Review of The Wages of Fear (1953) by Aline O — 10 Oct 2010

Likely, this is the most intense idea for a film ever conceived- and luckily for us, Clouzot's execution delivers on all of the premise's promises. A couple of desperate lowlifes in Central America are hired by an American oil company to haul two trucks loaded with nitroglycerin across three-hundred miles of bumpy terrain.

Best case scenario, they walk away with two grand apiece; worst case scenario, they blow up fast enough to never know the difference. This is the brilliantly tense storyline that everyone remembers and that has made this film legendary, but what makes the film worthwhile and what has to be seen to be believed is the whole hour of meticulous character development preceding this thrill ride.

None of the characters that take this challenge on are particularly likable- they can't be. They are the kind of dirty people who may have once had a shred of humanity in them, but being trapped in the location they are with the circumstances that exist make them cold, selfish animals.

Against all odds, Clouzot forces us to see them from another angle- maybe it's pity, maybe it's sympathy- and allows us therefore to care what happens to them. This is one of the most exciting movies in the medium's history.