Simply astonishing

Rating: 10/10 (3 April 2008)

Well, it's not scary anymore, that's for sure! But that makes it even better, at least for one reason: People will finally begin to understand how incredible the film is, without having to be scared.
How should I start? On what should I comment first? On the perfect structure (three separate stories that don't meet until the last 20 minutes)? On the superb acting of all the actors (Max Von Sydow, you're one great actor, I must say)? On the mesmerizing photography? I'm rather irritated when friends tell me they don't like it, because they don't find it scary. Well, the point isn't to get scared! I'm afraid people haven't realized yet how rich on ideas the 'Exorcist' is. First of all, it's about a society where God doesn't belong. Materialism forms its consciousness. Even the priests have lost their faith! But what happens when Satan in fact possesses a young girl? Will her mother, who till then hadn't any religious beliefs, finally start believing on Good and Evil as supernatural forces?
To be brief, it's a film that focuses on personal stories; the art of Friedkin lies on the fact that it achieves to depict a whole decade's way of thinking (the 70s) through the independent dramas of 2 individuals: A priest who loses his faith after losing his mother; a mother shocked, when her little girl seems to be ill and the doctors can't figure out what exactly her sickness is. And how does Friedkin do that: By combining the two dramas at the very end of the film. And that's when father Merrin shows up: He is the Exorcist, the priest who has faced Satan before and won't lose his faith at any means. He is the bond between the desperate priest and the wrecked mother.
Is the 'Exorcist' the best movie of the 70s? What does it matter, since it's one of the best American films of the past 50 years!? Oh, and one final thing: Don't watch the sequel!