Great provocateur. The best films of William Friedkin
In the 70s, William Friedkin was considered one of the most influential Hollywood filmmakers, but since then his career has been more like a roller coaster. In the creative life of the director, who always gravitated towards gloom and demonstration of violence in cinema, there were both ups and downs. Some of his works became iconic, while others were thrown to the sidelines of success. What unites all of them is that Fridkin's films were and remain controversial, to the point that some of them caused gag reflexes in the audience and generated protests in the film lover community.Friedkin was born in Chicago, Illinois, and most of his most famous films fit the image of a self-taught dork from a family of workers who did not even attend college. His works have never been highly artistic - they rather resemble real-time filming, which is also explained by Fridkin's creative background: before becoming a celebrity in Hollywood, he got his hands on in the documentary genre and on TV. Recognition came to the director after the release of "The French Messenger", but his finest hour was limited to only one decade - the 70s. The pictures, treated kindly by critics, were followed by high-profile failures, forcing Fridkin to diversify his track record with episodes of television shows and commercials. His return to Olympus took place already in the XXI century, when the films "Glitches" and "Killer Joe" were released.  Fridkin is woven from contradictions. This is probably why his heroes often confront society and themselves. He is like a dedicated boxer who gets back to his feet over and over again, no matter how many punches he gets. Fridkin's career spanned six decades, but he was not as productive as his contemporaries, making only 19 films. At the same time, the director tried on his style for a variety of genres - from supernatural horror to musical comedy. Today William Friedkin turns 85, which means that there is a great reason to remember the best films of the director, who never follows the lead of public opinion and does not seek compromises. The French Messenger  It was the "French Messenger" that led Fridkin to his first resounding success in his career. The film won five Academy Awards, forever changing the crime thriller genre. The director relied on the realism inherent in documentary films, and the risk was justified. The famous scene in which the main character of the tape - a policeman nicknamed Popeye (Gene Hackman) - chases a train in his car, has long been included in world textbooks and is considered a landmark for the thriller genre. Friedkin spit on all the bans, installing cameras in a 1971 Pontiac LeMans and telling stuntman Bill Hickman to drive as fast as possible. During the filming, the director often relied on spontaneous decisions on the part of the actors, and his methods by today's standards look like dictatorial ones, but thanks to all this, the game of cat and mouse between Popeye and the elusive French criminal Charnier (Fernando Rey) is getting more intense by the minute. The French Messenger popularized neorealism in Hollywood, and the American Film Institute named the film one of the greatest in history. The Exorcist  After the success of The French Messenger, Friedkin took on The Exorcist, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty. Today, with franchises and blockbusters reigning in Hollywood, it's hard to believe that an R-rated horror movie not only made a hit in the 70s, but was also one of the highest grossing films in American cinema history for decades. "The Exorcist" was a turning point in the field of special effects and makeup, and Fridkin's provocative shooting style for modern directors seems to be something unattainable. Will a major film studio allow itself to release a film these days in which a girl masturbates with a crucifix, and her young body decomposes under the influence of demonic forces? The answer is clear: no. However, in the 70s, Fridkin managed to start a conversation with the audience about God, the devil and faith in humanity. He both frightened and entertained the audience. The film received ten Oscar nominations, winning two categories. Now "The Exorcist" is not just a successful horror movie from the past, but a whole franchise that should soon return to the screens. "Sorcerer"  “A film that I hope will be remembered. I treat The Wizard with great trepidation, more than any other film ... I consider it my most personal and most difficult work ", - this is how Fridkin speaks of the film that followed The Exorcist ... With two 100% hits in hand and Hollywood at his feet, the director could choose any project. His choice fell on an ambitious film adaptation of Georges Arnault's book, which had already been adapted twenty years earlier into the classic film "Pay for Fear". The Warlock is the story of the existential horror of four criminals hired to ferry two trucks loaded with explosives through the jungle. In the year of its release, the tape was in for a failure: its critics criticized it, viewers were not going to spend money on watching it. First, the public was misled by the title of the film, Today you can admire the breathtaking scenes of trucks making their way through the jungle, driving on a shaky bridge, but the filming of the tape lasted longer than planned, and its budget in the process increased from $ 15 million to $ 22 million. In 1977, Fridkin did not receive recognition from reviewers, but modern critics are much more loyal to The Wizard, considering it a forgotten classic of the 70s, which fell victim to Star Wars, released a month earlier, and the conflict between Fridkin and the studio bosses. "Live and Die in Los Angeles"  This film by Fridkin lived up to its time: Wang Chun's stereotyped music, catchy title - such qualities could boast of many American films of the 80s. Nonetheless, "Live and Die in Los Angeles" remains a classic crime thriller. Fans of the series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" probably find it difficult to imagine William Petersen as a secret agent claiming to be a sex symbol, but then the actor coped with his role with a bang. What sets the film apart from many of its kind is the final act, which turns a standard police plot into a story of personal revenge. Fridkin boldly walks along the fine line between cops and thieves, moral decay and the principle"the end justifies the means". Moreover, "To Live and Die in Los Angeles" became a landmark in the career of Fridkin himself. After a series of failed films of the 70s, the director seemed to make a comeback. Unfortunately, the audience had to wait for more than two decades for the next worthy work from the director. "Killer Joe"  Film fans waited for an excellent film from William Friedkin in 2011, when "Killer Joe" - a hellish cocktail of American gothic, black comedy and crime thriller - hit the screens. A petty drug dealer decides to murder his own mother in order to get insurance money. He is supported by the rest, no less strange family, and together they hire a hitman. An interesting plot twist, isn't it? Add to this the great acting work of Emil Hirsch and Matthew McConaughey, and you get a must-see movie. Fridkin remained true to his provocative style: the picture received an NC-17 rating, that is, the category "only for adults." Moreover, Friedkin refused to re-edit "Killer Joe" in order to lower the age limit at least to R, believing that in this way he would kill the entire film. The Topic of Article: Great provocateur. The best films of William Friedkin. |
