Wednesday, September 11, 2013

William Friedkin

After recently reading director William Friedkin's memoirs, The Friedkin Connection, The Leopard re-watched several of this intriguing directors' iconic films. The French Connection, The Exorcist, To Live and Die In LA, Cruising,  and his most recent, Killer Joe.
The overall sensibility that emerges is that Friedkin in the majority of his movies veers towards the dark side of human behavior. He seems comfortable portraying basics of human nature: desire, lust, and violence.

A somewhat forgotten film and a box office failure, one of The Leopard's favorites is the dark, rough-hewn Sorcerer, based on the book and film Wages of Fear.

The story of a motley crew of  criminals who merge in a South American country on and mission to transport nitroglycerin through a treacherous jungle, the film has an adventure - like quality as well as stirring realism. Propelled by a thumping score by the electronic group Tangerine Dream, pound for pound, it might be Friedkin's most fully realized endeavor.