The Wages of Fear Movie Review (1. When the great French thriller . Four desperate men, broke and stranded in a backwater of Latin America, sign up on a suicidal mission to drive two truckloads of nitroglycerin 3. They could be blown to pieces at any instant, and in the film's most famous scene Clouzot requires them to turn their trucks around on a rickety, half- finished timber platform high above a mountain gorge. Their journey also requires them to use some of the nitroglycerin to blow up a massive boulder in the road, and at the end, after a pipeline ruptures, a truck has to pass through a pool of oil that seems to tar them with the ignominy of their task. For these are not heroes, Clouzot seems to argue, but men who have valued themselves at the $2,0. The company, which significantly has the same initials as Standard Oil, is an American firm that exploits workers in the unnamed nation where the film is set. The screenplay is specific about the motives of the American boss who hires the truck drivers: . The opening sequence, set in the dismal village where unemployed men fight for jobs, is similar to the opening of John Huston's . But while Huston used his opening to establish his characters and work in some wry humor, Clouzot creates mostly aimless ennui. Although eager to establish his anti- American subtext, he reveals himself as a reactionary in sexual politics with the inexplicable character of Linda (Vera Clouzot), who does menial jobs in the saloon. She is in love with one of the local layabouts (Yves Montand, in his first dramatic role), who slaps her around and tells her to get lost, and she spends most of her time sprawled on the ground, although always impeccably made up. There is no apparent purpose for this character, apart from the way she functions to set up such lines as, . The cinematographer, Armand Thirard, pins each team of men into its claustrophobic truck cab, where every jolt and bump in the road causes them to wince, waiting for a death that, if it comes, will happen so suddenly they will never know it. Clouzot does an especially effective job of setting up the best sequence, where first one and then the other truck has to back up on the unstable wooden platform in order to get around a hairpin bend in the trail. The first truck is used to establish the situation, so we know exactly what Montand is up against when he arrives at the scene: Rotten timbers break, the truck begins to slide sideways, a steel support cable gets caught on the side of the truck, and we are watching great technical work as it creates great fiction. When William Friedkin remade . Friedkin had greater technical resources, and his sequence looks more impressive, but Clouzot's editing selects each moment so correctly that you can see where Friedkin, and a lot of other directors, got their inspiration. One thing that establishes . Modern Hollywood thrillers cannot end in tragedy for its heroes, because the studios won't allow it. The last scene, where a homebound truck is intercut with a celebration while a Strauss waltz plays on the radio, is a reminder of how much Hollywood has traded away by insisting on the childishness of the obligatory happy ending. NOTE: This new, restored print of . See it on the big screen if you possibly can. I live with financial fear every damn day. He's been my next door neighbor for five or six years — a friendly guy with a neatly trimmed lawn, a shiny SUV and a. Together with Diabolique, The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur) earned Henri-Georges Clouzot the reputation as a 'French Hitchcock.' In truth, Clouzot's ability. The Wages of Fear Blu-ray delivers great video and superb audio in this exceptional Blu-ray release In a squalid South American oil town, four desperate men sign on. Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. With Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Folco Lulli. In a decrepit South American village, men are hired to transport an. A group of men attempt to transport a highly explosive shipment through the jungle.The Wages of Fear (1953) explosion - Duration: 2:51. 2:51 Three Reasons: Sorcerer - Duration: 3:15. Robert Nishimura 10,870 views. The Wages of Fear (1953) Subtitles. Find The Wages of Fear subtitles by selecting the correct language for your Movie release. In a decrepit South American village, men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe. Read the Empire review of The Wages of Fear. Find out everything you need to know about the film from the world's biggest movie destination. Is THE WAGES OF FEAR family friendly? Find out only at Movieguide. The Family and Christian Guide to Movie Reviews and Entertainment News.
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