Gunshots and (Un)Answered Questions: Friedkin, Blu-ray and Endings
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famousmortimer-2 — 11 years ago(April 28, 2014 12:43 AM)
Thank you for posting this. I agree with you that Friedkin goofed by adding the gunshot. It takes away from the piece in a gnawing way. It reminds me of how he goofed with the original blu ray video transfer for THE FRENCH CONNECTION, dialing the color saturation way up without Roizman there to provide some balance. I wonder what his reasoning was and why he hasn't mentioned it at all in any of his press for the re-release and restoration? He is always very candid about everything it seems.
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Strangerhand — 11 years ago(March 16, 2015 01:24 AM)
Oh lord, dear god! I almost spit my drink onto my monitor-screen laughing my ass off when I read that, wahahahaha!
Hmm, what's not funny is making those stupid, unnecessary changes at all
in the stock film
. If those changes are so great, put 'em into some alternate version, or like some Deleted Scenes-like section of the disc, or whatever, who cares!
The point is stop beeping changing the movies! It's unnecessary, stupid, and makes no sense at all. And I'm beginning to suspect that they're doing it to beep with and piss-off customers. -
famousmortimer-2 — 11 years ago(May 01, 2014 09:42 AM)
Ugh, watching it again with this little cap gun pop really cheapens the end. Seeing the thugs exit the cab and enter the bar with the score rising in the background was sufficient, dare I say brilliant. Adding a dinky stock gunshot into the mix for "clarity's sake" is so against Friedkin's ethos.
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Balthazar Bee — 11 years ago(May 02, 2014 11:28 AM)
Update, courtesy of The Dissolve:
The Dissolve: How did you conceive the journey of Roy Scheiders character?
Friedkin: Thats open-ended. The film begins in mystery and ends in mystery. Theres a savage journey in between. I dont know how Scheiders character ends up, because I didnt load the deck. Hes in that bar where hes a hero to the people in the bar. There are armed men in the bar, theres a couple of police officers from the town, theres the guys from the oil company, and theres everybody else whos around the bar inside and outside, who might be able to foil the two guys who come after him or not. Its an ambiguous ending in that sense. [Spoilers ahead.]
The Dissolve: You hear the one shot at the end
Friedkin: Do you know what that shot is? Its actually a backfire of a vehicle that goes by. But of course, people think its a gunshot.
The Dissolve: Its awfully muffled; you cant tell if its part of the soundtrack or the score. But it seems to represent that.
Friedkin: Theres the hint of a gunshot. I actually used a backfire of a diesel engine.
The Dissolve: So you leave it up to us.
Friedkin: It is totally up to the audience. I wouldnt even hazard a guess as to whether he gets out of there. There is a small sense of hope, because he is given the letter to the French guys wife by the oil-company executive, and you kind of get the feeling he might go to see her, and shes a very bright and attractive woman, and who knows! He hears nostalgic music from the jukebox which overtakes him, as music often does, and hes kind of lulled into what could be a false sense of security. There is some hope offered for the possibility of his meeting Victors wife. [End spoilers.]
http://thedissolve.com/features/interview/543-william-friedkin-on-sorc erer-his-career-and-fate/
I think Friedkin's being a bit disingenuous here. If it'd been my interview, I would've pointed out that the sound in question has been
added
, which isn't incidental. -
Doom — 11 years ago(May 08, 2014 07:35 AM)
Yeah, I'd agree with you.
Any chance we're only able to hear this sound now because of the quality of Blu-ray transfer?
I haven't watched my copy yet, so just throwing the question out there.
Wait a minute who am I here? -
indisposedinmymind — 11 years ago(May 09, 2014 05:43 AM)
It doesn't sound like a gunshot to me, but as for it always being there, I really can't say, as the sound on the old DVD was so poor.
Did anyone else notice that they cut the sound altogether for a split second, when the Amidou character fell between the slats on the bridge and into the water? It didn't happen on the DVD, but I thought it was really effective to be honest.
IS THIS SOMETHING YOU CAN SHARE WITH THE REST OF US, AMAZING LARRY?!?! -
Edward_de_Vere — 11 years ago(May 09, 2014 09:33 AM)
If a closing scene with a gunshot being heard was filmed, I'm glad that it never made the final cut. Having us speculate about what happened next is more interesting than beating audiences over the head with it.
