Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist

The (recent) six-day interview with director William Friedkin is behind the creation of this comprehensive documentary. In the interview, Friedkin not only tells a detailed and amusing story about The Exorcist and how it came about (as if he had filmed it last week), but he also doesn’t forget to mention a few fantastic stories from filming, filmmaking techniques used in specific scenes, a detailed analysis of individual motifs and creative intentions, and the fact that viewers often have a tendency to look for more in the film than what was intended. An incredible flood of information accompanied by often surprisingly fascinating visuals (not only from the Exorcist). For film fans, it’s an absolute feast. Just make sure you watch The Exorcist first. (21.10.2019)

This is a minimalist and yet very effectively structured documentary about the creation of the well-known film The Exorcist. Alexandre O. Philippe devised this documentary essay as a continuous montage of a six-day interview with director William Friedkin, who is very engaging, and with incredible enthusiasm recounts his memories, reflections and intentions associated with making the horror classic, which was based on the book by William Peter Blatty. This gives you a comprehensive picture of the director's work in shooting the controversial work of art. There is a lot of interesting and new information to pick up, and you can even find out how William Friedkin’s uncompromising determination helped create one of the most famous horror movies in cinematic history. This is an absolute must-see for die-hard fans of The Exorcist, and for all the others it's a demontration of a quality documentary work, and at the same time entertaining and illuminating of information regarding the development of one motion-picture opus. [Sitges 2019] (11.10.2019)