{"id":7984,"date":"2017-12-14T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T07:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/\/?p=7984"},"modified":"2017-12-14T07:00:26","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T07:00:26","slug":"william-friedkin-coming-back-from-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/william-friedkin-coming-back-from-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"#ThinkpieceThursday – William Friedkin: Coming Back From Failure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thinkpiece Thursday<\/h2>\n

by Guest Contributor Oscar Harding<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>William Friedkin, the Academy Award-winning director of such films as\u00a0The Exorcist<\/em> and\u00a0The French Connection<\/em>, is arguably one of the most interesting and unpredictable filmmakers currently working today. Friedkin has had to constantly reinvent himself in order to survive.<\/p>\n

Whether you appreciate his filmography or not, every writer can learn something from the highs and lows of this filmmaker’s career. He doesn’t hide his mistakes, he personally takes the blame for his more spectacular falls from grace, detailed in his excellent memoir\u00a0The Friedkin Connection.<\/em><\/p>\n

Friedkin first gained attention for his debut documentary in 1962,\u00a0The People vs. Paul Crump. \u00a0<\/em>The film played a key role in saving a Crump from the electric chair. After a huge learning curve directing TV documentaries as a work-for-hire director, he used his friendship with Sonny and Cher to score his debut feature film,\u00a0Good Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n

After a critical mauling, and failure of his second film, he adapted\u00a0two stage plays. They received a better reception. The Boys In The Band<\/em> got people’s attention when gay subject matter was taboo. Then he risked everything and made an unconventional little film called\u00a0The French Connection<\/em>. Next came a commercial block-buster.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Many filmmakers would have called it a day, rested on their laurels or quietly gone into a self-imposed exile. Instead, Friedkin kept himself in the game with a mostly forgotten bank heist caper, then made\u00a0Cruising<\/em>, a film which provoked vilification and outrage.<\/p>\n

Even today it elicits extreme reaction both good and bad- it is a flawed film on many levels. \u00a0But Friedkin created a story with as lasting an impact as his best films.\u00a0Cruising<\/em>‘s reception and box office relegated Friedkin to director’s jail. On top of that, he barely survived a massive heart attack.<\/p>\n

Friedkin kept working on the occasional TV episode and a string of films that either underperformed at the box office or met with underwhelming reviews. Yet somehow, he was still able to make films. \u00a0In the middle of the wilderness years, he did achieve success by capitalizing on the style-over-substance movement of cop dramas sparked by\u00a0Miami Vice<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He was aware of the trends of the time and sought to contribute to the conversation, as opposed to remaining rigid in his thinking. Friedkin has always been willing to learn and to adapt, which is why even when people weren’t paying attention, he was still able to find work and tell his stories. No film is the same, but with filmmakers like Spielberg or Terence Malick, some of their films can “feel” similar. It could be argued these filmmakers are stuck in a rut, but achieve financial success. Friedkin clearly isn’t interested in that approach.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Instead of becoming bitter and frustrated, he received widespread acclaim in a different medium- Opera. Friedkin, like many of the filmmakers who continue to endure, looked beyond one type of art and found creative stimulation in another.<\/p>\n

This is a move other directors like Terry Gilliam- an equally fascinating filmmaker who has been met with failure and bad luck yet endures– would follow. Some filmmakers in Friedkin’s situation would have continued to fail because they kept struggling in a medium that didn’t want them.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t until 2006 that Friedkin achieved the kind of notoriety and success he hadn’t had since the days of\u00a0Cruising\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The Exorcist<\/em>. Coming across\u00a0Bug<\/em>, a play by Tracy Letts, Friedkin directed an adaptation that has proved to be a big success amongst audiences and critics. He kept it cheap, shot quick and utilized the tools of filmmakers much younger. Instead of becoming an elder statesman of Hollywood, he did exactly what the emerging filmmakers of today are doing. He has never looked down on the young, instead learning from them. In adapting to survive, he got his groove back.<\/p>\n

His next Tracy Letts adaptation,\u00a0Killer Joe<\/em>, incited the kind of controversy and attention he hadn’t seen in decades. It was one of the films responsible for Matthew McConaughey’s career renaissance as a dramatic actor, and the film became part of the Awards season discussion in 2011\/12. Friedkin took a trick from his own book- back in the late 60’s, when he and his career were stuck in a rut, he adapted stageplays that really evoked emotion in him, that he had an intense emotional connection to and he truly felt he could to justice to on screen.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The point of telling Friedkin’s story? There are some key lessons we can take from it- Keep it personal. Risk everything. Adapt to survive. Never get complacent. And keep people’s attention. Something people always seem to forget is that we learn more from our failures than our successes. No filmmaker demonstrates better than William Friedkin.<\/p>\n

Save<\/span>Save<\/span><\/p>\n

Save<\/span>Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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