William Friedkin
by Daniel Robert Epstein for SuicideGirls (http://suicidegirls.com/)

Few people have disturbed as many people with their work as film director William Friedkin. But since his high point of The French Connection and then The Exorcist, he has yet to make a film that connected so well with the human psyche until now. Bug, based on the play by Tracy Letts, is Friedkin’s most disturbing work yet. Ashley Judd plays Agnes, a lonely woman in rural Oklahoma who is introduced to Peter [played by Michael Shannon] and they quickly start a highly sexual love affair. After spending a few days together, Peter begins a descent into madness, possibly as a result of being a war veteran, and begins to imagine that bugs are under his skin. By now Agnes is in love with him and falls into his spiral of insanity.

I got a chance to talk with the outspoken Friedkin on his recent visit to New York City.

Check out the website for Bug

Daniel Robert Epstein: Was Bug a play that you saw and you connected with right away? William Friedkin: Pretty much, but not because it was a play that I felt I wanted to adapt. I loved the script and the characters. I found myself on the same page with the writer in his worldview. DRE: Do you find that happens often? WF: It’s rare. You can’t make a film with any expectation of it being somewhat honest if you don’t find it in yourself. So many of the things that are around today, I have no interest in even seeing. DRE: There are some filmmakers that really seem to be able to tap into certain parts of the human psyche and even though I don’t consider this a straight horror film, you seem to really be able to tap into what disturbs people. WF: Well it’s what disturbs me. Bug disturbs me. You look at this recent poll that was taken last week of probable democratic voters, 35% of probable democratic voters believe that Bush knew about 9/11 before it happened. 15% of Republican voters believe he knew about it before it happened and all of that implies that he let it happen. Now that’s pretty widespread. That’s millions of people. I know that when I grew up in the 50’s, this feeling wasn’t around. DRE: The anti-government feeling? WF: Yeah, the feeling that they couldn’t protect us, wouldn’t protect us, that they would send us off into ridiculous unnecessary wars. I remember the 50’s as a period of when people were seriously trying to end the concept of international conflict so we had a Cold War between the two superpowers of that time. We had a lot of spying and a lot of bullshit but not a lot of things being broken or blown up. But I think people more and more believe that the government doesn’t give a damn about them and can’t protect them and is in fact corrupt. I remember as a kid, I lived in an apartment building and there must have 200 apartments in the building, in Chicago on the West Side. No one in that building ever locked their door. There was no air conditioning, so all the families would sleep in the park at night. Today that building is still there in Chicago but now they have bars on their doors and windows and people don’t even walk in the park anymore, because of fear. DRE: It’s interesting because what you are saying now, was what you and many of the filmmakers that you came up with in the 70’s were railing against.
WF: We were conscious of that for sure. DRE: I got to interview Tom Brown when The Hunted came out. WF: Yeah. Great guy. Great, interesting guy. DRE: I know you were friends with him for about a decade before you did that film.
WF: We knew each other, yeah. We’ve never been close because he’s in another world, another universe. DRE: When dealing with something like the subject matter in Bug, did you find anyone like a Tom, who was an expert on what these people were going through? WF: No, I had to be able to see or feel or understand those qualities in myself. Really the film is about irrational fear and the good and evil that’s in everybody. It’s a constant struggle with our better angels to succeed over our worst impulses. DRE: It’s amazing how this man was able to influence Ashley’s character so much. WF: If you’re close to somebody in a relationship, like the one in the movie or in a marriage, the other person in your relationship will tap into some of your realities and you will tap into that other person’s whether or not they stack up against other people’s views of life and even if they’re irrational. DRE: Do you feel like since it was beginning of their relationship and everything is new and mysterious that made it easier for him to influence her?
WF: That’s very much there. There’s no question about that. These people meet, they’re lonely, they’re obsessed with conspiracies against them, the way many lonely people live. If you have nothing to think about but yourself and your own fucked up nature, your mind is going to wander into areas like the ones in the film. DRE: I read a quote from you where you said that making a film like Bug was going to be "Edgy and disturbing and not everyone will like it." WF: Yeah. That’s just as true of Spider Man 3. Not everyone likes it. I haven’t met anyone who likes it, but they have to see it. That’s the mystery. That’s the alchemy that takes place between an audience and a film or a play or a novel. DRE: Do you feel like there are films you’ve made that people will like more? WF: No, I don’t think in those terms anymore Daniel. I just don’t. I have to try and stay with what appeals to me and what I know. I’m very much aware of the fact that Bug isn’t a Pirates of the Caribbean. As with anything though, there’re likely to be a lot of people that hate it and then love it. Look at Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. When it first appeared in 1913 there were riots in the theatre. People were literally beating each other up and throwing things at the stage and screaming at the dancers and the reviews were terrible. Now it’s entered the lexicon as one of the greatest and most profound influences on classical musical and all music. But the people at that time couldn’t see it. They couldn’t see Vincent Van Gogh. You could have bought a Van Gogh, if you had the foresight in 1892, for $100 or $50.

