one of the industry's most iconic actresses: Marilyn Monroe.

"Similarities? Tardiness, unpredictability, tantrums, absences, neediness, psychodrama — yes, all that, but something more, that thing that keeps you watching someone on screen, that thing you can't take your eyes off of, that magic, that mystery," he wrote, calling Lohan's high drama the "LiLo phenomenon."

Related: PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan's mugshots

"[They both] exist in the space between actors and celebrities, people whose professional and personal performances are more or less indistinguishable," he continued. "Entertainers understand the distinction."

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