Sorcerer - Filmklubben

When an oil well in the jungles of South America catches fire, four criminals are hired to drive two trucks loaded with highly unstable dynamite to blow up the blaze. Their desperate attempt to get home is put to the test as they make their way through dangerous terrain, extreme weather, each other’s madness and, not least, plenty of blood, sweat and tears.

After back-to-back box-office successes with Brennpunkt New York and Eksorsisten, William Friedkin chose to adapt Georges Arnaud’s book Fryktens lønn. The book had previously been made into a film by Henri-Georges Clouzot in 1953, and people have often debated whether this is a remake of the earlier film—a claim Friedkin disagreed with.

Sorcerer is known for its exceptionally difficult production, which is also one of the reasons we wanted to include it in this programme. It began with a budget of approximately 23 million kroner, but ended up costing around 220 million. Like the characters in the film, the production suffered a series of setbacks. Among other things, the director had to replace the cinematographer after filming had already begun.

The film was a complete box-office disaster, partly because it was released very shortly after the original Star Wars premiered, and it is considered one of the last films of the “New Hollywood” movement. Friedkin never quite had the opportunity to make a film of such scale again, or with the same freedom. In later years, Sorcerer has acquired a real cult following. Today it is often considered one of the best films of the 1970s, as well as Friedkin’s magnum opus.