SORCERER | FOMO Secret Cinema Tbilisi

SORCERER

William Friedkin, 1977, USA, 2h01m, presented in the original audio with English subtitles

SORCERER belongs alongside Werner Herzog’s FITZCARRALDO and Francis Ford Coppola’s APOCALYPSE NOW in the annals of ambitious films who descended into production hell. Remote jungle locations. Escalating costs. Illness. You get the drift. It's a miracle this thing ever got made, let alone completed.

Friedkin had already made THE FRENCH CONNECTION and THE EXORCIST. He had the big box-office reputation and the studio backing to attempt something enormous. What followed became the most difficult production of his career. Crew members suffered from malaria and food poisoning. A river dried up beneath the suspension bridge built for the film’s most demanding sequence. They dismantled the bridge and rebuilt it in Mexico.

Coppola and Herzog’s films became celebrated examples of what could emerge from that kind of ordeal. SORCERER spent years being discussed as an expensive failure. Released shortly after STAR WARS, it struggled to find an audience. Admittedly, STAR WARS is a hard act to follow, but what's harder to understand is the critical beating it took. How anyone watched it and failed to recognise what Friedkin had achieved makes zero sense to me.

The plot is simple enough, and that's partly what makes it so good. Four fugitives stranded in a remote Latin American town accept a job transporting dangerously unstable explosives. The money offers a chance to escape. Getting it means driving two battered trucks through the jungle. The slightest jolt and their whole cargo could go KABOOM along with them in it.

Roy Scheider leads a cast of men who look exhausted before the journey even starts. Friedkin makes every slipping tyre and shifting crate matter. By the time the trucks reach that suspension bridge, you understand exactly why the production went to such lengths. Tangerine Dream’s electronic score makes the ordeal even more unnerving.

This is an all-time banger, and its eventual recognition as a classic was overdue. Friedkin himself regarded SORCERER as his favourite of all the films he made. Coming from the director of THE EXORCIST, that should tell you something.

SORCERER is for fans of CULT CLASSICS · ROAD MOVIES · ART-HOUSE ESSENTIALS · WILLIAM FRIEDKIN

10% OFF FOOD, PLUS GROUP DEALS

Dinner before a film at FOMO is now sorted! We’ve arranged special offers with our two favourite places to eat in Bazari Orbeliani, both right next door to FOMO:

• 10% off at La Focacceria

• 20% off at Potato Factory

• Potato Factory 2+1: buy two and get one free

• Potato Factory 3+2: buy three and get two free

Simply show your Fienta ticket when ordering. You’re welcome to eat in the Sherekilebi Bar at FOMO Secret Cinema or upstairs at FOMO Open-Air Cinema. Tell them where you’ll be sitting and they’ll bring your food to you.

FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: SHEREKILEBI Bar in FOMO Secret Cinema opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 01:30, serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments including coffee and tea, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol or drinks from outside are allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!

LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.

HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to Level 1. Signage on the door. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTMzMTA2Mjk0MDI5MjM1

REFUND & CREDIT POLICY: If FOMO cancels a screening, all ticket holders will receive a full refund. If your plans change and you can no longer attend, we’ll issue you a credit for the value of your ticket, which can be used for any FOMO film screening within the following 30 days.

TICKETS are also available at SHEREKILEBI Bar on arrival unless sold out.