USA Film Festival director Q/A: William Friedkin

It's only irrational if they're not really out to get you.

by John P. Meyer

Veteran filmmaker (and recipient of this year's Great Director honors) William Friedkin showed up at the Angelika last night (April 24) for the USA Film Festival's screening of his new movie, Bug, set for wide release on May 25. I'll have a traditional review of the film coming up, but I wanted to post some of Friedkin's comments right away because it turns out he's one of the most amusing and plain-spoken tale-tellers ever - even without his camera crew. He spent the better part of an hour after the film holding forth on topics relating to Bug (based on a play of the same name by Tracy Letts) and answering questions from rapt audience members.

Before the film (and following an encapsulation retrospective of his previous work going all the way back to his first feature, The People vs. Paul Crump) Mr. Friedkin walked up to the front of the auditorium carrying the 5-gallon black Stetson that must have been part of his Great Director Award lucre. He quipped, "can I get a margarita in this?", setting a tone of good humor and informality that carried through to his commentary after the film.

Speaking of which, he warned us that Bug was going to be "edgy and disturbing; not everyone will like it." He went so far as to tell a couple sitting on the front row that they'd probably prefer sitting farther back in the theater; some shifting around occurred, and they were able to squeeze in near the back of the jam-packed auditorium.

In regard to the film itself (consider this a teaser): Mr. Friedkin is right. I think "edgy" is putting it mildly.

Here are highlights from the Friedkin Q/A:

Bug is his third theatrical adaptation for the cinema (after The Birthday Party and The Boys in the Band).

He emphasized more than once that neither he nor the screenwriter/playwright (Tracy Letts) have answers to many of the deeply philosophical (and sometimes metaphysical) questions posed by the film, which is about "someone attaching themself to another person's reality."

Mr. Friedkin believes (and perceives) that there's a growing sense of fear (irrational?) and paranoia in our everyday lives. He recounted tales of his childhood growing up in a Chicago tenement, where none of the 100-odd residents locked their doors and kids dropped in on neighbors at their whim; many residents slept outside in the park on hot summer nights. Now, he says, you'd be insane to even walk through that neighborhood in broad daylight.

He sees the literal presence of evil at work in world events. He says, "I'm no different than some of these guys that lose it. There, but by the grace of God..." In regard to the Virginia Tech shooter specifically: "The only thing that explains it is the Devil."

While on the subject of devils, Friedkin entertained with a story about The Exorcist in modern-day Iraq. Seems he received a phone call about four years ago (following the occupation of the Mosul region by the U.S. 101st Airborne) from a field commander named Petraeus (recently promoted to commander of Multinational Force Iraq) who told him that his troops had been watching a DVD of The Exorcist and realized that the terrain where the first 30 minutes of the film was shot was the same ground they currently occupied. Eventually, locals began offering tours (for the equivalent of a couple bucks U.S.) headlined as "The Exorcist Experience," which Friedkin finds ironic given the fact that the Nineveh-Euphrates region in question is the site of the tomb of Nebakanezer and the birthplace of modern civilization.

Regarding Bug's filming location [Texas legislature, take note]: "We filmed in New Orleans because we got a tax credit." The set for the interior action (a claustrophobic motel room somewhere in "Oklahoma") was constructed in a high school gymnasium in Metairie.

As for the obvious gut-wrenching intensity of the film's performances: "Ashley (Judd) had some severe problems afterward," Friedkin related, to the extent that she was forced to undergo the equivalent of emotional rehab.