Sorcerer (1977)

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers:

Georges Arnaud (novel)
Walon Green (writer)

Release Date:

24 June 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

A group of outcasts from different backgrounds/nationalities are forced by misfortune to work in a remote oil drilling operation in South America...

Plot Keywords:

Fire | Nitroglycerin | Jungle | Escape | Robbery

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Roy Scheider	...	Jackie Scanlon / "Juan Dominguez"
Bruno Cremer	...	Victor Manzon / 'Serrano'
Francisco Rabal	...	Nilo
Amidou	...	Kassem / 'Martinez'
Ramon Bieri	...	Charles Corlette
Peter Capell	...	Lartigue
Karl John	...	Marquez
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	Carlos
Chico Martínez	...	Bobby Del Rios
Joe Spinell	...	Spider
Rosario Almontes	...	Agrippa
Richard Holley	...	Billy White
Anne-Marie Deschott	...	Blanche
Jean-Luc Bideau	...	Pascal
Jacques François	...	Lefevre

Also Known As:

Wages of Fear

Runtime:

121 min | Sweden:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Spanish | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:AA (1978) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1978) | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Angel Peak National Recreation Area, Bloomfield, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Film Properties International N.V.

Trivia:

Cinematographer Dick Bush found Friedkin so demanding and difficult to work with that he left the film halfway through. Friedkin used second unit cinematographer John Stephens for the remaining production. Both received screen credit.

Goofs:

Continuity: The monetary amount paid to the drivers is inconsistent throughout the film. The oil company first says they will pay "8,000 pesos to each driver". The driver's later demand double that amount (which would be 16,000 pesos). Later when Scanlon crosses the rope bridge he boasts that the two of them will get "double shares of 20,000 apiece" (double shares would actually be 32,000 apiece). At the end, Scanlon is given a check for 40,000 Pesos which would only amount to 10,000 per driver.

Quotes:

Scanlon: You read about this place in the travel brochures?
"Serrano": I heard it had a healthy climate.
Scanlon: Not what you expected though?
"Serrano": It was exactly what I expected!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Soundtrack:

I Remember April

Lost Classic

Sorcerer is a unique, brutal, brilliant film burdened underneath a terrible, wholly unappropriate title. Watching this film, it is not only easy to see why the film was both a huge financial and commercial disaster, it is downright obvious. This is the most un-american/ hollywood/ commercial film backed by a major studio I have ever seen. It is a tough, gruelling 126 minutes that goes nowhere fast, yet holds you firm in its tight grip and beats you senseless throughout. I was exhausted when the film finally arrived at it's rather downbeat ending. The multi-national cast is faultless. Scheider is magnificent. This is an exceptionally demanding, difficult role and he hits it head on, creating an anti-hero who is very, very real: desperate, frightened and desructable. Taking this role, at the height of his fame, was either very brave or very stupid. I'm going with brave. His performance here is a million miles away from his work on Jaws and Jaws 2, yet equally compelling. The photography is in a league of it's own (I only wish the DVD came with an original 2:35:1 print, assuming there is one, as the current disc is presented in a 4:3 full frame), and the music from Tangerine Dream complements the vision perfectly. This is a brilliant piece of film making from the most daring decade of cinema, made by one of cinema's true unpredictable's. Tense, dazzling, dark and fresh, this is an underated film that deserves to be re-evaluated.