After the demon is released in Iraq, the setting of The Exorcist moves to Washington. There the narrative progresses in an extended series of cross-cuts, alternating between scenes of Chris McNeil’s and Father Karas’s lives. What are some of the effects of that editing? What does the alternation emphasize about the characters? How does it set up the film’s later action, when the movie star and the Priest finally meet and agree to try an exorcism?
10 thoughts on “The Exorcist”
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the cross shots between the characters in the film made me think they were connected to each other. watching the film I put together that Father Kara and Chris would need each other and that they have a lot in common. their lives show how they both are going through hard times the father with his mother living by herself being sick and dying and Chris’s daughter being sick and not knowing what’s wrong with her. they found each other in their lives when they were under great amounts of stress and needed to help each other in a way.
Rowan Safley
The narrative switching between the perspectives of Fr.Karras and Chris McNeil sets up a parallel between the physical decline and death of Karras’ mother and the possession of Regan. This emphasizes the priest’s grief and the mother’s as well. This parallel extends to the incline of the tension towards the movie’s climax, where the building stress for both parties comes to a head. This is expressly crossed over when the demon taunts Fr.Karras about his mother.
I believe the editing style was very effective in juxtaposing Chris McNeil’s and Father Karas’s lives while also keeping an invisible string between the two characters and suggesting that their meeting was inevitable. I especially found the two scenes, where it first cuts to Chris’s lavish and lively home life and then directly to Father Karas entering his mother’s decrepit and dark house, to be telling of the two character’s roles as binaries. Not only are they living completely opposite lives, but they also have different futures and loved ones to keep safe. Thus, humanizing the two people while putting them in entirely separate spheres of life, which only builds the viewers’ curiosity about how they will eventually meet. However, I will say that, for me, the constant cross-cutting between the two characters builds some sort of romantic connection that I don’t believe was necessary in this film. Moreover, the feeling of potential love interests was furthered when Ms. McNeil directly asked and expressed interest in who Father Karas during her home-gathering. These stirred-up feelings of romance reached a peak when the two finally met, and Chris apologetically cries and seeks comfort on Father Karas’s shoulder. With that being said, it could have just been my interpretation of the movie that led to this spark of romance between the two, but I do think that the constant alteration and tie between the characters can lead others to also go down that path.
The cross cutting that happens between Chris and Karas is interesting as it makes the differences in the two characters life styles and socioeconomic situations very obvious, with Chris being well-off and having a statused job, and with Karas being a priest who’s fallen from grace. This works well to emphasize the difference in class and status between the two, who both are recognized (albiet in different ways) in their respective communities, yet Chris (a conventionally attractive white woman who is also portrayed as an attentive mother) gets to live, and Karas (who cares for his mother but is not as present) dies at the end of the film. I think the cuts do a lot to tell the viewers who is more “deserving” of living until the end, with Chris being portrayed as the loving mother and with Karas being portrayed in a way that greatly contradicts what is expected of a priest. The cuts also make it so that the world within The Exorcist film seems much larger, as the stark contrasts between settings make it appear that the situation at hand is bigger than just Chris and her family.
Crosscutting between Chris and the Father was extremely confusing. It’s not a technique I’ve seen in horror movies before, usually reserved for genres that cross multiple timelines/settings. Since horror movies rely on such a strict POV system, it was surprising to see The Exorcist occupy so many different POVs. This crosscutting served to emphasize Regan’s multiple personalities. It also draws a parallel between Karas losing faith and Regan being possessed. More structurally, it sets up that the characters will eventually meet each other. The characters, themselves, are important, too. Karas is a priest. He listens to people’s confessions in a dark room. He internalizes the voices of those who have sinned. Chris is an actress. She embodies characters—possessed by another to serve the vision of the director. Both characters are symbolically tied to possession and sin even before the demon enters Regan’s body.
