JohnDoe
Bryn
Brenton
Sorcerer (1977) - Footage Included
Monumental Sabotage and the Price of Fearful Desire
Poster for Sorcerer - Available on DVD in the U.S.A
Director: William Friedkin
Writer: Walon Green
Starring: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, Amidou
"There were not any effects or optical’s in those days. It was extremely difficult and hazardous. If I knew it would be such a hassle – endanger people’s lives and my own – and then meet the sort of fate that it met in some parts of the world I wouldn’t have done it. But it is the favourite of all my films”
– William FriedkinFuelled by excessive accolades and monumental receipts for The Exorcist and The French Connection, to discuss William Friedkin’s epic remake Sorcerer it is tough to not get bogged down in a loss of traction analysis and examination of its production and place in the lexicon of pop culture.
One must first acknowledge George Annauds intense source novel "Le Salaire de la Peur” translated to Wages of Fear. The inspiration for the revered French classic of the same name helmed by recognized maestro Henri-Georges Clouzot. (The Film is dedicated to the instrumental filmmaker)
Shot on location in Paris, Jerusalem, New Jersey and in the military dictatorship of the Dominican Republic with its unforgiving jungle. Sorcerer like Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate, the war of attrition, logistical nightmares of production and its subsequent box office failure has become the stuff of cinema legend.
Harsh weather destroyed sets. Friedkin’s stubborn perfectionism elevated the budget. Cast and crew were pushed to breaking point. The sum of all these parts echoes many of the films key themes and tone. For instance a perilous bridge crossing which is one of the films centre pieces was destroyed or unsuccessful a trio of times at a price tag of a million dollars a pop.
See what I mean, JD is 220 words in to his review and hasn’t even scratched the chassis of what the movie is about or began critiquing.
Insert Jump cut.
Sorcerer is a harrowing journey into the obsessive bowels of madness.
Here’s a high concept pitch, this is the thrilling tale of 4 men who must navigate the perilous mountain terrain of South America driving trucks laden with volatile nitroglycerin. One bump or wrong move will cause explosive consequences.
"We're carrying three cases each. One is enough to blow out your fire, six cases will blow out the whole field. That means you don't think all the trucks will make it, one of us is a backup." - Dominguez
The story begins with extended character prologues. A petty crook (Roy Scheider), a terrorist (Amidou), a corrupt banker (Bruno Cremer) and an enigmatic slime (Franciso Rabal) with no links, all from different corners of the globe end up fleeing punishments to an isolated, impoverished South American Village.
These are desperate men trapped in a world they want no part of. Cornered, forced to work together despite personal animosity or they will die. The only way out is to take on the suicidal task of transporting explosives to rescue an oil refinery under attack.
"Listen Pancho, I've been clocking you every second you've been in this town. If you wanna pick your nose in this truck, you better clear it with me first, otherwise I'm taking you and this nitro right into a ditch! " - Dominguez
The toughest truck around, it's name Sorcerer
John Doe says:
A brooding, fatalistic tour deforce carried by brutally intense suspense drawn out to unbearable proportions. Balancing a verite attitude within a ludicrous conceit, the film replaces the adventurous tone of the original for a dark examination of humans pushed beyond the realm of sanity to survive.
Motivated by personal demons and manipulated by circumstance there is a palpable fear and surreal air to the end result.
Director Willaim Friedkin (To Live and Die in LA, Cruisin’) entered the project as glory boy and was expelled out the other side as a perceived failure. What was once a bright future forever tarnished to this day.
In his own words the title and its purpose are:
"The Sorcerer is an evil wizard and in this case the evil Wizard is fate, it’s more a film about fate and about the mystery of fate. The fact that somebody can walk out of their front door and a hurricane can take them away, an earthquake or something falling through the roof or something. And the idea that we don’t really have control over our own fates, neither our births nor our deaths, it’s something that has haunted me since I was intelligent enough to contemplate something like it."
(Quote from Wikipedia.com)Admittedly there are faults to be found, the first half hour is disjointed much like the central figures. Audiences at the time did not adapt to the use of subtitles for the sequences on foreign shores. Let’s not forget 1977 was the year that Star Wars and Smokey and the Bandit became cultural phenomenon’s.
Damn. Again Mr Doe is diverted from the task at hand and indiscreetly attempts to defend the cult gem.
