Peter’s Edgar Froese obituary reminded me of not just the band Tangerine Dream, but the film Sorcerer, by William Friedkin.
At the time Tangerine Dream was new, I had already owned Autobahn (by Kraftwerk) and the samples I heard of Tangerine Dream sort of sounded the same to me, so I was not that interested.
And, then I went to see Friedkin’s wonderful film from 1977 Sorcerer, a remake of Henri-George Cluzot’s 1953 movie The Wages of Fear, which featured a very young Yves Montand (who also is in the Friedkin remake).
Tangerine Dream was responsible for the soundtrack to Sorcerer, and basically composed the whole score just based upon notes supplied by Friedkin, as opposed to even seeing daily rushes of the movie. Which is amazing when you hear the haunting and dreamy score the band delivered.
But, the film is also so good, and unfortunately, because the movie followed Friedkin’s treatment of The Exorist, Sorcerer was dismissed as another super natural film by many.
Which was hardly the case. Sorcerer is the name of one of the trucks the principles of the film use to deliver volatile nitro glycerin to an oil fire, with hopes of blowing over the top soil, and thus suffocating the flames.
The results are fantastic all around: visually, musically, emotionally.
Sorcerer also featured the late Roy Scheider, and this treatment of Betrayal features clips from the film.
I know Wages of Fear well. Saw it in a theater actually, when it was revived in the 80s, and will have to check out Friedkin’s version.
I have seen them both. Both are excellent. Just differ in era of shoot/interpretation/available technology. I kind of like the Friedkin ending a little better. More ominous.