By alternating scenes between Chris McNeil and Father Karas the movie builds suspense and foreshadows the connection between the two characters. The movie works to mislead the viewer and cause them to assume that the troubled priest was the one behind the possession and church desecration. It does this by portraying Father Karas as disallusioned and depressed, which ironically becomes the emotional bridge between himself and Chris McNeil. Father Karas can sympathize with McNeil’s emotional distress over a loved one, and this is what convinces him to perform the exorcism. This ongoing intertwining of characters and storylines creates suspense because it is unknown how these two parallel characters will eventually meet; either as enemies or fellow protagonists.
I believe the film is composed of three distinct segments that ultimately converge to create a unified narrative. The initial segment appears to revolve around the release of the demon in Iraq, although how it reaches Washington remains enigmatic, as it is not depicted. The second portion of the film focuses on Father Karas and his mother’s health issues. The third and final segment provides a portrayal of Chris’s life and the gradual transformation of her daughter’s personality, influenced by the demon inhabiting her. This format underscores the significance of each character in the film and their crucial contributions to its development. Their individual experiences make it evident that they are interdependent: the mother finds herself with no alternative but to depend on the priest as her last resort and the priest’s expertise only holds significance if he can successfully exorcise the demon from the child’s body. Furthermore, the intriguing sequences of cross-cuts provide viewers with insights into the broader narrative, giving them a privileged perspective to comprehend aspects that elude the characters themselves. However, the narrator introduces a perplexing element by unexpectedly reintroducing the priest who was originally in Iraq when the demon was unleashed. His role in confronting the demon raises questions. Could his reappearance signal an attempt to rectify his previous error? Additionally, the whereabouts and potential involvement of the girl’s father in her harrowing ordeal remain uncertain.
I found the cross-cutting between father Karras and Ms. McNeil to be utterly confounding. Until the very end of the movie it seemed like father Karras was the true antagonist of the film, defiling the church and committing murders behind the scenes. I was convinced that upon meeting the priest Ms. McNeil would discover that he had unearthed the demon rock and was using it to possess the daughter. This would have made sense in the context of the movie, which juxtaposed the unholy priest with Ms. McNeil, an undeniably pure character.
The role of the exorcist in Iraq was even more obscure than father Karras. I had assumed that the exorcist was the girls father! It was shocking when he arrived at the door and Ms. McNeil had no response. Why include the detail that the girls father was abroad? How was she possessed if the exorcist never gave her the demon rock in the first place? It would have made a lot more sense if the exorcist was the girls father and had sent her the rock for her birthday.
I found the effect of the editing to be one of building suspense. Each character had their own separate experiences that at first didn’t seem connected. The whole movie I was trying to figure out how the two characters would be tied together until finally they were brought together over the exorcism. I especially felt feelings of suspense in the first few scenes were Chris McNeil saw Father Karas around and was suspicious of who he was. I think the alternation served to emphasize each character’s separate but later interconnected struggles. Chris McNeil’s struggles came from her daughter Reagan and trying to find her help while Father Karas’s struggles seemed more personal and long-term. This led to the build up to explain why Father Karas would be willing to sacrifice his life to save Reagan.
The editing techniques employed in “The Exorcist,” serves to emphasize key aspects of the characters and plot, setting up for the film’s later action sequences. The techniques are used to build tension and suspense between Chris McNeil and Father Karras. By cutting back and forth between the two characters, the film maintains a high level of anticipation as the audience wonders when and how their paths will intersect. The editing highlights the contrast between the two protagonists. Chris McNeil is a successful movie star and a loving mother, while Father Karras is a struggling priest grappling with a crisis of faith and the guilt of his mother. By juxtaposing their lives, the film alludes to their differences, making their eventual meeting and collaboration all the more significant. This contrast serves to deepen our understanding of the characters motivations. Additionally, the alternation of scenes establishes parallel narratives for both characters. As Regan becomes increasingly possessed by the demon, her condition worsens, and Chris seeks medical and psychological help. While, Father Karras faces his own personal and spiritual challenges. It also serves as a form of foreshadowing, hinting at the eventual collaboration between Chris and Father Karras. As the narrative progresses, it becomes clear that both characters are on a collision course to have their lives impacted by a demon’s possession, and the alternation of their scenes sets up the film’s later action. When they meet and agree to try an exorcism, it feels like a natural progression of the story.