It's obviously strongly implied that Jackie was a goner, but I still like being left with the possibility that he survives, or at least imagining the scenarios under which he's killed (i.e. assassinated on the spot in the seedy bar vs. quietly being escorted out of it at gunpoint and shot in the jungle). -
Doom — 11 years ago(May 16, 2014 06:04 PM)
Hey there. I can finally chime in on this.
Just finished the Blu-ray (better transfer, no doubt - good movie) THEN watched that end scene again off the DVD version.
Um, whatever that sound was, it's
not
there on the DVD copy. Not even close.
So yeah take that how you will.
Wait a minute who am I here? -
lorenzb-2 — 11 years ago(May 31, 2014 07:51 AM)
It's always been obvious Jackie dies in the end. That's what "Sorcerer" means. The cruel wizard of fate. First he survives the car crash (one out of four) then he survives the nitro mission (again, one out of four) only to get murdered by two goons. Pure irony.
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fatluc-1 — 11 years ago(July 10, 2014 11:33 PM)
After reading this thread Here are my thoughts.
Really ?? The sound is whatever you want it to be ! A cheap gunshot it is definitely not. A truck backfiring perhaps Does it signify something special ? Does it actually change the way you feel at the end of the film ? Please people
The film is incredible !! And if anything the remastered version is more incredible !!
Obviously Mr. Friedkin wanted to sprinkle a little something for the audience seconds before we cut to black. That is his way of telling us that we actually will never truly know what happened. And good for him. The film speaks for itself !
Good nite now -
fatluc-1 — 11 years ago(July 10, 2014 11:40 PM)
After reading this thread Here are my thoughts.
Really ?? The sound is whatever you want it to be ! A cheap gunshot it is definitely not. A truck backfiring perhaps Does it signify something special ? Does it actually change the way you feel at the end of the film ? Please people
The film is incredible !! And if anything the remastered version is more incredible !!
Obviously Mr. Friedkin wanted to sprinkle a little something for the audience seconds before we cut to black. That is his way of telling us that we actually will never truly know what happened. And good for him. The film speaks for itself !
Good nite now -
Nakrophile — 11 years ago(July 19, 2014 12:22 PM)
I've only seen the new blu-ray edition (for whatever reason, I never got around to getting hold of the DVD).
Firstly, it is an excellent film. Adding the extra sound effect may not have been the wisest decision if it was indeed not present in he original cut (or the DVD at any rate), but to be honest I barely noticed the sound. Yes, it could have been a gunshot, or a truck backfiring, or anything else you'd like to imagine (yes, I agree with Friedkin's audience statement). Clearly, though, Schneider was a dead man walking and had been for a while. If his dancing with the woman tells us anything, it's that he wanted one last real contact with a woman before his inevitable death (remember back to the billboard of the woman and with coke bottle). though he probably didn't think it would come so son, but then again
I have no problem with it and I don't think I would have had I seen the film prior to this new version.
What does bother me a little though, is the complete lack of any extras. Even the booklet, while nice, is nothing new, as I have read his book. Maybe they'll be a commentary on the restored DVD when that is released, which would actually be a nice counter to all of the blu-rays out there with better extras than their recent DVDs. Nice pictures, though.
Time to blow -
armagecko — 11 years ago(August 06, 2014 11:43 PM)
I agree. Who buys a bluray without a commentary track? Even more, who buys a $20 bluray without commentary when you can watch the same film for $3 on Vudu? The director's favorite film but he can't be bothered to comment on it? What a mistake.
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Balthazar Bee — 11 years ago(September 01, 2014 08:11 AM)
Who buys a bluray without a commentary track?
Me. I rarely find myself bothering with commentary tracks these days; some of them are quite good, but many of them are monotonous, glad-handing exercises in stating the obvious (or are just silent much of the time).
In the case of Friedkin, who should have plenty of scalding anecdotes about production, he seems to always descend into narrating what's occurring on screen. He even does this quite a bit in his track for Vertigo, oddly enough.
A Sorcerer commentary of that kind, I can do without.
"Here we have the second truck moving across the unstable bridge. Scanlon is driving while the character of the hit man is guiding him. Note the trees being swept along by the river," etc.