Friedkin's Sorcerer is a suspenseful masterpiece
In 1977, the landscape of film was changing. The “Golden Era” was about to end unbeknownst to many of the great directors of the time. This change was rapidly accelerated that Summer when George Lucas’ Star Wars was released to massive critical and commercial success. In a matter of weeks, sentiment towards Hollywood filmmaking was flipped upside down. Now was the time of the big budget “four quadrant” films that go great with popcorn. Why is this relevant? Most people interested in film know the seismic impact that Star Wars had on the industry and this review isn’t about Star Wars. However, it’s likely that the success of Star Wars was what killed the potential earnings and acclaim of other movies in its wake. That is certainly the case for William Friedkin’s Sorcerer, released only three short weeks after the tale of Luke Skywalker took everyone’s imagination by storm.
Sorcerer comes hot off the heels of Friedkin’s critical darlings The French Connection and The Exorcist. It’s pretty hard to imagine that with that level of trust from audiences, his next film would be a complete flop with a bloated budget but (much like the central theme of the film) sometimes fate has other things in mind.
In Sorcerer, we are introduced to four characters: A Palestinian freedom fighter (Amidou), a hired gun from Mexico (Francisco Rabal), a white collar criminal from France (Bruno Cremer), and an Irish mobster from New Jersey (Roy Scheider). Each of these men reach a boiling point in their life of crime and all end up in the same remote South American village. After the vignettes, the story is told from a few perspectives but always finds its way back to the eyes of Roy Scheider.
Once everyone is settled, the village is shaken by an explosion at a local oil refinery. In its wake, many of the village laborers are either brutally injured or burned to a crisp. In this moment there is a mournful calm before the storm. The villagers are shocked into silence at the display of their friends and family being loaded (basically dumped off of the truck). It’s a solemn beat that highlights the personal fallout that goes into big industry. It’s the only real moment of rest in the whole film. Just as quickly as the silence began, it is broken by the upset villagers storming the truck and beating the soldiers on board. They might only be messengers, but fate comes for you no matter what.
That scene represents something radical about this film for the 70s. Friedkin is working on a pretty escalated budget (around $22 million) and is openly criticizing the very people who are able to fund his movies. The backbone of American capital has always been exploitation of cheap labor and dangerous working conditions. For many years, we were able to live this comfortable falsehood that we no longer had slavery when in reality we just moved it out of our borders. Today we are more aware of that than ever but in ’77 it was an uncomfortable reality that I doubt most wanted to admit to.
After the soft revolution, the oil rig fire still rages and the only way to put it out is to blow it up. The manager discovers a few crates of dynamite with only one hitch: the dynamite within is volatile and will blow if jostled too much. The manager needs the job done and decides to pay an insanely high wage to four men who are willing to take on the dangerous gig of carefully driving these crates across the mountainous region. With our four protagonists all strapped for cash and seeking a way out of the country, they are put on a collision course with fate.
Once the trucks are ready to go, the film starts to cast its spell (like a sorcerer perhaps?). The trucks are set on a tension-riddled obstacle course to reach their final destination and the film is able to deliver its finest set pieces. As the trucks make their way through the trials on their path, Friedkin’s ability to stress the viewer out shines through. Many moments even lead me to shift in my seat along with the rickety bridges and insurmountable obstacles.
Nothing speaks to the power of Sorcerer like its iconic image of a large truck turned almost ninety degrees on a rope bridge in the middle of a thunderstorm. This scene is a distillation of the film itself. The characters are skating by on a knife’s edge while the power of the elements is fighting them at every move. The color is especially well done here. The dark blues, browns, and blacks create the image of being drowned out in a torrent of rain.
Sorcerer’s central theme is man’s inability to escape fate. The characters are brought together because they all got too in-over-their-head and decided the only way to deal with consequences was to run. None of them are happy in South America and decide to attempt to escape that fate as well. During their journey, they face challenges that feel engineered to be a test of their very fiber. The Tangerine Dream soundtrack is taunting them; Its haunting synths play out like alarm bells warning us of the danger they are truly in.
The ending is a delight for those of us that enjoy mean cinema. It brings the film to a full circle. Some prophecies have to be fulfilled even if you put in the work the break the cycle.
Sorcerer may not have been a success in 1977 but it is a great film and a clear inspiration to the great filmmakers of today. The Safdies, Yorgos Lanthimos, and even Bong Joon Ho owe some of their success to this film. It is stress-inducing, grimy, but also beautiful in its portrayal of real world conflicts.