Review of The Wages of Fear (1953) by Al M — 10 Aug 2010

Why aren't more of Clouzot's films available on Region-1 DVD? The handful that Criterion has released are all masterful. And The Wages of Fear perhaps tops all the others, for Clouzot creates a pulse-pounding, nail-biting action/adventure thriller that simultaneously acts as a critique of capitalism, United States expansionism, and, more particularly, the oil industry.

Upon its release, the film was labeled by some to be "anti-American," a label that is almost always reactionary. Wages of Fear does offer a bleak image of American interferences in other nations, but its viewpoint is justified.

Beyond the politics of the film, however, there is the extreme brilliance of its action sequences. Clouzot directs tension on a level with Hitchcock as we watch trucks creak across wooden bridges, poor laborers attempt to use nitroglycerin to blown up rocks, etc.

Ultimately, Clouzot's film boils down to the most basic of premises: four men drive two trucks filled with nitro 300 miles across South America. But what he does with this premise is truly staggering.

He stretches such a basic story out for two and a half hours, and there is not a minute of the film that is not beautiful and that does not fly by in the blink of an eye. With fully developed characters, blistering tension, breathtaking cinematography, and a political message, The Wages of Fear should act as a paragon for other action films to follow.