Most directors would kill to have as big an impact on cinema as the late, great William Friedkin. Most people know him from his two most famous works; gripping crime drama The French Connection and The Exorcist, widely regarded to be the scariest film ever made. Outside of these two monoliths, however, he also made a splash with The Boys in the Band, Sorcerer, and the highly controversial Cruising.
As a respected and visionary force in filmmaking, Friedkin often had a lot to say about the state of the industry during his lifetime. He wasn’t always positive about what the next generation had to say, but he did occasionally have some nice words about those that picked up the torch after him.
In an interview with Heyuguys in 2017, the 82 -year -old director was first affordable that fashion cinema had to offer. “I don’t see many films today of this nature,” he said, referring to the interviewer praising his paintings to completely explore the stories of his characters. “I have a tendency to watch independent films basically where, to generalize, there is more attention to Detillearray. I don’t see the so -called” box office successes. “I have not realized enough to say,” he continued. Despite his initial dismissal, he was completely time. “I like Coen Brothers movies that communicate over the United States,” he said. “And there is a young director named Damien Chazelle who, I think, would have been successful in any era of American cinema. “
At the time Friedkin made these comments, Chazelle was only one year removed from his ‘Best Director’ win at the Oscars. After scooping the coveted prize for his work on La La Land, he became the youngest ever recipient of the award at just 32 years and 38 days old. This smashed the previous record, held by Norman Taurog for Skippy, which had stood for a whopping 86 years. He also won the same award at the BAFTAs, the DGAs, and the Golden Globes.
Alongside Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling’s ill-fated musical romance, Chazelle’s other big movie by 2017 was Whiplash. An intimate yet epic tale of obsession and the allure of artistry, Whiplash handed Miles Teller his breakthrough role and brought the world an entirely new (very frightening) side of JK Simmons. Since Friedkin sang his praises, he’s gone on to make First Man, a biopic of astronaut Neil Armstrong, and Babylon, a divisive and financially disastrous ode to the dying days of silent film.
When Friedkin passed away in 2023 at the age of 87, Chazelle confirmed that the admiration between the pair was mutual. When I first became aware of the name Billy Friedkin, I was a child, and the name itself filled me with fear,” Chazelle said in a speech at the premiere of his idol’s posthumous final film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. He went on to praise Friedkin’s extensive body of work and his qualities as a human being, revealing how shocked he was to find that a man responsible for such on-screen horrors was so warm and lovely in real life.
Given Friedkin’s previous comments about the lack of main points of the character planned in the cinema of the 21st century, it is unexpected to discover the paintings of Chazelle so impressive. While Babylon and the first man are lost in their respective glasses, Land and Whiplash are people, their personalities and what happens when two opposite forces collide.
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