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The Wages of Fear follows a group of four European men "trapped" in a Latin American country. Desperate to get out, they accept a dangerous but well-paid job to drive two trucks loaded with nitroglycerine to an oil well that's on fire. The danger is that they have to transport the volatile cargo through rocky terrain, narrow mountain roads, and rickety bridges, all while dealing with their own personal issues and ambitions.
If there's a word to describe this film is tension, constant tension. Even during the first act, as Clouzot takes his time to introduce the characters and set the premise, the tension between these men seeps through the screen. But once they hop in those trucks, tension takes a different form. Every bump on the road, every road turn becomes a potential death trap, and Clouzot directs the hell out of it.
The dynamics between the four main characters is interesting and most of the performances are solid, even though most of the men are a$sholes. The script does a great job of reversing certain roles, and conveying how driven these men are to finish the job and earn the promised wage at whatever cost. Vera Clouzot, the director's wife, is the only performance that feels off. But the real star here is, again, Clouzot's tight direction which succeeds in keeping you on the edge at all times.
The above quote is the warning given by a potential driver; one that ends up backing out, but not before dropping his ominous advice. But our guys don't care, because the desire to be free of this place trumps any concern for their own safety. They don't know what fear is, but they'll see.
Grade:
THE WAGES OF FEAR
(1953, Clouzot)
A film from Henri-Georges Clouzot
(1953, Clouzot)
A film from Henri-Georges Clouzot
"When I was a kid, I used to see men go off on this kind of jobs... and not come back. When they did, they were wrecks. Their hair had turned white and their hands were shaking like palsy! You don't know what fear is. But you'll see."
The Wages of Fear follows a group of four European men "trapped" in a Latin American country. Desperate to get out, they accept a dangerous but well-paid job to drive two trucks loaded with nitroglycerine to an oil well that's on fire. The danger is that they have to transport the volatile cargo through rocky terrain, narrow mountain roads, and rickety bridges, all while dealing with their own personal issues and ambitions.
If there's a word to describe this film is tension, constant tension. Even during the first act, as Clouzot takes his time to introduce the characters and set the premise, the tension between these men seeps through the screen. But once they hop in those trucks, tension takes a different form. Every bump on the road, every road turn becomes a potential death trap, and Clouzot directs the hell out of it.
The dynamics between the four main characters is interesting and most of the performances are solid, even though most of the men are a$sholes. The script does a great job of reversing certain roles, and conveying how driven these men are to finish the job and earn the promised wage at whatever cost. Vera Clouzot, the director's wife, is the only performance that feels off. But the real star here is, again, Clouzot's tight direction which succeeds in keeping you on the edge at all times.
The above quote is the warning given by a potential driver; one that ends up backing out, but not before dropping his ominous advice. But our guys don't care, because the desire to be free of this place trumps any concern for their own safety. They don't know what fear is, but they'll see.
Grade: