The Exorcist

The Exorcist (1973)

Directed: William Friedkin

Screenplay: William Peter Blatty

Novel: William Peter Blatty

Believe or not, I have never actually seen the exorcist from beginning to end. I've seen bits and pieces through watching rudely over the shoulder of others for years now, and so finally I got a chance to actually see it. Right off the bat, I must say that I hate horror movies. With the exception of the George A. Romero original Night of the Living Dead, zombie flicks bore the hell out of me, and this vampire craze isn't doing anything either. The exorcist however, is none of these. In case some of you aren't familiar with catholic mysticism, an exorcism is a ritual preformed to cast out a possessing demon from a person or place. Although rarely preformed now, they are still taken seriously by some members of the Church. Anyways, this film follows two paths: the main plot of the possession of Regan, a young girl and Father Karran, a priest/psychologist who is beginning to lose his faith in the wake of his mother's death. As Regan's condition gets worse and weirder, her mother finally decides it's time to go medieval and get some priests.

To my surprise, both plots work rather well. The first obviously takes precedent, and Regan's antics keep you thirsting for more. This may seem perverse, but the film does a good job of keeping you on edge, never quite revealing exactly what you want it to, keeping little more than half obscure or omitted. The possession isn't clearly explained, the only fact that becomes evident is that indeed this was a demonic possession, but what exactly was it, where it came from, where it went and what it wanted are totally left un-answered, which is a good thing. The possession identifies itself as Satan, and if you read your bible the one thing that god and the devil have in common is that they both hate to explain anything they do. This also makes the film much more mysterious, open ended and in a sense ripe for multiple viewings. You get a sense that there is an entire world here, but we are only seeing the surface. The priest's plot, although a sub-plot still plays an important part of film. The death of his mother is used as a method to prove the possession (the demon makes constant allusions to his mother, and since Regan herself never knew that his mother died it's suspicious), but also establishes him as a complex character and more importantly a human character. Whenever there is a character that plays a social role, cop, priest etc. It's important to establish a life outside the uniform, or else the character remains a stereotype and we cannot relate to him/her. Father Karran's doubts, sorrow and bad habits (smoking, drinking) make him more human, more believable overall. At first, I was sure this was simply due to my catholic upbringing, my fascination with priests (I used to know a few) or the fact that respect for priests has been ingrained into my family. But Piaf, at the end of the movie exclaimed to my surprise "I liked that guy".

The dialogue is quite fluid, and quite normal. This again serves to bring us closer to the characters, just an ordinary home etc. But it also serves a sharp contrast between the extraordinary events that unfold. The casual, informal speech of the main characters is interrupted by the archaic and bizarre speech of Regan. This makes what she says simply more off putting and eerie. Let alone the fact that this little girl is speaking with the voice of at least 4 men. I believe the high quality of the dialogue is due to the fact that it was written by the same person who wrote the novel. He has a connection to the characters, has shaped them, in a sense is their god. This is by far the best written horror movie ever, which actually isn't saying much as most horror movies at complete shit. You could probably count the good horror movies on one hand. However this is better written than most films period, then and now.

The direction is something that I think is not only objectively good, but also personally refreshing. Oh, the good ol' days of the medium close shot. The film is shot at a reasonable lighting level, and isn't over lit like most films these days. Shadows, fog and darkness permeate this film, and gives the entire picture a really strange and dreamy atmosphere. The combination of subtle zooms, point of view shots and a relatively stable camera makes the film easy to watch in a sense. The camera isn't invasive, it doesn't try to be a million places at once, and it's shots are relatively longer than usually. Superimposition plays a superb part of this film, as demonic faces will seemingly float in shadows. I found the jump cuts to the re-occurring demonic face to be both terrifying and effective, my heart beat faster every time it happened. The film builds tension in a very casual way, in an every day sense. Walking through a dark corridor, isn't scary on it's own (always a bit creepy though), but because we KNOW that there is something demonic, it becomes a lot more real and significant. Sound and specifically music are great in this film, specifically for their omission. The classic theme only plays at a few key non-action moments in the film, appropriately setting the atmosphere. And to my great delight music DOESN'T build up scary parts, or even accompanies them. The images are so disturbing on their own right, and music is totally absent and it is still scary as hell. Friedkin shows us that silence can be just as scary as mood music, and it gives a film a minimalist feel to it.

To say that this film is full of philosophical insight, or any sort of a thematic ideas is a bit of a stretch. Horror films rarely bridge the gap between the immediate goal of being scary, and the more artistic idea of having some sort of meaning. The Exorcist does examine aspects of faith, doubt, the limits of science...but nothing beyond the usual cliches. Science can't explain everything, faith will be tested and having it isn't easy. The dichotomy of good vs. evil is totally played up, and even celebrated (Catholicism is based upon it). If you're looking for some sort of exploration of the themes of doubt and faith, this may simply be a cursory or a beginners area (though you should brush up on your catechism to get the full effect). However, the bottom line is that this is in the end a horror movie, and it achieves it's goal extremely well.

I can't go out without saying a few words about this film using a feminist analysis (I'm a little rusty so bear with me). The entire film forms a strong dichotomy between victim and savior, women being the victims and men being the saviors. The mother is totally helpless in the face of her daughter's illness, and besides swearing and crying a lot, the only thing she dos to help her is to request the aid of different men. All the doctors (besides the all female nurses) that examine Regan are men, the psychologist are all men and of course all the priests are men as well. The only two significant female characters are the helpless mother, and the possessed victim. I know...I know... it's the 70s, and there weren't a lot of female doctors back then and yes I know that women were and are not allowed to be priest in the church. It would indeed bet unrealistic to portray the events as different. However, there is something deeper here. Women in Christian mythology are either victims (Eve as a victim of the serpent's deception, then of God's wraith) or evil (Eve is the reason for the fall of man). Men are seen as either the righteous saviors, all the prophets are men, all the disciples were men etc. The only women were saved by a a male presence. Mary in order to give birth a pure child could not have sex, so a male god gave her a child, saved her from the evils of sex. Mary Madolin (I don't know how to spell her name) was a prostitute saved by christ to become a follower (not a disciple, although she did almost the exact same things as them). I don't think it's random that a little girl was chosen to be possessed, and it's even more significant that two males have to save her by shouting the power of Christ compels you (quite catchy actually). Again, it makes sense. Exorcism (the Christian kind, I'm excluding both the Jewish and Orthodox ones. And I say nothing of polytheistic exorcism) is seen as a catholic thing, and if you're going to make a movie about one of their rituals, you better get all the mythologies right. Although it's understandable, it isn't justifiable. The only time female sexuality is presented in the film is the incestuous and violent acts of the possessed Regan.

All and all, this is a movie that everyone should see. It's so much a part of our culture that one can scarcely go through an TV show series without having some sort of reference to it's more famous scenes. If you haven't seen it, wait until Halloween, rent it and turn down the lights.