William Friedkin’s fatalist masterwork,Sorcerer, is a movie about roads. The roads we take in life, how they dictate our futures, and eventually, how they dictate our ends. Whichever road you take, they all lead to the same place. Man versus nature, man versus self, and man versus man all coalesce in a thrilling and harrowing journey through the jungle that will have you gripping the edge of your seat.
Inspired by the 1950 novel,The Wages of Fear, Friedkin’s film finds a group of men assigned to a risky, near-impossible task. The tension born out of the premise is emphasized by the way that the characters are all introduced as noir-adjacent protagonists who could each easily headline their own prequel origin film if their stories were expanded. Instead, they all come together after their getaways, and find themselves in circumstances more deadly and stressful than anything they faced back home.
Fate Catches Up With the Men of William Friedkin’s ‘Sorcerer’
Sorcererfollows four men –– an assassin, a resistance fighter, a fraudster, and a thief –– who all fall into deadly circumstances and flee to South America for a chance at another life. They find their chances may not be much better, as they’re quickly living in extreme poverty with no prospects. The men, includingRoy Scheider, reteaming with Friedkin afterThe French Connection, are offered a substantial sum of money if they can transport two trucks loaded with unstable dynamite across over 200 miles of difficult jungle terrain to stop a fire caused by an oil line exploding.
Out of sheer desperation, and lacking anything worth living for, the men take the job despite the serious risk. One wrong move — one buckle or bend or pothole — could turn these men to ash. What follows is an arduous, stressful experience that ultimately underlines the most classical of film noir tropes:you cannot escape your fate. It will catch up with you, as you will die trying to escape, or you will let your guard down long enough to be taken out when you’re least expecting it. The men inSorcerermeet tragic ends (some explosive, some quieter) and, while the two trucks take different paths, it becomes increasingly clear the further along in their journey thatthe roads they’ve taken were doomed from the moment they took the job.
Noir stories most often revolve around morally impure people who must get their due for the crimes they’ve committed.Sorcererinverts the traditional heist setupby cleverly focusing on a story of men who are circumstantially forced to transport something they desperately want to distance themselves from, as opposed to taking something they want to get away with. This feels like an ironic twist of fate that these outlaw-type figures must engage in this horrendous experience, only to lose everything in the process.
Sharp, Crafty Filmmaking Turns ‘Sorcerer’ Into One of the Most Intense Movies Ever Made
Friedkin may mostly be remembered for the terrifying thrills ofThe Exorcist, butSorcererhas a few sequences that feel even more harrowing than a confrontation with a literal demon. The bridge scene is so instantly iconic that it was used as the central marketing image for the film, smack dab in the middle of the original theatrical poster. But an image alone cannot get across how much the soundscape, performances, production design, and cinematography of this sequence adds to the white-knuckle, edge-of-your-seat quality of watching two giant trucks full of faulty dynamite crossing a rickety rope bridge (and in a torrential downpour, no less).
Alfred Hitchcock’s conception of showing the audience the bomb is taken to the next level inSorcerer, as every character is in the know about the deadly powder keg that awaits them, and we are forced to watch in anxious anticipation as they try to avoid it. The way Friedkin shoots the men — frenzied, sweaty, and so intense — is immersive and uncomfortable to watch.
Friedkin and the crew had to meticulously construct this bridge over a real river in order to film the scene. It required a variety of hydraulic systems and anchors to keep the truck in motion while eliminating any risk of it actually falling off the bridge. AsFriedkin explained in his memoir, they eventually had to use large pipes to divert portions of the river to keep the levels good enough for shooting, and all the effort of scouting the proper location, constructing the set, and actually filming the sequence, took months.
William Friedkin’s ‘Sorcerer’ Was an Incredibly Intense Production
The film’s complex narrative structure and stressful, tense sequences made for a difficult shoot.Scheider even commented in aNew York Timesinterviewthat filmingSorcerer"madeJawsseem like a picnic.“The effort was worth it, as the bridge scene, the centerpiece of the movie,remains one of the most intense sequences ever put on film. Friedkin and editorsBud SmithandRobert Lambertbrilliantly weave in the sequence so that each truck traversing the bridge is crosscut with the other crew dealing with a separate conflict. Instead of seeing one truck make the whole trip, you essentially watch the first truck cross to the halfway point, and then you later see the second truck complete the treacherous crossing. This decision helps with both the pacing and the tension, as it keeps viewers on their toes following both crews in difficult situations.
Why People Think Michael Mann Sued William Friedkin
The ‘Ferrari’ and ‘Heat’ director (allegedly) had it out for the man behind ‘The Exorcist.’
The ingenuity of how this truck sequence is placed within the film is evidence of Friedkin’s inventive, structural choices for the narrative of the film.Sorcererspends over half an hour just setting up each individual character before we even have a sense of what the movie could have in store once the trucks come into play.Sorcereris a film which demands patience and trust in the director’s vision. Once the puzzle pieces fall into place,you realize Friedkin has constructed one of the greatest American filmsand a complete masterclass of tension and suspense.
Sorcerersorely under-performed at the box office, marking an end to the era of auteur-driven filmmaking as blockbusters likeStar Warsbegan their rise in the ranks of Hollywood, and the film remains unseen by many, but those who have seen it are quick to understand its significance. As these men fight tooth and nail to evade their ultimate ends, fate has never felt more inevitable, more powerful, or more unwavering than inSorcerer.
