Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist

This is a documentary that I decided to watch while working. I treat these like podcasts where I can watch the images on the screen when I have time. Mostly, I'm doing it to listen to something since I work in an office. This is streaming on Shudder where I checked it out. I'm a big fan of The Exorcist, so hearing the director, William Friedkin, talk about his masterpiece was intriguing to me.

Where I'll start is that is that this is a documentary who want to hear about the making of The Exorcist from the director's point of view. The synopsis on the Internet Movie Database is dead on, this is a lyrical and spiritual cinematic essay about the movie. He goes through the nuances of his filmmaking process and how things fell into place here during the making.

What I think impressed me the most was learning how he came to be the director of the project. His first talks are with the writer, William Peter Blatty, who also wrote the novel. I liked hearing the collaboration there to make the movie version work. It was interesting to see learn that Jason Miller wasn't originally cast as Father Karras, but Friedkin wanted him. How that ended up happening was crazy. Hearing these behind-the-scenes stories is a treat to fans.

I'll say this is a well-made documentary. The editing of footage from The Exorcist as well as other movies that were referenced are good. I also thought it was a treat to see scenes where Linda Blair's voice is coming from the possessed Regan before they found Mercedes McCambridge and her unique voice. We also get to hear scenes with a different musical score that makes it feel that much different was well.

This is one that I'd recommend to fans of The Exorcist. It gives you a different perspective on things and a deeper look at the making of this movie. If you're not familiar with this classic, I'd say to give that a watch first. It will deepen what you're seeing that much more.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.