In the taut, no-nonsense courtroom drama âThe Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,â Kiefer Sutherland earns top billing in the pivotal role of Capt. Philip Queeg, the disgraced and (perhaps unjustly) deposed commander of a U.S. Navy minesweeper. But he appears onscreen for only two scenes.
And because he was working with the legendary director of âThe French Connectionâ and âThe Exorcist,â William Friedkin, on what would turn out to be his final feature, those two scenes of Queegâs testimony were essentially shot in single takes.
âIt was exciting doing it,â Sutherland says, âand then very frustrating finishing it, because Mr. Friedkin only wanted the one take. And I was like, âIâve worked really hard on this. Can I at least have two?ââ
So Sutherland started doing a second take, but noticed that Friedkin âwas already editing the first take into what he had already cut together for the picture. So I realized halfway through the second take ⊠Iâm just wasting everybodyâs time.â
Speaking on a chilly spring morning at a West Hollywood hotel, the 57-year-old actor conveys such respect for the late New Hollywood giant that he refers to him only as âMr. Friedkin,â making clear that the honorific is his own tribute, not the directorâs request.
For his iconic starring role on â24,â Sutherland got to spend a full decade developing the character of Jack Bauer. But here, he says he didnât mind the in-and-out shoot, âbecause [Friedkin] was so sure of what he wanted and what he needed. I canât speak enough about what a comfort it is for an actor to work for a director who is so specific and knows exactly what they want.â
Sutherland is no stranger to the courtroom drama, having made memorable appearances in âA Few Good Menâ and âA Time to Kill.â But in âCaine Mutiny,â he plays a character whoâs restricted not just to a courtroom setting but largely to a single chair.
âChoosing the chair was one of the few things that [Friedkin] let me be a part of,â Sutherland says. âI needed a chair where I could kind of curl my lower back and just sink. So that halfway through that whole second testimony, [Queeg] has actually shortened himself by three inches.â
Friedkin was no stranger to adapting plays for the big screen, and his âCaine Mutinyâ is a story largely told through framing, with camera placement making Queeg seem bigger or smaller at different moments of his anguished testimony. From where Sutherland was sitting, the process was like watching a ballet.
â[Friedkin] had seven cameras moving all at the same time,â he says. âIt was like looking at the innards of a Swiss watch. What was fascinating was that they were all moving at different speeds, and they never ran into each other. Itâs like the nastiest game of Tetris youâve ever seen.â
The role of Queeg was famously played by Humphrey Bogart in a 1954 movie adaptation of Herman Woukâs Pulitzer Prize-winning novel âThe Caine Mutiny.â (Friedkinâs film is based on Woukâs similarly named play.) Sutherland plays the career officer as smug, fragile and petty, but also reveals the wounded depth of his attachment to institutional power. The viewer is primed to see Queeg as a relic, if not an outright villain, but Sutherlandâs performance troubles such easy associations.
During the first testimony, Sutherland says, Queeg is focused on âtelling the court what these fâ kids have done to me. And theyâre going to get in trouble. And theyâre going to deserve it. And this is my red-letter day.â
But in between the first and second testimony, when we hear other officers from the Caine testify to Queegâs erratic and often cruel behavior, Queegâs strongly held self-conception starts to come undone. According to Sutherland, the character comes to a âtorturousâ understanding of the gaps between âwho he wants to be and the reality of who he really is.â
âI think on some level, thereâs a moment in all our lives where we realize that weâre less relevant than we used to be,â he says. âWeâre confronted with the truth of who we are. And I donât think for anyone, itâs not a little painful. And I hope for everyone that itâs not as painful as it was for Queeg.â
In one of his next onscreen appearances, heâll be directed by another industry icon with an affinity for single-take precision. For Clint Eastwoodâs âJuror No. 2,â Sutherland actually wrote the director a letter asking to be part of the film.
âI read that he was gearing up to make his last movie,â he says. âI didnât even have access to a script, but I wrote him a letter and said, âLook, Iâve wanted to work with you my whole career. Iâve read that this is your last film, and I would do anything. No part is too small. If something is available and you are interested, I would be honored to do it.ââ He wonât reveal more about the role, but he says he got even more than he bargained for.
âFor Mr. Eastwood, the preference is for that first- or second-take energy,â Sutherland says. âSome actors donât like to work like that. Some actors are a slower burn. But I actually like the first take. Thatâs the one where it looks like Iâm shot out of a cannon. Iâm trying to grab onto all of the different ideas and thoughts and emotions, trying to get ahold of any of it. And then by takes two and three, Iâm already figuring out what I can drop and what I donât need.â