William Friedkin Quotes

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Art Character Evil Film Giving School Today

Ive never seen a more terrifying film than 'The Bababook'. It will scare the hell out of you as it did me.

William Friedkin

Scare, Film, Hell

"William Friedkin on why he is beating the drum for 'The Babadook'" by Richard Rushfield, December 9, 2014.

46 Copy quote
All of the films I have made, that I have chosen to make, are all about the thin line between good and evil. And also the thin line that exists in each and every one of us. That's what my films are about.

William Friedkin

Evil, Lines, Film

Source: www.movieweb.com

11 Copy quote
One of my themes is that there is good and evil in everyone. I was not out to make these guys heroes. I really don't believe in heroes. The best of people have a dark side and it's a constant struggle for the better side to survive and to thrive.

William Friedkin

Believe, Struggle, Hero

12 Copy quote
I believe it's true that there's good and evil in everyone and it's a constant struggle to have your better angels prevail.

William Friedkin

Believe, Struggle, Angel

Source: collider.com

10 Copy quote
But the audience is right. They're always, always right. You hear directors complain that the advertising was lousy, the distribution is no good, the date was wrong to open the film. I don't believe that. The audience is never wrong. Never.

William Friedkin

Believe, Directors, Complaining

20 Copy quote
The art of movies is to allow the audience to suspend their disbelief. They need to use their imaginations.

William Friedkin

Art, Imagination, Needs

Source: www.movieweb.com

4 Copy quote
I tend to be attracted to characters who are up against a wall with very few alternatives. And the film then becomes an examination of how they cope with very few options. And that's, I guess, what interests me in terms of human behavior.

William Friedkin

Wall, Character, Alternatives

14 Copy quote
Style is something that's extremely important, but it must grow naturally out of who and what you are and what the material calls for. It cannot be superimposed.

William Friedkin

Halloween, Style, Important

10 Copy quote
With The Exorcist we said what we wanted to say. Neither one of us view it as a horror film. We view it as a film about the mysteries of faith. It's easier for people to call it a horror film. Or a great horror film. Or the greatest horror film ever made. Whenever I see that, I feel a great distance from it.

William Friedkin

Distance, Views, People

Source: www.movieweb.com

7 Copy quote
To me, the art of movies is to take a two-dimensional image and give the illusion of depth.

William Friedkin

Art, Two, Giving

Source: www.movieweb.com

8 Copy quote
If Star Wars had failed, you wouldn't have 90 percent of what's out there today.

William Friedkin

Stars, War, Today

"Inside the Forgotten Movie Masterpiece Sorcerer". Interview with Bryan Reesman, www.esquire.com. April 30, 2014.

5 Copy quote
We all wind up the same way, no matter what our goals or ambitions are. We have nothing at all to say about how we got into this world or how are going to leave it.

William Friedkin

Ambition, Wind, Goal

"Inside the Forgotten Movie Masterpiece Sorcerer". Interview with Bryan Reesman, www.esquire.com. April 30, 2014.

5 Copy quote
To me, the art of cinema is the same as the art of painting. The artist takes a 2D medium and gives you the illusion of depth. If you look at any of the great paintings, you have the illusion of depth. Which is part of the art. The same with the great movies.

William Friedkin

Art, Giving, Depth

Source: www.movieweb.com

4 Copy quote
There is a thin line between the policeman and the criminal. The best cops are always crossed. The best cops are the ones who are able to think like criminals. But for a quirk of fate, they might have been criminals.

William Friedkin

Fate, Thinking, Lines

Source: www.movieweb.com

8 Copy quote
There are many untalented people making millions of dollars in the film business.

William Friedkin

People, Dollars, Film

Source: www.pbs.org

8 Copy quote
Directing is a nice job. It's the best job for me. If I had to pay money to do it, I would do it... Directing is playing. Acting.

William Friedkin

Jobs, Nice, Best Job

10 Copy quote
Technique is of less interest than character and story.

William Friedkin

Character, Technique, Stories

4 Copy quote
I believe today that there is no film and no shot in a film that is worth a squirrel getting a sprained ankle.

William Friedkin

Believe, Squirrels, Ankles

"Inside the Forgotten Movie Masterpiece 'Sorcerer'". Interview with Bryan Reesman, www.esquire.com. April 30, 2014.

4 Copy quote
Directing is a nice job. It's the best job for me. If i had to pay money to do it, I would do itIt's problematical. It's disapointing often. It's very challenging. It's frustrating as hell. It's extremely demanding and totally satisfying work. And if I wasn't doing this, I would have to do legitimate work for a living. There are guys out there really working for a living, cleaning streets or coal mining, teaching. Directing is playing. Acting.

William Friedkin

Jobs, Nice, Teaching

10 Copy quote
The first work of the director is to set a mood so that the actor's work can take place, so that the actor can create. And in order to do that, you have to communicate, communicate with the actors. And direction is about communication on all levels.

William Friedkin

Communication, Order, Directors

7 Copy quote
There are certain things that happen during the production of, I think, every film, that you didn't plan, and often it's better than what you did plan. There's the question of either going with it or not.

William Friedkin

Thinking, Film

Source: film.avclub.com

5 Copy quote
Even with some of the best action films like 'The Bourne Ultimatum,' which is a great action film with a great chase sequence, so much of it is computer-generated. But that doesn't bother me. I think it works. It's fantastic.

William Friedkin

Thinking, Action, Computer

"Inside the Forgotten Movie Masterpiece 'Sorcerer'". Interview with Bryan Reesman, www.esquire.com. April 30, 2014.

8 Copy quote
Violence is not funny.

William Friedkin

Violence

7 Copy quote
With all of my films that are on DVD and Blu-ray, I have spent weeks with them in a color timing room. Just changing or enhancing them. I have been desaturating the color. Sometimes I will make a scene bluer or redder. I do use the new medium. I believe in it.

William Friedkin

Believe, Dvds, Color

Source: www.movieweb.com

5 Copy quote
And it was only a week later that I realized a close up of Steve McQueen was worth the greatest landscape you could find.

William Friedkin

Landscape, Week, I Realized

7 Copy quote

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Latest quotes from interviews

"The only gay people who remain in the closet are those who choose to, who don't want to publicly declare their sexuality, which is true of heterosexual people as well. I don't walk around with a button or a T-shirt that says "I am a heterosexual." I don't think sexuality defines a person. It's one small part of who you are, in my view. You are many things, and I never felt that people were defined by their sexuality solely. Although God knows, as a minority, gay people have taken serious lumps for their sexual preferences. As has every minority."

- William Friedkin,

film.avclub.com, added Dec 12, 2017

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William Friedkin

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Born: August 29, 1935
Occupation: Film director
Cite this Page: Citation

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