Don't usually create dedicated obiturary posts, but in the case of the recent passing of William Friedkin, this is a notable exception to the rule.
Amongst the New Hollywood era collective, William Friedkin was one of the few film makers who didn't sell out or lose all of his mojo during their career. Friedkin taught us how to make money and how to kill in his films. That's more educational than anything I ever learnt at school.
His anecdotal tales were always entertaining, and most of all, he always threw caution to the wind and didn't pull his words. This element, and more importantly, an oeuvre which would leave most of today's film makers green with envy, made him a truly based individual.
Obviously, he will always be associated as the man who gave us the horror classic The Exorcist (1973), but The French Connection (1971) was my first Friedkin film and it's etched itself way more onto my brain. The chase sequence with Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle pursuing a hijacked train through the grimy and busy streets of NYC is one of my fave chase sequences of all time. More recentlly, the film entered the limelight again when that great bastion of refined cinema known as Criterion Films censored it on its subscription channel. Another example why physical media is still important today.
Despite it being a musical, I've tried to catch one of Friedkin's earliest and hard to find films, The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968). The reason why I've always wanted to check it is the late British comedian Norman Wisdom in it. Knowing there's a film out there helmed by Friedkin which features Albania's adopted son in it makes me want to see it, regardless of quality. Not many directors out there make me want to do that, which made Friedkin such a special film maker, in my opinion.
R.I.P. William Friedkin.
