THE CURBSIDE CRITERION: SORCERER

It’s a shame William Friedkin’s excellent film Sorcerer was swamped at the box office in 1977 by a little movie called Star Wars, because it deserved better. (Fun fact: the plot of an episode of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian is an homage to this film.) At least this new 4K Ultra HD edition of it from Criterion helps cement that reputation a bit.

Coming off the major success of The Exorcist, Friedkin’s next effort was a remake of the 1953 French film The Wages of Fear (also recently released by Criterion). It starred Roy Scheider, who was basking in the glow of Jaws, as Jackie Scanlon, a mob driver who flees the United States because he’s been marked for execution.

Jackie makes his way to Central America, where he ends up undertaking a dangerous mission with three other men: Victor Manzon (Bruno Cremer), a French investment banker on the run because of fraud charges; Nilo (Francisco Rabal), a Mexican who kills the former Nazi Marquez (Karl John) and takes his place; and Kassem (Amidou), a Palestinian who fled his home because the Israeli Defense Force is after him.

All of the men except Nilo have assumed fake identities in their new location, where a nearby oil well explosion requires them to transport dynamite containing highly unstable nitroglycerin so the explosives can be used to put out the fire.

The four men split into two trucks and make their way through treacherous jungle terrain, where a jolt that’s too extreme could cause the dynamite to explode. They’re willing to undertake the job because all of them are impoverished and want to use the payment to emigrate elsewhere.

As they encounter obstacles and begin to distrust each other, Friedkin expertly ratchets up the tension with long stretches of silence, without even music to accompany the scenes. The ethereal score by Tangerine Dream only pops up when the director wants to heighten the dread felt by the characters, rather than relieve it. The rope bridge crossing remains one of the most harrowing scenes in film history.

While this film was previously restored under Friedkin’s guidance, a new restoration was commissioned for this new Criterion edition. I’ve seen some positive and negative comments about the way the film looks here, especially compared to the 2013 Blu-ray, but I’m happy with it. To each his own, I guess.

The film occupies 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray platters by itself, with a second Blu-ray disc containing the following bonus features, the first two of which are new:

• A nearly half-hour discussion between screenwriter, director, and producer James Gray and critic Sean Fennessey in which they dig into their mutual admiration of Sorcerer.

• Nearly forty minutes of audio clips of interviews conducted with screenwriter Walon Green and editor Bud Smith by author Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, who was researching the book William Friedkin in 2003.

• Friedkin Uncut (107 minutes): This is a 2018 documentary that covers the director’s life and career, with comments from Friedkin himself as well as Green, directors Dario Argento, Francis Ford Coppola, and Quentin Tarantino, actr Ellen Burstyn, and others.

• William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn (77 minutes): Hailing from 2015, this is a conversation between Friedkin and the screenwriter, director, and producer who has a solid body of work in his own right. They mostly talk about Sorcerer, so between this and the documentary, it’s hard to lament the absence of a commentary track.

Rounding out the disc are seven minutes of silent behind-the-scenes footage and the original theatrical trailer. A fold-out booklet features an essay by critic Justin Chang.

– Brad Cook (@BradCWriter)

Citerion Collection; Sorcerer; William Friedkin