Even though William Friedkin will forever be remembered as the director of the scariest movie ever made, The Exorcist, he’s also behind The French Connection, Sorcerer, To Live and Die in L.A., The Guardian and more recently the awesome Bug and Killer Joe.
He’s transcended multiple generations and continues to deliver impactful entertainment to audiences, which is why his opinion has significant meaning.
We came across an old news bit that I find fascinating, in which Friedkin slams superhero movies and identifies the biggest problem with them.
“Films used to be rooted in gravity,” he told AFP reporter Sophie Laubie. “They were about real people doing real things.
Today cinema in America is all about Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Avengers, Hunger Games: all kinds of stuff that I have no interest in seeing at all.”
Friedkin’s interest is of no value here, as not everyone is going to enjoy comic book movies, but he does make an extremely valid argument about films losing their root in gravity. What he means is that there’s nothing believable about them. And I agree, to a degree. I think some of the best superhero movies are ones that are grounded in reality. For example, the second Captain America could have easily been a Bourne sequel, while some of my issues with the second Avengers and Batman V. Superman are that they feel overtly fantastical, which removes me from the experience.
Friedkin looks to television as our savior, where there’s time to develop rich and colorful characters, which have a more meaningly impact on the story.
Now Friedkin says “the best work” for directors is on television with cable and streaming networks that make shows such as ‘True Detective’ and ‘House of Cards’. “You develop character at a greater length and the story is more complex and deeper than cinema,” the director said, “this is the new zeitgeist. Many of the fine filmmakers of today are going to long-form TV. It is the most welcoming place to work for a director today.”
It’s clear that Friedkin is a purist, which only adds to his legacy. In fact, he said he’s never been swayed by money, and hasn’t even seen the sequels to his Exorcist.
“I am not interested in making movies just for the pay-cheque,” Friedkin said. “I have to love the film, the story, the characters. There were four sequels to ‘The Exorcist’ and I’ve seen none of them, nor do I want to or intend to.”
What do you guys think?
Would you agree with his assessment of superhero movies? Have things changed since this was published in 2015?
[H/T] The Telegraph.
