Deliverance

What did happen on the Cahulawassee River?

DELIVERANCE (18)

D: John Boorman

Warner Bros. (John Boorman)

USA 🇺🇸 1972

109 mins

Adventure

W: James Dickey [based on his novel]

DP: Vilmos Zsigmond

Ed: Tom Priestley

Mus: Eric Weissberg

Jon Voight (Ed), Burt Reynolds (Lewis), Ned Beatty (Bobby), Ronny Cox (Drew)

Four friends from the big city go on a canoeing trip in a backwoods Southern community get a more perilous experience than the white water rapids and the great outdoors.

The movie achieves a classic status for it's two memorable scenes but is so much greater than 'duelling banjo's' and the disturbing 'squeal piggy' scenes. All four main cast members deliver excellent performances, with Burt Reynolds arguably the standout with his greatest ever screen performance.

Director John Boorman never really bettered this film (although Hope & Glory was a great effort) and the film can only truly be described as a 'must watch'.

9/10