Review of The Wages of Fear (1953) by W. W — 20 Jul 2011

I wasn't too impressed with Diabolique to say the least, so I was hesitant to watch The Wages of Fear. The Wages of Fears is far better than Diabolique. The setup takes an hour before the plot begins to take place. Mario is stuck living in South Africa with other people who traveled there to find work. When they got there they realized there wasn't any work, so now they just do odd jobs for little money, just enough to survive to eat and drink. Jo comes into town in a suit and bribes a man to let him stay even though his passport isn't certified. Mario is taken by Jo right away because of his looks and the way he carries himself. Jo is a pretty solid guy who seems to be able to get him out of South Africa. Mario believes in Jo so much that he ditches his friend Luigi in order to follow him. He even skips out on getting laid! I felt horrible for Linda. She is "half barbarian." Yes, Mario has the nerve to live in the country and call the people who live there barbarians, even though he is basically living the same way they do. When Linda is introduced she crawls towards Mario on all fours and then rubs her head against his hand. And you can see her breasts. If that's not controversial enough, The Wages of Fear also opens up with a shot of bugs, then panning up to see a black boy playing around them with no pants on. Clouzot seems to really nail the South African citizens. But after a while, I think he starts to show that they are better for following their primal senses than these people are who claim to be civilized. The town is told that a new dangerous job is being offered that will pay $2,000 each. This is plenty for Jo and Mario to leave and go back to France. The job is dangerous: transport nitroglycerin to an oil site that is in flames. One little bump on the trip could make them blow up. Well, with the introduction to the characters and understanding of the consequences, this makes the trip nerve wracking for the audience. They start to reveal themselves for who they actually are. Jo is a huge coward who just wanted to do it for the money. Mario will push through anything to get the job done (even if that means running over his friend). Bimba controls his fear because he was tortured by Nazis in salt mines. And Luigi is smarter than Mario gave him credit for in the beginning. This is a straight up popcorn flick that seems to have had a large impact on Hollywood cinema today. Clouzot really grabs his audience and never lets go.

**SPOILERS**.

At first I wasn't sure about not knowing how Luigi and Bimba died in the explosion, but then I saw it to be a nice touch. It surprised the hell out of me. Jo is making a cigarette when suddenly the tobacco blows away, then we see the explosion. Beautifully done. As Mario says, they probably didn't know how it happened either. The fire at the oil mine was beautifully shot as well. The ending was perfection. Mario sways to the music coming through his stereo, the same song they are listening and dancing to back at his bar. While he is swaying he loses control and drives off a cliff, resulting in his death. The man in the office when they are getting their job backs out saying he won't do it because the fear will mess with them until the day they die. Well, Mario thought he was indestructible after his trip, so it made sense for his carelessness. It's an ironic and tragic ending, but it fit nonetheless. The Wages of Fear is a film that seems to be talked about very little, but deserves a lot of attention.