At long last, I cover a Film that really makes you think of something much different. This is Sorcerer, a 1977 Film that is NOT about Magic. Please don't stop reading- I'd appreciate it. The Film is based on a very famous Book by those wacky French people- 'The Wages of Fear.' It sure sounds fun! The Film is NOT based on the 1956 Film based on the same Book- at least if you ask William Friedkin. They're both based on the Book, but he insists that one is not a Remake of the other. Whatever you say! The Plot involves 4 people who have to do a dangerous, life-threatening job in order to possibly live a normal life again. No pressure! In 2021, looking into the Cast of the Film is both interesting and depressing. You find out about them...and realize that pretty much all of them are dead. Yikes. Hey, if you're reviewing a Film like this, you can get nice and dark. I should note that the Writer here (the Screenplay, to be clear) was the man who co-Wrote and Directed The Hellstrom Chronicle. A big thing with this Movie is that its failure at the Box Office is often conflated with some opinions that I don't agree with. Essentially, this came out and underperformed (it cost about $20 million and made $9 million), while another Film came out as a huge success. If you hadn't guessed by the year, it was STAR WARS. You can read here all about how certain Critics like Pauline Kael took this opportunity to be, well, their most snobbish. Of course, as History has since shown, a key element from this Film would end up in a Star Wars property. That long aside...aside, this Film is all about its Characters. Will they learn a lesson about their past misdeeds or will they all just die? To find out, read on...
The Film opens with a quartet of Scenes to introduce our Characters. I'll summarize for simplicity...
One is a killer, who...gets away with it.
One is a Bomber who escapes justice, but will clearly remain a wanted man.
One is a French Banker who can't pay off a massive loan and flees the Country.
One is a Robber who inadvertently kills the wrong man and is wanted by the Boston Mob.
Three out of the four end up in a small Village in Central America.
They fled in desperation, so they are not in a great place financially, working rough jobs and being miserable.
An explosion rocks a nearby Oil Derrick, killing many and leading to a new problem that has to be solved.
They pick the noble solution.
Sorry, I meant the Nobel solution- dynamite.
Unfortunately, it was improperly-stored and will explode at the slightest shake!
The Owner hires 4 people for a dangerous job- transporting the dynamite a distance of 200 miles via truck.
Naturally, our Heroes sign up for the job. The 4th member is apparently a Nazi in hiding, but he's killed by the first guy we saw (the contract killer) who takes his place.
Road Trip!
They set out in two trucks- one named Sorcerer, so hence the confusing Title- and have to cross dangerous train with, well, dangerous cargo.
In the most famous Scene (it's on the Poster), they must cross a narrow, wooden bridge on the trucks DURING A RAIN STORM.
It's really intense and feels legit.
There proves to be many dangers on the trip, including would-be robbers, Natives, a fallen tree and, of course, having one tire go out before a truck goes BOOM!
The aforementioned Robbers wound the Contract Killer and he dies, leaving Scheider alone to drive the truck...until it dies.
He's not doing well at the end, as you can see.
Very old SPOILERS ahead...
In the Book (and original Film), the lone Survivor is so desensitized to danger after surviving that he recklessly drives away with the money...and dies.
Less old SPOILERS ahead...
In this Film, Scheider gets the money and citizenship, but wants to dance with the local Waitress before he leaves. He stalls too long, however, as the guy who sent him here and the Mobster show up to kill him. The *bleak* End.
A good Film, but it sure isn't fun. Bad people do bad things. Bad people have bad things done to them. Bad people must try to become good people while they do a most-likely suicide mission. Bad people don't get good things in the end. This one of those Films where you have to accept that the point is for them all to be bad in some way. They try to give a couple of them some redeeming traits- like the French Banker regretting his actions and leaving a note for his wife- but just barely. They feel bad about being in the situation they are in, but have they really changed? The Film also attaches a certain irony to most of the deaths, as the Bomber is blown up, while the Killer is shot and killed. Obviously Scheider meets his comeuppance in a pretty obvious way. Is there a moral here? Is there a point?
Sorcerer is a well-made Film that feels gritty, rough and all sorts of deep. Ultimately though, it is just bad people being punished by other bad people, so how am I supposed to feel? I guess it is something like this.
Next up, I switch gears pretty dramatically. In order to watch a likely-bad Movie I already own, I have to see the first Film. Stay tuned...
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