a milestone

Rating: 9/10 (5 June 2005)

I saw 'The Exorcist' 32 years too late. This was not the kind of films to be allowed in the Communist Romania of my youth. It's really a milestone in the horror movies genre.
I dare say that if 'Exorcist' was made today it won't go controversy-free. In the current moralistic climate, and with the on-going debates about the role of the Catholic church, a film about Catholic exorcism would generate some debate. The thing is that three decades passed and as we got used with this one, we can argue now about the 'Da Vinci Code'.
The art of the movie is to take the very un-believable story of a pre-teen-age girl with a deteriorating mental health and make us believe that the only logical explanation is that she is possessed. We would not believe it in real life, we truly believe it on screen. The means to achieve this artistic truth are mostly classical cinema, good story telling and solid acting but at the same time the film is revolutionary by bringing to screen for the first time elements of the horror genre that have become routine since then - levitation, psycho-kinetic capabilities, and especially the make-up that transforms the angelic Linda Blair into a demonic kid-monster.
Director William Friedkin had 'French Connection' in his record when he did 'The Exorcist'. This was to be his last great film, unless the future will bring us surprises - he is still working, now in his 70s. But these two movies are more than most directors do good in their whole lives, and well enough to book him a place in the history of the seventh art.