DRE: It’s interesting that you said you don’t feel like that anymore. You’ve had time periods where you had films do less than well.

WF: You have to define what well means, I only look at something in terms of how I feel about what I’ve done. That’s all. Did I accomplish this thing? Did I give it my best shot? Was I able to tap in enough to whatever talent I may have or not? That’s the only standard you can have. I know that studios today make films because they have a gut feeling people are going to line up all over the world to see them and that’s what they want. I know that’s a motivator but for me the motivation is, is this something that I understand and care about?

DRE: Do you feel like you gave every film you’ve made your all?

WF: Yeah but they didn’t all turn out well. I remember this nightclub comedian called Mort Sahl. In the 60’s he generally talked about what was happening in the newspapers. I remember seeing him in a club at the time when the Wernher von Braun autobiography had just come out. Now Wernher von Braun was a German rocket scientist. A very famous builder of destructive weapons and the United States usurped Von Braun to come and work for us here. But Von Braun had made bombs and his autobiography was called I Aim at the Stars. What Sahl said on this one occasion, “It should have been called I Aim at the Stars but Sometimes I Hit London.” That’s true of filmmakers. Every film I make I aim at the stars but sometimes I hit London.

DRE: Of course you made The Exorcist, but I was still surprised when I read that you do believe in evil.

WF: I believe that it’s a constant struggle within all of us for our better angels to overcome the evil that’s inside all of us, almost on a moment by moment basis. I do believe in the concept of good and evil that is inside everyone.

DRE: Is there evil in Bug or is it just a psychosis?

WF: No, the characters are capable of both. They’re capable of compassion and love, tenderness and affection, and violence.

DRE: When I was growing up one of my favorite films of yours was The Guardian and you had great success with The Exorcist. Is the horror genre something that you feel you had a handle on?

WF: No, I don’t look at Bug as a horror film at all. It’s not a genre film. It’s easy for Lionsgate to try and market it that way because it’s much more difficult to try and market something that isn’t a genre film. If they couldn’t market it the way they’re doing, it would play in two theatres. If they said this is a psychological thriller or whatever, which is what it is, that’s intellectual. That’s not how they market films. The marketing of films is often a lot different from the content.

DRE: I was certainly surprised to find that the commercials portrayed the bugs as existing.

WF: Those people in the film think the bugs exist. That’s something they completely believe in, enough to scar themselves.

DRE: Do you find it difficult to bring your cast and crew into the worlds of your films?

WF: Well, if you’re directing a film or a play or an opera, it’s a collaboration, and what is directing about? Communication. It’s about being able to impart your vision to every one of the skillful artists and technicians who are working on the film. They’re all looking for a vision that unites their efforts. That’s what a director tries to do. Impart his vision first to his collaborators and ultimately to an audience. Sometimes you are able to achieve that.

DRE: There are some directors who have a calm demeanor on set and there’re some who don’t. Do you perceive yourself a certain way on set?

WF: I don’t perceive myself. I imagine you can hear stories that illustrate both. I don’t suffer fools gladly. If somebody is supposed to do a job and they don’t know or they fuck it up, I’m not Mother Theresa. But I’ve learned something from Mother Theresa, you must always moisturize.

