William Friedkin - The Friedkin Connection : A Memoir ebook EPUB, DOC, DJV
9780061775123 English 0061775126 "I think about the love affair I've had with Cinema. Images or fragments pop into my consciousness like fireflies. When I'm able to capture their brief flash, they illuminate a dark corner of memory. In forty-five years I've directed only nineteen films, though I've developed or tried to make far more; I've also directed hundreds of television shows live and on film. I've directed a handful of plays and a dozen operas so far. Some of my films are well known; others are forgotten, lost on the roller coaster that is Hollywood, where dizzying heights are followed by gut-wrenching depths. After I finish a film, deliver the prints to the distributor, and do interviews in several countries, the parade's gone by, and it's back to real life. The spotlights go off, there are no more autograph seekers, and all that's left is exhaustion and the thought of what's next. Or could this be it? The idea of quitting never occurred to me, but there were times when I sensed the man was at the door ready to collect the furniture and the keys to the house. Let me share the ride with you, and illuminate, with the help of the fireflies, how my films were conceptualized, shot, edited, and marketed, and how I came to direct operas without ever having seen one. Life is lived forward, but can only be understood backward." Book jacket., He was a maverick of American cinema in the late 60s and 70s, one of the leading auteurs of the New Hollywood whose groundbreaking films include "The Exorcist" and "The French Connection." Now, the Academy Award-winning director looks back at his life, his career, and important films., The long-awaited memoir from the Academy Award-winning director of such legendary films as The French Connection, The Exorcist, and To Live and Die in LA, The Friedkin Connection takes readers from the streets of Chicago to the suites of Hollywood and from the sixties to today, with autobiographical storytelling as fast-paced and intense as any of the auteur's films. William Friedkin, maverick of American cinema, offers a candid look at Hollywood, when traditional storytelling gave way to the rebellious and alternative; when filmmakers like him captured the paranoia and fear of a nation undergoing a cultural nervous breakdown. The Friedkin Connection includes 16 pages of black-and-white photographs., With such seminal movies as The Exorcist and The French Connection, Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin secured his place as a great filmmaker. A maverick from the start, Friedkin joined other young directors who ushered in Hollywood's second Golden Age during the 1970s. Now, in his long-awaited memoir, Friedkin provides a candid portrait of an extraordinary life and career. His own success story has the makings of classic American film. He was born in Chicago, the son of Russian immigrants. Immediately after high school, he found work in the mailroom of a local television station, and patiently worked his way into the directing booth during the heyday of live TV. An award-winning documentary brought him attention as a talented new filmmaker, as well as an advocate for justice, and it caught the eye of producer David L. Wolper, who brought Friedkin to Los Angeles. There he moved from television (one of the last episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour) to film (The Birthday Party, The Boys in the Band), displaying a versatile stylistic range. Released in 1971, The French Connection won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and two years later, The Exorcist received ten Oscar nominations and catapulted Friedkin's career to stardom. Penned by the director himself, The Friedkin Connection takes readers on a journey through the numerous chance encounters and unplanned occurrences that led a young man from a poor urban neighborhood to success in one of the most competitive industries and art forms in the world. From the streets of Chicago to the executive suites of Hollywood, from star-studded movie sets to the precision of the editing room, from a pas-sionate new artistic life as a renowned director of operas to his most recent tour de force, Killer Joe, William Friedkin has much to say about the world of moviemaking and his place within it. Written with the narrative drive of one of his finest films, The Friedkin Connection is a wonderfully engaging look at an artist and an industry that has transformed who we are--and how we see ourselves.
9780061775123 English 0061775126 "I think about the love affair I've had with Cinema. Images or fragments pop into my consciousness like fireflies. When I'm able to capture their brief flash, they illuminate a dark corner of memory. In forty-five years I've directed only nineteen films, though I've developed or tried to make far more; I've also directed hundreds of television shows live and on film. I've directed a handful of plays and a dozen operas so far. Some of my films are well known; others are forgotten, lost on the roller coaster that is Hollywood, where dizzying heights are followed by gut-wrenching depths. After I finish a film, deliver the prints to the distributor, and do interviews in several countries, the parade's gone by, and it's back to real life. The spotlights go off, there are no more autograph seekers, and all that's left is exhaustion and the thought of what's next. Or could this be it? The idea of quitting never occurred to me, but there were times when I sensed the man was at the door ready to collect the furniture and the keys to the house. Let me share the ride with you, and illuminate, with the help of the fireflies, how my films were conceptualized, shot, edited, and marketed, and how I came to direct operas without ever having seen one. Life is lived forward, but can only be understood backward." Book jacket., He was a maverick of American cinema in the late 60s and 70s, one of the leading auteurs of the New Hollywood whose groundbreaking films include "The Exorcist" and "The French Connection." Now, the Academy Award-winning director looks back at his life, his career, and important films., The long-awaited memoir from the Academy Award-winning director of such legendary films as The French Connection, The Exorcist, and To Live and Die in LA, The Friedkin Connection takes readers from the streets of Chicago to the suites of Hollywood and from the sixties to today, with autobiographical storytelling as fast-paced and intense as any of the auteur's films. William Friedkin, maverick of American cinema, offers a candid look at Hollywood, when traditional storytelling gave way to the rebellious and alternative; when filmmakers like him captured the paranoia and fear of a nation undergoing a cultural nervous breakdown. The Friedkin Connection includes 16 pages of black-and-white photographs., With such seminal movies as The Exorcist and The French Connection, Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin secured his place as a great filmmaker. A maverick from the start, Friedkin joined other young directors who ushered in Hollywood's second Golden Age during the 1970s. Now, in his long-awaited memoir, Friedkin provides a candid portrait of an extraordinary life and career. His own success story has the makings of classic American film. He was born in Chicago, the son of Russian immigrants. Immediately after high school, he found work in the mailroom of a local television station, and patiently worked his way into the directing booth during the heyday of live TV. An award-winning documentary brought him attention as a talented new filmmaker, as well as an advocate for justice, and it caught the eye of producer David L. Wolper, who brought Friedkin to Los Angeles. There he moved from television (one of the last episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour) to film (The Birthday Party, The Boys in the Band), displaying a versatile stylistic range. Released in 1971, The French Connection won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and two years later, The Exorcist received ten Oscar nominations and catapulted Friedkin's career to stardom. Penned by the director himself, The Friedkin Connection takes readers on a journey through the numerous chance encounters and unplanned occurrences that led a young man from a poor urban neighborhood to success in one of the most competitive industries and art forms in the world. From the streets of Chicago to the executive suites of Hollywood, from star-studded movie sets to the precision of the editing room, from a pas-sionate new artistic life as a renowned director of operas to his most recent tour de force, Killer Joe, William Friedkin has much to say about the world of moviemaking and his place within it. Written with the narrative drive of one of his finest films, The Friedkin Connection is a wonderfully engaging look at an artist and an industry that has transformed who we are--and how we see ourselves.