Never saw the movie but always wondered why. Read the movie description and still don't get it?
shareRead Friedkin's own explanation here:
http://sorcerer1977.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/the-friedkin-connection-s orcerer-related-excerpt/
The name really does not fit the film.
Its that man again!!
SORCERER is printed on the door of one of the trucks. Just saw it in hi-def and I noticed it. It might be shown only a few times and quickly. I guess they named their trucks like fighter pilots named their planes in the war.
http://imgur.com/9KLb0wY
Saw the blu-ray last night. I never noticed the name "Sorcerer" on the truck (but I did notice the other truck called "Lazaro"). I can't think of a worse example of a badly-titled film. It's likely the title "Sorcerer" contributed to the film's poor reception. People were just confused, and ultimately apathetic. I suppose we can be grateful that Friedkin did not title the film "Lazaro" :) but this excellent movie deserves a better name.
Lazaro would have been a better name. Then there would not have been any expectations based on the title. With Sorcerer people were expecting a follow up to Friedkin's Exorcist. He should have kept the original title "Wages of Fear".
I used to wonder about the odd name as well. As others have pointed out, "Sorcerer" is actually the name of one of the two trucks, which is painted on the hood in French. But this only reflects the surface meaning. I used to interpret the deeper meaning as a reference to the miracle (or magic) that the men figuratively concoct in delivering the dynamite on a suicide mission. While this interpretation is a legitimate interpretation, Friedkin said he actually named it "Sorcerer" in reference to the evil wizard of fate, which people supposedly have no control over. The grotesque idol-like face we see at the opening of the film and later along the jungle road presumably represent this sorcerer of fate.
"Animals? They may be gods."
~ Wolfen
Friedkin speaks in depth on the subject of the title Sorcerer and how it affected the success of the film in a video interview here, at the 15:40 mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO3WunuTMFg
Cool interview.
But is it really that hard for him to admit, even to this day, that the title of the film mislead people that went to see it at the time?
And why?... he would ask.
Um, because YOUR PREVIOUS FILM WAS 'THE EXORCIST'.
All I'm sayin'.
------
Wait a minute... who am I here?
I was 12 when Sorcerer came out, and even then I knew it wasn't some supernatural thriller. I remember the TV ads, and it looked like what it was: a tense action drama. I vividly recall the shot of Scheider hitting the guy with a shovel.
What people likely heard was "From the director of The Exorcist", and thought it would be scary. My question is, didn't anyone read reviews or even short descriptions of movies 'now playing' or 'coming soon'?
I'm fine with the title. I wished we had MORE filmmakers 2015 actually concerned with the film, and the vision, and the concept, rather than marketability or commercial concerns. We wouldn't see as much doggerel on the Blu-Ray shelves as we do.
shareHe should have called it Fate Trucks, and then made a straight-to-video sequel called Fate Trucks II: The Reckoning.