DRE: [laughs] I read that Ashley had to go to the equivalent of emotional rehab after she finished Bug.

WF: I don’t know that it was because of the film. We’re in constant touch, either by email or whatever and she’s never told me it was the result of the film but I’m sure the film took a heavy toll on her emotionally. At the same time, she’s a professional and she knew where she had to go and she went there to do this part.

DRE: Did you have problems as a result of making this film?

WF: No.

DRE: So you finished the film and you’re fine.

WF: Well I’m not different than I was before I started the film. I could have been vastly fucked up before I started making the film. That’s possible. But I don’t feel changed by the experience. I feel that I worked with a tremendous piece of material. That’s my only feeling. I’ve worked with a great piece of material that is a laser beam into the human psyche of a lot of people who live in the 21st century.

DRE: I got to interview Randy Jurgensen [the cop who was the basis for Cruising and Roy Scheider’s character in The French Connection] for this documentary Precinct Hollywood a few years ago. Randy is a really nice guy and as sort of a joke, I asked, “Who is tougher, William Friedkin or Eddie Eagan [the basis of Gene Hackman’s character in The French Connection]?” I was very surprised when he said, “It’s probably a draw.” Now how does a film director get to be as tough as the toughest cop in New York City?

WF: Eddie Eagan had a vision of how he had to operate on the street. He knew who he was dealing with and he acted accordingly. I guess that’s similar to how I view the work that I do. I come in with a very strong feeling about what I want to do and I’m open to people’s ideas and suggestions but if they run way far away from what I’m there to do, then I have to assert myself. That’s what Eagan did on the street. Eagan was respected on the street. Nobody fucked around with Eagan. As it turned out sadly, that whole thing was a lost cause because we lost the war on drugs. Eddie was a soldier on the war on drugs and we’ve lost it. Not because of people like Eddie Eagan, but in spite of people like Eddie Eagan. We lost the war on drugs and that’s one of the reasons the country is so fucked up today.

DRE: Do you think we need cops like Randy and Eddie?

WF: If you’re in trouble, who’re you going to call, a hippie? If you’ve got somebody robbing your house do you call 911 and say, “Send a hippie over here!” or “I need an intellectual here as quickly as you can!” Or a philosopher. You want a guy who knows how to operate on the street.

DRE: Tell me about the director’s cut of Cruising.

WF: Cruising is opening on May 23rd in Cannes. I’m going over for it. Then it’ll open in theatres here in September in America. Then a couple of months later on DVD. It’s never been out on DVD. So I finished that and made new prints. It’s a bit stronger than it was but I couldn’t find all the film that I had to cut for censorship. Warner Bros has taken over the film from United Artists and what UA ended to do was destroy all outtakes of everything when they started to implode.

DRE: I’m not whether it was for the stars or for London, but another film I liked of yours when I was kid is Deal of the Century.

WF: I loved Deal of the Century. It’s one of my favorite films.

DRE: It is so gross when Sigourney [Weaver] shoots Chevy [Chase] in his bandaged foot.

WF: I loved that film. You mentioned The Guardian, I don’t care for that one. I think it failed. My work in it failed.

DRE: But Deal of the Century didn’t.

WF: I love it. That’s all hindsight. I didn’t feel that way about The Guardian at the time. But Deal of the Century is on TV all the time. I’ve watched it and I think it’s fascinating and funny and dark but true.

DRE: Do you want to make more comedies?

WF: Bug is a comedy. Its writers believe it’s a black comedy. Ashley Judd thinks it’s a very strange love story with black comedy overtures.

DRE: Are you working on anything else?

WF: I’m working on the film Coco and Igor about an affair between Stravinsky and Coco Chanel. I’m doing it in France with French producers. It’s an original screenplay by a guy named Chris Greenhalgh. He’s a young British writer who also teaches at Kent College in England. It’s an absolutely brilliant script about a very physical violent love story between two extremely creative people at a time where his work was a failure and hers was a success.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

SG Username: AndersWolleck

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/William+Friedkin/