Sorcerer

How this film uses it

The film opens with four short stories in Veracruz, Jerusalem, Paris and New Jersey. Each shows a man committing a crime or losing everything. By the time they reach the village, you already know why each one can never go home.

Where to see it

The four opening vignettes. A killing in Veracruz, a bombing in Jerusalem, a fraud scandal in Paris and a failed church robbery in New Jersey each send a man into hiding.

How this film uses it

The rope bridge scene was built for real, with hidden hydraulics controlling the bridge and trucks. Rain was made with pumped river water through sprinklers. The danger on screen has real weight because the trucks are actually there.

Where to see it

The rope bridge crossing. Two trucks edge across a rotting bridge in a storm, and one nearly goes into the river.

How this film uses it

Tangerine Dream wrote the score from the script, before seeing footage, and Friedkin edited scenes to the music. The cold, pulsing synths turn a jungle trek into something uneasy and otherworldly.

Where to see it

The truck convoy. Synth music builds under the trucks as they crawl along the jungle road with nitroglycerin on board.

How this film uses it

Every man in the film lost his life to bad luck or a bad choice, and the jungle does not care. Even the ending gives no reward. A bar scene is cut short by a single gunshot, and the film goes black.

Where to see it

The final bar scene. Jackie is offered a new job and asks a woman to dance, and then armed men walk in and a shot is heard before the film cuts to black.