Adapted for the screen by Wild Bunch scribe Walon Green, the dialogue is tough and there is a no nonsense air to the action as written. The geographical set pieces and rampant symbolism astonish with dexterous staging.
Shot with manic energy, the Direction and Cinematography communicate a truth that seldom feels manufactured. Lacking special effects most of the major risks were done for real with the leading actors serving as stuntmen in most cases. As a result the element of realism and genuine danger is never far from the surface. There is a sense of awed wonderment in viewing some of the more intricate sequences like the annihilation of a log that blocks the drivers path.
The sound design of the film boosts the claustrophobic urgency and acting in conjunction with the surreal electronic score by Tangerine Dream.
Originally intended as a vehicle for Steve Mcqueen, Friedkin says :
“As good as I think Sorcerer is, it was really written for Steve McQueen and I will always have a soft spot in my heart that I never made it with him. But I think Roy Scheider did a fine job with it and it’s probably the one film of mine I can still watch.”
(Quote from The Directors Take Two by Robert J Emery)Working together on The French Connection The Director and Brody himself Roy Scheider developed a short hand that brought out the best in the actor. Here he is at his deadly serious best. Tortured and determined with eyes of pained torment Scheider envelopes his damaged character.
The rest of the cast succeed in delivering naturalistic performances that never appear forced. There is a relentless tension always visible in the dynamics of the group that are as crooked as they are admirable. The numerous extras and smaller parts filled by authentic locals complete the illusion that makes every scene reek of 3rd world decay and pestilence.
Johnny D is obviously a fan of this misunderstood and over dissected work. Yet another example of genius muted. Punctuating the public’s insatiable need for generic distractions that exist in a one dimensional, disposable experience best left in the confines of an unlit cinema.
The oddly constructed trailer for Sorcerer
A themed montage of sequences set to the haunting tangerine Score
Horrorphile
But the question at hand here is have you got hold of a widescreen edition?!
Film & TV on DVD
Are you saying that I need editing
Acccording to wikipedia Friedkin himself went all Kubrick a while back saying he liked the pan n scan version better on TV.
With the release of Cruisin as a special edition he has said that Sorcerer may get the same treatment.
Here's hoping that its true....oh you wanted the short answer. No, only the shitty full screen version is available.
Horrorphile
I've only seen Sorcerer on the big screen (Chauvel I think). I can't bear the idea of watching a 2.35:1 movie (it was in Panavision wasn't it?) cropped to all buggery.
Film & TV on DVD
Horrorphile
20/20 Filmsight
It certainly had tension and suspense.
The bridge crossing is pure cinema magic
I am a bigger fan of suspense than horror.(but don't tell Bryn)
Also this has a score by Tangerine Dream which is a double bonus.
Horrorphile
Who dobbed me in?
It is not that I do not love horror.
It is just that I think suspense is the fundamental key to all good drama, especially horror.
Damo has a variety of tastes.
Film & TV on DVD
The film does lose a lot in the pan n scan version but still ignites the air with excitement.
Scarily enough i didn't even come close to sharing all my thoughts on this much maligned slice of genre reinvention.
Film & TV on DVD
Did you get to see Sorcerer on the big screen upon release? I'm hoping that if a remastered Special edition comes out it will have its premiere on holy ground instead of my living room.
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Horrorphile
Cinema Dime
Film & TV on DVD
I won't be at SupaNova this year as I have now immigrated to the U.S.A...my dreams now lie with attending the San Diego Comic Con when it comes around again.
Who are some of the guests at this years nova?
Cinema Dime
thats a shame, this year at supanova should be good, they havent announced who is going,
have fun at comic con, lol i no i would
Film & TV on DVD
I am still not sure if financial handicaps and geographical dislocation will allow me to travel to comic mecca this year...certainly next year but maybe not in 2009.
Now, as the Prime Optimus film reviewer he is I hope your mechanized worship wanes from Michael Bay to Mr Doe himself
Film & TV on DVD
No argument here, Wages of Fear is superior to Sorcerer. I think the film holds its own on the harrowing truck crossings, maybe even achieving a higher level of stunt tension.
Its as an overall experience that Sorcerer falls a little below its mighty inspiration, but still stands as a very watchable film from a daring Director.
Thanks for visiting, please return anytime.