bleedingcritic
- - "William Friedkin said this about my review for his new book ‘THE FRIEDKIN CONNECTION’:
‘My bleeding gratitude for this elegantly written review. Your bleeding fan and twitter-mate.’
Here is the review:
New York publishers HarperCollins contacted me and asked if I was interested to write a review for William Friedkin’s new book THE FRIEDKIN CONNECTION. My response; ‘If Billy wants me to, I’ll consider it’, they confirmed he suggested me…I considered, and then a coupe of days later the adventure arrived. I wanted to loose myself in this self penned work with my mind clear, away from everything else. I like to set the atmosphere right,so I spent a couple of days in a nice hotel right beside the beach in Brighton. During my time away, protecting my two dogs I got bitten by a young Great Dane, it wasn’t meant to happen – the Great Dane had a pink collar on for chrissakes! This was the first of three strange events that occurred during my time reading this ride.
There are many biographical and gossip styled books available about celebrities with zero talent, these books usually include graphic accounts of their boring self important lies, all flying off the ‘no one gives a shit’ book shelf section making a great deal of money. #puresewage. You enter a different reading class with THE FRIEDKIN CONNECTION it’s written with dignity, self respect and refreshing honesty. There are snapshots of moments we all have that stay with us forever and William discloses an early memory about a first love, and I imagined the tears streaming down Williams face if this person, that vanished from his life when he was so young, actually reads his book and contacts him to say ‘hello’.
The journey begins at a time where paper work was minimal and people had responsibilty for their own safety and health, a far distance from current time where you are made to feel incapable of using common sense. William writes about his kind, supportive and hard working mother Rae, and when she took him to the cinema for the first time when he was six years young. You will read about films he directed that you’ll definitely watch again because of this book. You’ll be so involved with situations where William’s life was in danger, but the Grim Reaper decided to choose someone else instead. There are moments when I wanted to jump into the book, travel back in time and stand up for William, especially when he was directing the final episode of the Hitchcock Hour, when he heard someone take credit for the opening camera shot, that was actually Williams idea alone. The other time I wanted to jump in and interfere is when a comment is made about wearing a suite. I wanted to say ‘just because someone wears a suit for work doesn’t mean there good at their job’…
I just love the way William deals with industry time wasters, the money-men. This written work includes wonderful stories about some actors of today and yesterday, demonstrating aspects of their personality which is surprising and enlightening. Citizen Kane (1941) inspired William to be a film maker and Alfred Hitchcock’s body of works was his tutorial. William’s brief meeting with Hitchcock is very memorable, especially when he meets him again at another time of his life. He has a sharp memory of those that were disrespectful and kind from when he was starting out and during his whole industry career, all incredibly revealing of what you didn’t know – until now. Everything about this memoir is well balanced due to Williams’ strength and ability to cope with living when nothing seemed to work; then suddenly life for him, as it does for all of us, can change when you least expect it.
William Friedkin’s way of casting actors and working with them is without doubt the best instinctive practice I’ve ever read, and he is absolutely correct in the way he gets the best performances. His articulate episodes of patience and frustration is as exciting as an action movie, his stream-train approach to get his vision on film, no matter how politically dangerous the location or how stubborn the money-men are, informs you about a man that throughout his life; has always been true to himself, which many of us strive to achieve.
The insight to all his filmed work is riveting, especially about the hospital procedure scene from The Exorcist and that person involved…He also gives sensible advice to wannabe film makers, which will save you a great deal of money. There’s acknowledgement of those William worked with and those that he gave a wonderful working opportunity to, and for reasons unknown, they didn’t continue on the wave of regular work. William feels some responsibility for this, but that’s an example of someone just being too harsh on themselves. Mr Friedkin has played the film industry game and broken the rules and has written a detailed account that sets an honest standard. Many other respected actors and directors will never achieve this standard because they are either pretentious or have been advised not to.
I mentioned just one of the three strange things that happened whilst I was reading this book. The other two: when reading about The French Connection I found out it was actually being shown on UK television that very evening; and when I was reading about The Exorcist, I looked on twitter and read that the man who made Regan’s head spin – Marcel Vercoutere had died.
William Friedkin’s history, past and recent, reveals imperfection,hope,loyalty,passion,love,challenges,loss,justice and a wicked sense of humour. If Billy was apart of my life we would definitely work together and be great friends, and that’s the highest genuine compliment I offer after reading such a colorful, interesting journal that I’ll never forget.
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