The Wages Of Fear
(Le Salaire De La Peur)

Henri-Georges Clouzot, France/Italy 1953, 155 minutes

Imagine Speed. Now imagine what it would have been like with believable, realistic characters, no annoying feel-good moments and ten times the tension. This film is The Wages Of Fear.

In a dead-end town populated by an odd assortment of men who yearn to escape, a stranger arrives. An ex-gangster trying to flee from his past, he is cornered by an ambitous young man who wants to impress him. The chance for them and two others to get away presents itself when the American Oil company needs to get two trucks up to a well fire raging out of control up some hill.

The catch is that the trucks are not carrying water but nitroglycerine, liable to explode with any sudden movement, and the road is twisty to say the least. What follows is a tense, exhilarating journey exploring the basic themes of fear, trust and their manifestations.

Yves Montand, in one of his earliest roles, plays the young man with an earnest conviction and Charles Vanel portrays the older, wiser man with an air of resignation and uncertainty, fearing each day that lies ahead. Director Clouzot piles on the tension into an already taut situation leading the viewer to jump at the slightest unusual sound or fleeting movement. With its share of careful contemplation, especially in the carefully built-up initial reel, and breathtakingly shot, this film is the definition of heart-stopping action and its portrayal of the flaws of human life is uncompromising to the very end.

"The cliff-edge tension racks the nerves" - Time Out

Review by Neil Chue Hong
Taken from EUFS Programme 1996-97