Director Watch Podcast Ep. 38 – ‘The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (William Friedkin, 2023)

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 38 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys discuss the final film in their William Friedkin series, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023).

After a 12-year absence from making a feature film, William Friedkin returned with a faithful, reverent adaption of one of the most celebrated plays of all time, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. Being a movie he’d wanted to make his entire career, the film came together over the course of two months in early 2023; a modern, relevant version of Herman Wouk’s classic text, only to sadly pass away before the film premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. For a final film, it is a perfect end to a celebrated career by one of Hollywood’s most unique directorial talents. With an extraordinary cast lead by incredible performances from Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Clarke, Ryan and Jay break down Friedkin’s last film, the modern setting of his adaption, Lance Reddick’s career, the film’s explosive ending, favorite court room dramas, and they give their definitive rankings of William Friedkin’s filmography.

You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 1h48m. The guys will be back next week to begin their new series covering the films of Sofia Coppola with a review of her debut film, The Virgin Suicides. You can stream the film on Pluto TV. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro)