William Friedkin, French Connection and Exorcist director, died Monday. His movies are all worth watching, including some of the best car chases in movie history.
Legendary director William Friedkin died Monday, leaving an accomplished legacy behind as one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation. Friedkin’s career veered through a variety of genres, and there may be no better three-film run for a director than his 1971 through 1977 stretch of The French Connection, The Exorcist, and Sorcerer. His final film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial starring Kiefer Sutherland, will premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in September. Friedking was 87.
In addition to his terrific body of work, Friedkin was famously catty, even with other filmmakers, and had a larger-than-life personality and energy that was fully imbued into his singular work. For me, though, one of the greatest impacts Friedkin had was on the car chase.
Peter Yates’ Bullitt starring Steve McQueen is often credited with inventing the modern Hollywood car chase in 1968, but Friedkin reinvented it a few years later in The French Connection, one of the greatest crime thrillers ever made.
