The Wages of Fear (1953). director Henri-Georges Clouzot. in a remote location in South America, a company hires four people to transport highly explosive cargo in trucks without the necessary packaging.
this is he original film, which inspired Friedkin's famous remake. an excellent film with good cinematography. Starring Yves Montand. It was heavily cut (about 24 minutes) in American theaters for anti-Americanism, the leftist communist views of the director and lead actor, and even for a hint of homosexuality (!). As for anti-Americanism, there is indeed a lot of criticism of the activities of oil companies in South America. There are a lot of interesting everyday details in the first 40 minutes (which is how long the entire backstory takes).
As for the stunts, there seemed to be a lot of casually dangerous scenes, for example, people are constantly jumping on and off the running truck, which looks extremely dangerous, such as the scene with the director's wife, who plays the main character's love interest, Vera Clouzot.
The film is an undisputed masterpiece for 1953, and still looks quite intense today. I do have a few questions though. The acting of some of the actors looks strange, overdone (again, the director's wife). Why didn't the oil catch fire after the first truck? I think this is a strange omission. And the last scene seemed a bit forced.
The director really piqued my interest. I've heard his name, but never looked into his filmography. All of his films from the 50s and 60s look interesting.
Sorcerer (1977). director William Friedkin. South America, four worn down by life men agree to transport explosives in trucks through the jungle.
I've seen this film several times, and I must admit that this viewing was the most satisfying one. it is undoubtedly the best film in Friedkin's career. Brutal, gritty realism in every frame. All of the shots are an unclouded reflection of reality, including EVERYTHING that is there, everything is 100% in focus and lives its own life. It's probably difficult to explain, but it leaves a magical feeling where you believe in the sweat on Roy Scheider's cheek as much as you believe in the trucks driving across the suspension bridge.
The explosions are real, and I'm amazed that no one was seriously injured. You can clearly see people being blown away quite violently. In the specific explosion I'm talking about (the scene in Israel), the stuntman was injured, but lightly.
The bridge scene is incredible, and again, everything that happened on screen happened in reality, no computer tricks. There were mechanical tricks (they built the bridge twice, in different countries! at a cost of $1 million each), and camera tricks — as soon as they built the bridge the second time, in Mexico, the river dried up! They had to build a dam, supply additional water from hoses, and shoot at an angle so that it wouldn't be noticeable.
In terms of its realism, this film reminded me of Werner Herzog's style, particularly the films Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo, which came later, but here he and Herzog are very similar in how the reality is captured on film. I wanted to say in documentary style, but it seems to be something more than that.
The film is an unconditional masterpiece, and everything in it is perfect. It begins with four prologues about the main characters, which, incidentally, were cut or shortened in the international (read: European) distribution of the film. They do a very good job of setting the stage for the start of the film in South America (filmed in the Dominican Republic).
The entire plot is based on the idea of fate and the fact that people think they can control it. The final scene, with its poignancy and atmosphere, reminded me of The Long Good Friday (1980); there is a palpable sense of fatality! The Tangerine Dream soundtrack greatly enriches this atmosphere.
There are a crazy number of interesting facts about the film. The most important one is that it completely flopped at the box office for several reasons: a negative review that sparked a wave of negativity, and the release of Star Wars at the same time, which once again marked the dawn of the blockbuster era. The film was in theaters for a couple of weeks, then they stopped advertising it and took it out of theaters.
I have a strong urge to rewatch some of Friedkin's films.
under the cut there are 2 screenshots from the first film and 9 from the second.
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