2023-08-08 14:18:57
– William Friedkin, the last act of a master
The great director died Monday at age 87 in Los Angeles. His latest film will be screened posthumously in Venice.
Posted today at 4:18 p.m.
Friedkin in 2009 in Locarno with his Leopard of Honor.
DR
A master! There are filmmakers that it is difficult to define otherwise. Died Monday at the age of 87 in Los Angeles, William Friedkin leaves behind a body of work made up of films that became classics simultaneously when they were released. let’s think about «French Connection»In this “Exorcist” which caused so much ink to flow and generated so much discomfort during its exploitation, to “To Live and Die in LA”, and even to “The Sorcerer”, an unexpected remake of a great Clouzot, “The Wages of Fear” .
There was a unique way in Friedkin of taking the great themes of American cinema – the underworld, fear, transgression – and making them his own. His cinema was solid and much more than that. The action became a constituent part of a graphic paw that allowed him to rub shoulders with all genre films, even comedy. The man dominated the situation and the American cinema. And even if his filmography includes a few missteps, like “The hit of the century” with Chevy Chase, or “Empty heads seek full coffers” with Peter Falk, it really does not include anything minor.
In 2009, he also came to the Locarno festival to receive a Leopard of Honor. It was the last time we had been able to meet him, and if he seemed weakened, he could always talk about his cinema with the same passion. All this did not prevent him from directing other films, “Killer Joe” in 2011, and especially this remake of “Hurricane on the Caine” by Dmytryk, «The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial», which will be presented in Venice in a month. This is probably when we will realize how much we miss him.
Pascal Gavillet has been a journalist for the cultural section since 1992. He mainly deals with cinema, but he also sometimes writes on other fields. Especially science. As such, he is also a mathematician.More info@PascalGavillet
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