Review of The Wages of Fear (1953) by Citizen P — 06 Jan 2010

The Wages of Fear (1953) Henri Georges Clouzot (the French "Hitchock" who directed this thriller as well as wrote the script) gives us this tense and suspenseful drama about four men so desperate for freedom that they willingly risk their lives to deliver a dangerous cargo.

In a small, isolated, hot and dusty Central American village, there's only one thing to do: dream of getting out. An opportunity for escape presents itself -- but only to those with nerves of steel.

An American oil company has offered to pay big bucks to get two trucks filled with nitroglycerin over to a well fire. The catch: the unpaved terrain contains enough bumps and crags to make the unstable material explode.

.. and instantly kill the driver. Nonetheless, the company has many applicants hungry for work, and a quartet of the coolest are chosen. But even these stalwart men will discover that fear of their deadly payload can ignite even the most frozen emotion.

The film has a strong cool theme of fear and its manifestations. This is the restored full length version. Now this film works better as a thriller than as a political comment. Originally much was said about the films anti American sentiments.

This is a strong exciting involving film. From my point of view (of watching a lot of foreign films) I wish he had hired some actors from Spain or Mexico that spoke real Spanish rather than use Americans and their Gringo Spanish learned lines.

Yves Montand, is in this film in his first dramatic role. Charles Vanel gives an excellent portrait of an aging man feeling fear and resignation. William Friedkin remade "The Wages of Fear" as "Sorcerer" in 1977 and it was a technically better film as he has much more resources.

This film has great black and white cinematography and shows us the French master in its arranging of scenes and editing. It would not be fair to mention how this picture ends, other than to say that the conclusion is deliberate and ironical by today's standards.

Wages Of Fear is not a happy film, nor is it a testament to optimism or the human spirit â it's very dark, very grim, and very intense â but it is an exceptionally well made picture that stands the test of time extremely well and plays well even now, over fifty years since it was made.

4 stars.