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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

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William Friedkin
Age: 89
Born: 1935
Born: August 29
Film Director
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Television Director
Chicago
Illinois
Vilijam Friedkin
Greatest
Mcqueen
Find
Steve
Landscape
Realized
Later
Close
Worth
Week

More quotes by William Friedkin

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All the great countries are at odds with one another over something, and yet if they don't cooperate they're going to blow up.
William Friedkin
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You don't leave the film alone. You have a new audience, and you have a new medium. Why would you leave it alone? Film is not an antique. It's not a relic. It's not a Leonardo da Vinci. I don't want someone painting over a da Vinci or Rembrandt. But these movies aren't that.
William Friedkin
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The thing that interests me is the good and evil in everybody. I don't have conventional heroes in the films that I directed, because I believe there's good and evil in everybody.
William Friedkin
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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
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If Star Wars had failed, you wouldn't have 90 percent of what's out there today.
William Friedkin
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I have seen lampoons of my work. And I have really enjoyed them. But I would never do another version of The Exorcist.
William Friedkin
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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.
William Friedkin
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Sam Jackson is a director's dream. Some actors hope to find their character during shooting. He knows his character before shooting. Sam's old-school. I just got out of his way. I never did more than two takes with Sam.-william friedkin
William Friedkin
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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
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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
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I'm not a fan of Star Wars. That is not for me. That is for my nephews and nieces. I don't get it.
William Friedkin
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I really think that sex always looks kind of funny in a movie.
William Friedkin
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Violence is not funny.
William Friedkin
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The studios mostly threw away the negatives of the classic films. They had no interest in their legacy.
William Friedkin
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I had absolutely no focus as a kid. I never paid attention at school, I never went to college. Not because we were too poor we were. But if I wanted to go to college, I would have found a way.
William Friedkin
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Every time you run a 35mm print, it picks up scratches. It picks up dirt. Sometimes it breaks, and you have to re-splice it. You lose frames. This doesn't happen with digital or Blu-ray. I think that's great. Because I love the new media.
William Friedkin
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Sure, you could go out and make Jaws today. But all of the sequels to Jaws weren't good. They are all worthless. The Godfather II is the only sequel that I have ever seen that is as good as or better than the original.
William Friedkin
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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
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I don't like 3D. I don't believe there is any film that I have seen and loved that would have been improved by a scintilla in 3D. To me, it's just a gimmick.
William Friedkin
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I have to see the whole scene in my head before I go out and do it. Which I do. I will envision the entire scene before I shoot it.
William Friedkin