Rescued from obscurity by fervent critics and fans, as well as the home video revolution, William Friedkin’s Sorcerer has been reissued in a handsome edition from the Criterion Collection. Sporting a 4K restoration, the package is replete with copious extras that shed light not only on the production of the film but on Freidkin as well, his methods and purpose examined through conversations with the filmmaker as well as his peers.
Riding high after the success of The French Connection and The Exorcist, Friedkin was courted by a myriad of studios eager to work with him. Realizing opportunities like this come once in a blue moon, he proposed a remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 classic The Wages of Fear. Wanting to shoot on location in France, Israel, the Dominican Republic and the States, Friedkin was able to convince Paramount and Universal Pictures to split the cost of what was surely going to be an expensive production. Still, they couldn’t have anticipated the various difficulties that arose over the course of making the movie. Weather issues, sickness that ran through the cast and crew and technical problems all contributed to pushing the film over budget, its final cost being $22 million. (Approximately $117 million in today’s dollars.)
With a title suggesting something akin to Friedkin’s The Exorcist, audiences were baffled to find out this was an adventure film about four desperate expatriates in Latin America who accept a suicide mission to earn enough money to return to their respective homes. That the movie featured compelling performances, constant surprises, a set piece for the ages involving a massive fallen tree being blown up with a touch of nitroglycerin and a Rube Goldberg device, had little impact. Word of mouth damned the film, though truth be told, it was dead on arrival, thanks to an ad campaign that failed to convey the story and intent of the movie.
Though he continued to do fine work, Friedkin never attained the heights he scaled in the early 70’s or would be given the sort of budget he had at his disposal here. Still, he would have the last laugh as “Sorcerer” achieved the sort of cult status among film aficionados that ensured it would never be forgotten. That it was resurrected and appreciated in Friedkin’s lifetime must have given the filmmaker at least some small sense of satisfaction. His work can be seen in pristine condition in the 4K restoration, the jungle settings thick and lush, the grime on the actors’ faces and the sweat
coursing down their cheeks taking on a nearly tactile quality. Behind-the-scenes footage provides a glimpse at the horrific conditions cast and crew toiled in, as does a conversation with Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn, in which the filmmaker’s anecdotes give further details regarding their trials.
However, it’s the documentary Friedkin Uncut by Francesco Zippel that proves to be the true gem among the supplements. 83 at the time of its making, the filmmaker is seen in a series of interviews in which he holds nothing back regarding the ups and downs of his career, providing invaluable insight on his hits and misses, his advanced years providing him with a perspective that’s honest and refreshing.
A must for film fans, Criterion’s Sorcerer is a prime example of the benefits and need of physical media.
