William Friedkin’s ‘Caine Mutiny Court-Martial’ Collaborators On Working With Late Director & How Guillermo Del Toro Became Involved – Venice
03.09.2023 - 13:11
/ deadline.com
The late William Friedkin’s last project, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, will have its world premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival this evening. This afternoon, collaborators on the Showtime/Paramount Global film including producer Annabelle Dunne and editor Darrin Navarro, offered insight into Friedkin’s style of working and what it was like during the shoot. Dunne also spilled more details about Guillermo del Toro’s involvement in the project.
Friedkin, who died at age 87 on August 7, adapted the film from Herman Wouk’s play which revolves around the trial of a U.S. Naval First Officer for orchestrating a mutiny after his captain starts to show signs of becoming unhinged, jeopardizing the lives of his crew.
The ensemble cast features Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Clarke, Jake Lacy, Monica Raymund Lewis Pullman, Jay Duplass, Tom Riley and the late Lance Reddick.
Friedkin, Dunne told the Venice press corps today, was adamant about casting Sutherland in the role of Captain Queeg. “He really had his heart set on Kiefer, who was the linchpin, and everything grew from that. In his mind, he said, ‘Kiefer has a long slow fuse and that’s what I want for my Captain Queeg’.”
Dunne also recounted that on the first day of shooting Sutherland did 20 pages of dialogue for the first scene and nailed it in one shot. Friedkin “was a one-take director, if there were more than two, there was a problem,” said Dunne.
At the start of the version of the film screening on the Lido, there is a tribute to Friedkin which the producers added posthumously.
Navarro, who had worked with Friedkin for nearly three decades, explained, “In every story he pursued or found interesting there was that blurry line between what he called our