William Friedkin - Hollywoods Enfant terrible

William Friedkin, actors and film makers who have worked with him and admire him, and Zubin Mehta talk about Friedkin.

The writer Gene Wolfe once said that you never learn how to write a novel; you just learn how to write the novel you're writing. Friedkin's philosophy of directing a movie seems to consist of doing as much research as possible, casting right, seeking spontaneity, and taking chances. I'm not sure there's much more insight to his creative process than tat on view, but there is a lot of admiration on offer, not only for Friedkin, but for other film makers by Friedkin, including Fritz Lang and Buster Keaton.

I also learned that Friedkin directed operas, which is how Mehta comes into this mix.

Iconic Hollywood director William Friedkin recently died. This documentary does have the late director talking about his works and presumably a lot of help from him. To be sure, this is a fawning film for the famed filmmaker. It has his friends and colleagues singing his praises. There are plenty of big names. The man is big time Hollywood and everybody has something good to say about him. First, it's weird that this starts with Friedkin talking about Hitler. It's a good entry point into good and evil, and thereby introduces The Exorcist (1973). This is really only an entry level course into the man, but the names are so big. This is DVD extras for people who love the movies but know little BTS.

Film director William Friedkin opens this documentary on his career by saying, "The two most fascinating people who ever lived were Hitler and Jesus. There's good and bad in all of us." He spends the next few minutes hoping to clarify his viewpoint, not helping himself by adding: "The devil was a creature from God...but he went bad! I've had evil thoughts...I've had good thoughts...it's a constant struggle for humanity...for every human being to have their goodness overcome their dark side." Francis Ford Coppola, presumably a friend, is interviewed about "The Exorcist", saying, "If I were to work on that subject matter, I would have--probably--tried to deal with the evil through metaphor...Billy didn't do that, he just went for it! He didn't mince around. He shows it...over and over again...in the most direct possible way. In Billy's film, it's not implied, it's shown. He doesn't philosophize about evil, he shows you evil." Growing up in a Jewish household in Chicago from Ukrainian parents, Friedkin was poor but didn't know it ("Everyone around us lived the same way"); he was a prankster who got a job in the mailroom of a television station, remaining there for two years before moving into production (his filmmaking ambitions took hold after seeing Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane"). His parents didn't understand his love for the medium because TV was still new, but the future Oscar winner obviously had chutzpah and talent. Interviews with friends, colleagues and the subject himself fill us in on what came after, and fans of the director's films ("The French Connection", "Sorcerer" and "Cruising" among them) will find much to enjoy here. Still, this isn't a moving or enlightening portrait. How could it possibly be? Friedkin is a good talker, a showman--often an arrogant, insufferable one--but not a guy who looks inward for the truth. He's too busy running his mouth. ** from ****

I don't want to say that I was disappointed in "Friedkin Uncut" but I kind of was. William Friedkin is a Hall of Famer and he deserves a proper documentary. Unfortunately, "Friedkin Uncut" is not it. There are some good stories in this movie but mostly it's a lot pats on the back. This movie would have been better if they didn't interview William Freidkin at all. That way the filmmakers would have been the ones "Uncut". "Freidkin Uncut" plays more like a tribute movie than an actual documentary. I wish it was better.

I'm not sure what I expected, but this surely wasn't "Friedkin Uncut." There are very little insights into who he is and why he does what he does and if there is any rhyme or reason to it. It's a bunch of head shots of people whp have been in his films or helped him create them and everyone loves him. OK. But that's not worth the time.