“The chase is the purest form of cinema, something that can’t be done in any other medium, not in literature nor on a stage nor on a painter’s canvas.” – William Friedkin, The Friedkin Connection
On the reputation of the director who made the Oscar winning The French Connection, an interesting crew was assembled to try and create the same magic on the opposite coast. This included acclaimed Dutch D.P. Robby Müller, Production Designer Lilly Kilvert (Legends of the Fall) and a unique score composed by the band Wang Chung. The resulting film uses none of the typical Los Angeles locations, but looks like one of the most L.A. films ever made. A colorful sun-soaked neo-noir about a secret service agent (William Petersen) going after the counterfeiter (Willem Dafoe) who killed his partner. The cast includes John Tuturro, Dean Stockwell, Darlanne Fluegel and Robert Downey Sr. It also contains one of the greatest vehicular action scenes of all time.
The sequence was designed by legendary Stunt Coordinator Buddy Joe Hooker who was instructed by Friedkin, “Come up with something better than what was in The French Connection, or it will be cut from the film.” The isn’t just a car chase, but an entire showpiece that sums up how far Petersen’s agent is willing to go over the line and the consequences of those actions. He is not in pursuit but is the one being chased, and to try and escape he enters a freeway going in the opposite direction.
The sequence involved shutting down an L.A. freeway and filling it with dozens of professional stunt drivers who would avoid the oncoming car, some spinning out and crashing. In an unusual touch, Friedkin swapped the direction the freeway vehicles are supposed to travel. This was because he preferred the background on the opposite side of the freeway, but it also adds a disorienting effect that Petersen is actually driving the right way and all the stunt cars are on the wrong side of the road. Robby Müller couldn’t figure out how to light the scene, so the work was done by Director of Photography Bob Yeoman, who now lights all of Wes Anderson’s films.
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