TWO OF WILLIAM FRIEDKIN's MOST ICONIC FILMS
Posted on 08/10/2023 7:33:38 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
William Friedkin, the Oscar-winning director who was part of the new wave of American filmmakers of the 1970s, died Aug. 7. He was 87.
The wealth and fame that he achieved were a stark contrast from his humble beginnings in working-class Chicago, where Friedkin was born in to Jewish immigrants from Ukraine.
In his youth he became fascinated by the works of auteurs such as Welles, Bergman, and Godard and yearned to emulate what he saw.
His passport to showbiz was via the mailroom of a TV station. He rose up the ranks to work on productions.
He eventually proceeded to direct hundreds of local television programs, ranging from kids' shows to live broadcasts.
This was a valuable training ground for Friedkin, who learned to deliver effectively and, most importantly, within the budget and schedule.
His directorial efforts on TV drew the attention of documentary producers. In 1962 he made The People vs. Paul Crump, about an inmate on death row.
But his big break came in 1971 with The French Connection, a gritty low-budget crime drama that catapulted Gene Hackman to superstardom.
The film was based on two tough New York City cops who uncovered an international heroin-trafficking gang.
Friedkin shot the film in an inducted documentary style much like the new wave cinema in Europe.
In addition to shooting on a handheld camera, there was almost no background score. The dialogue was minimal, and the film was shot on locations. Friedkin was determined to dismantle all the clichés of films based on cops at that time.
The film had one of the earliest realistic portrayals of cops on the streets.
It wasn't simply the flawless good versus meritless evil.
The "good," represented by Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, was rough and uncouth
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Never cared for “The Exorcist”, but I loved “The French Connection”.
I remember seeing it in France as a teenager while visiting there. Couldn’t quite understand the dialogue but didn’t really need to.
Heh, when my wife and I were on our honeymoon in Mallorca (Spain) they had “The Blues Brothers” playing in Spanish in the common room on a large television! I had a lot of fun watching it, even though my Spanish skills are rudimentary at best...
“Cuatro pollos fritos y una coca cola.”
“¿Cuanto cuesta la niña?”
One of his better, and lesser known films, is ‘Sorcerer’ from the late 70s. White knuckle film about transporting a truckload of unstable dynamite sweating nitroglycerin through the South American backcountry.
¿Cuánto cuesta la niña?
Damn you beat me to it!
It keeps getting funnier, every single time I see it!
But...Tubular Bells? Yes!
I was a big Drum and Bugle Corps fan back then, and one of my favorites was this corps, and this Drum Solo they did:
VIDEO LINK: 1974 Anaheim Kingsmen Drum Solo: "Tubular Bells"
I loved it. All the people in my circle of friends did. Many of their instructors and members left to go to the Concord Blue Devils, which ended up blowing everyone away just two short years later, and is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best Drum Corps of all time.
To think Michael Oldfield was 19 when he recorded it, and he played all the instruments himself. And there were some pretty heavy hitters in that video, including Mick Taylor of the Stones.
The Iraq sequences at the beginning of the Exorcist were wonderfully filmed. Friedkin knew how to set up excellent camera shots.
Yes, very impressive!
Fried king (that’s what autocorrect called him) was not an auteur and had more misses than hits.
I myself liked The Night They Raided Minskys when I was young.
¡Odio a los nazis de Illinois!
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