The Boys in the Band (1970)
Directed by William Friedkin
Harold is celebrating a birthday, and his friend Michael has drafted some other friends to help commemorate the event. As the evening progresses, an unexpected guest shows up, the alcohol flows, the knives come out, and dormant and unspoken emotions are unleashed.
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What critics compared The Boys in the Band to
He started out making movies out of plays (“The Birthday Party” and “The Boys in the Band” were two of his earliest) and a good strong ensemble still delights him.
The film harks back to the low-budget chamber pieces of Friedkin's early career (The Birthday Party, The Boys in the Band), and he creates a perfect storm of montage and character interplay within a confined space, which culminates in a disturbing loss of humanity.
In 1973, director William Friedkin followed the pioneering gay drama “The Boys in the Band” and the Oscar-winning thriller “The French Connection” with arguably the most shocking film in Hollywood history: “The Exorcist.”
Playwright and screenwriter Matt Crowley even had a line, in William Friedkin’s 1970 screen version of The Boys in the Band, about the alleged typecasting of the late Leo Carrillo as the Gay Caballero.
Si articola qui uno dei percorsi più battuti dal cinema di Friedkin (già declinato in Festa di compleanno , Cruising , probabilmente anche ne L’esorcista e sicuramente nello smarrimento “intellettuale” dei protagonisti di Festa per il compleanno del caro amico Harold [ The Boys in the Band , 1970]) che però si colora di ulteriori sfumature, forse anche più perturbanti.
William Friedkin es uno de esos directores de antaño que a pesar de haber formado parte del glorioso y rupturista Nuevo Hollywood de la década del 70, en esencia su producción artística puede categorizarse sin problemas como la de cualquier otro director de la fase inmediatamente previa, la del Hollywood Clásico, ya que sus películas fueron de lo más variopintas y pueden dividirse en obras maestras o faenas muy interesantes, hablamos de Los Chicos de la Banda ( The Boys in the Band , 1970), Contacto en Francia ( The French Connection , 1971), El Exorcista ( The Exorcist , 1973), Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), la televisiva 12 Hombres en Pugna ( 12 Angry Men , 1997) y Killer Joe (2011), trabajos atractivos pero de segunda línea, pensemos en Fiesta de Cumpleaños ( The Birthday Party , 1968), Los Alegres Veintes ( The Night They Raided Minsky’s , 1968), ¿Y Dónde Está el Ladrón?
Anche la colonna sonora dei Wang Chung lo ancora pesantemente agli anni ‘80 ma i difetti finiscono qui, lasciando la sensazione di un capolavoro non troppo compreso di un regista che ha avuto molti alti (tra cui The Boys in the Band – Festa per il compleanno del caro amico Harold , 1970 – The French Connection – Il braccio violento della legge , 1971 – The Exorcist – L’esorcista , 1973 – ma anche il contestato Cruising , 1980) e altrettanti bassi (tra cui Jade , 1995, e Rules of Engagement – Regole d’onore , 2000).
Saying that Bug is the best film to come from William Friedkin in years isnt saying all that much from my perspective, since apart from The Boys in the Band (1970) and The Exorcist (1973), Ive never really understood his creditable reputation.
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William Friedkin had already dealt with homosexuality at the birthday party adaptation of The Boys in the Band and had enjoyed enormous commercial and critical success with The French Connection and The Exorcist.