Not to mention the exorcist, Paul Morning himself. A lot of people object to this character, apparently because they don't like the exorcism. However, what Blatty did with this character is interesting. An exorcism and an exorcist-character were forced on Blatty, and I for one like what he did in response.
Morning is introduced to us first via his environment, namely the Georgetown University campus. Blatty shows us Dahlgren Chapel, with its lovely fountain, framed between two banks of campus buildings. The building on the right had served as Damien Karras' residence hall in the Friedkin film. This is the scene where Kinderman and Karras walk past the Chapel and pause in front of the residence building, and where Kinderman mock-threatens to "deport" Karras. We then see a smiling Karras turn to enter the residence.
Morning's room is located directly across the Chapel courtyard (in the left bank of buildings) from Karras' former residence, which can be seen from Morning's window.
So, by this time, the audience's memory is jogged, and fans made nostalgic by, the familiar settings.
Then Blatty shows bits and pieces of Morning's room - simple items indicative of his sanctity, such as an immaculate sink and hairbrush, a Rosary, a photo of Morning, presumably as an infant posed with his parents, a miniature of St. Michael slaying Satan ... and a lively little bird in a box on the window sill whose injured wing Morning has patched up.
Then we see Morning at his desk, presumably reading his Breviary, only to be distracted by the bird's sudden cessation of chirping. Drawn to the window, Morning is followed by Blatty's camera - actually it's Morning's shadow, which falls across his wall plaque which reads, "What we give to the poor is what we take with us when we die", a holy saying that was imprinted on an old miniature calendar card that Fr. Lankester Merrin had carried in his wallet. Which of course reminds us - at least readers of the original novel - of the other great exorcist, Merrin, and his own simplicity and sanctity. It is notable that Blatty's camera follows Morning's walk to the window just as Friedkin followed Merrin walking up to the blacksmith's shop where he sees the one-eyed craftsman.
It seems clear that, as "senior exorcist" - who, like Merrin, has had a harrowing exorcistic experience in which "his hair turned white overnight" - Blatty has invested Morning with Merrin-like qualities, which of course resonate well with the first book and the Friedkin film.
Arriving at the window, Morning finds the bird suddenly lifeless and already rigid with death.
Immediately following the discovery, a crucifix falls off the wall. A closeup reveals that the crucifix is bleeding while lying there on the floor. Morning picks it up and sees the blood.
Directly after that, the air turns dark as if with a sudden overcast of storm clouds, and then - as with the case of Merrin in Iraq when confronting the Pazuzu statue - what I like to call "the Pazuzu Wind" begins to blow through the room. Morning is left alone in the windy darkness, with a dawning, Merrin-like recognition that "soon he would face an ancient enemy".
Remarkably, this scene is lyrical because it is entirely wordless. Morning has even less dialogue than Merrin in Iraq - in fact he has no dialogue. It is all up to Blatty's camera to give us a character portrait of Fr. Paul Morning and his nemesis in perhaps a mere two minutes of film. A major success, and a tribute to the original story, even though an artificial add-on due to studio demands.
This scene, plus a couple others, as well as some distinct elements help make this flawed film one of my perennial favorites.
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