QA DVD commentary by the director?
AYes, here's what he says about...1. The Ending: Friedking says it's meant to be ambiguious, that Burns will never be the same after his ordeal...he's still carying his leather outfit after finishing the case. As such it's a toss up who killed Ted, either Burns or his lover/roommate.
2. Killer's identidy: Friedkin states he firmly believes there was more than one killer involved in the actual case, so he wanted to convey that feeling here also. The first killer (the "Martian") gets himself killed in the park by another killer (Friedkin says as much) and at the end whomever we see entering the Cockpit (Pacino, someone else?). The only link between them all is the voice we hear a few times (Friedkin refuses to explain it).
3. Stewart being the killer: He did kill at least the guy at the peep show, but likely not all victims were his. Friedkin says that police always would get whomever looked good enough as a suspect and try to pin all the murders on them and even cut deals if they go along with it. Remember the 8 year sentence offer.
4. The 40 minutes of cut film: Friedkin says it's mostly sex scenes at the clubs and that the plot wasn't affected by the cut.
5. Questions unanswered: Friedkin states he meant to leave questions open and not answer them all.
6. Pacino knowing Stewart's exact song: The "who's here, I'm here, You're here" even though the police got it inacurate from the drag queen. How does Pacino know it accurately? To link him to the killer (he's dressing the same, feeling the same turmoil, maybe even picking up after him in the end).
QWhat's the deal with the big black guy in the jock during the interrogation scene?
ADuring a Q&A at a screening of the film in Los Angeles, the film's editor Bud Smith claimed that this scene came out of technical advisor Randy Jurgenson's recollections of interrogation techniques that were actually used by the NYC police department precisely because they would appear absurd in any subsequent complaints about police brutality.
QAt the end of the movie, right after Capt. Edelson is in the murdered neighbor's apartment, we are shown from behind a tall guy in leather of similar appearance to the killer heading into a gay bar. What was that scene all about?
AThe movie's director felt that in the real case the movie is based upon that there was in fact more than one killer. This scene is meant to suggest that.
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