Miramax Presents The Film That Lit My Fuse is a Deadline video series that aims to provide an antidote to grim headlines about industry uncertainty by swinging the conversation back to the creative ambitions, formative influences and inspirations of some of today’s great screen artists. There was also the hope of getting great artists on camera, while they are still vibrant, and still with us.
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It is with an heavy heart that this week I run an encore of Willam Friedkin, the iconic director who left us last week. After beginning his career directing live television, Friedkin moved to feature films and he became one of the stars of the ’70s, when Hollywood was ruled by auteur filmmakers. His great and provocative films include The Exorcist, The French Connection (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director on a film that won Best Picture), To Live and Die In L.A., Sorcerer, Cruising, Killer Joe and many others.
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Friedkin was an early participant in The Film That Lit My Fuse, and like Francis Ford Coppola (who was our first guest), Friedkin was only too happy to regale us with a comprehensive dissection of Citizen Kane. Hopefully this will remind you of the greatness of Orson Welles’ first film, and also the wit and intelligence of one of the great directors of our generation. RIP, Billy.
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