Sorcerer

Basically on a whim, I watched:

Sorcerer (1977).

This William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) suspense movie has nothing to do with magic, despite the title. It is based on the novel Le Salaire de la peur which was made into the 1955 movie Wages of Fear. Many claim that Sorcerer is a remake of that movie, something Friedkin always denied.

In a nutshell, three men are hiding from their misdeeds in a small hellhole in South America. The only available work is for a US owned oil well, and even so, the pay is garbage. They all want out, but are nowhere near rich enough to be able to escape. A ticket to Argentina and a passport would cost almost 2000 pesos, and one of them has managed to save a hundred. Then a mysterious hitman arrives and the tension rises again.

One day, the local guerrillas blow up the well and the only way to put it out is with dynamite, but the only available dynamite is 351 km (218 miles) away, and it's old and sweating. In case you didn't know, dynamite sweats pure nitroglycerin and nitro doesn't like sudden movement.

The oil company promises 8000 pesos each to the four men who can and are willing to drive the sweaty dynamite through the jungle, down bumpy roads and across rickety bridges. Only the most foolhardy or desperate men would take on such a task.

Sorcerer opens with four short vignettes showing what these men did to end up in the hell hole. Make no mistake, these are not good people but you still can't help sympathize with their plight once the job is on.

Clocking in at two hours, the first hour is basically all set up. The vignettes, the back breaking work, it's all misery and pain. But it is important misery. You could watch the most suspenseful scenes by themselves, but without the buildup I think you'd loose so much. You need to follow these men to understand them, to truly get why they are putting themselves through such suffering. It's easy to dismiss a lot of Sorcerer as theatrical nonsense but I firmly believe that this is a masterfully crafted thriller with well managed slow burn.

The actors are good, with Roy Scheider as the “main character”. The music is by Tangerine Dream and works well, but the star is actually Friedkin and his cinematography. Each scene is meticulously crafted, with a blend of the gritty realism from The French Connection and the overhanging sense of doom from The Exorcist. During the vignette in Jerusalem, I almost expected to see Father Karras, but that would of course be silly. That is however the atmosphere Friedkin managed to create.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes but not to everyone. If you like to have a movie on while you do stuff on your phone, this is not the film for you. Sorcerer demands attention and if you can give it that, it will reward you. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a masterpiece, but it is a really good movie, and that is enough.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week with no sweaty dynamite!