The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur) (France - 1952)
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Starring: Yves Montand, Charles
Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Antonio Centa, Darling Légitimus Plot: A small group of desperate European expatriates in a forgotten South American village are hired to transport truckloads of nitroglycerin over treacherous mountain roads to help stop a raging oil fire. |
Review:
A faithful adaptation of the classic novel by Georges Arnaud,
The Wages of Fear is both a nail-biting adventure film and a startling, gritty drama with real emotional impact attached to the thrills.
The first hour may be devoid of action, but the tense character interaction between these despicable beings living in their own little dead-end world is necessary to make the second half that much more gut-wrenching; they are, indeed, dead to the world and it's their desperate situation that makes them grab at a chance to gamble their lives for the sake of a ticket out.
The group is made up of men from very different nationalities and backgrounds, with but one thing in common: they are desperate men with little conscience, anti-heroes from the get-go. It may be hard to find any sympathy for these wretched characters, but they are so vividly portrayed that their inevitable tragic end is still emotionally poignant. The young Montand is absolutely terrific, and here he entrenched his reputation as a born actor playing the well-formed protagonist as a charismatic, egotistical, dangerous individual. The rest of the cast is also superb, especially veteran actor
Vanel who does the most impressive, convincing performance as the outwardly cool, suave ex-gangster who crumbles under pressure.
And pressure is the what the razor-sharp script delivers in spades: It's an intense thriller, both
psychologically in its nihilistic depiction of human nature at its worst, on its portrait of fear and mistrust, and in its suspenseful set-pieces during the nail-biting journey to their destination, one filled with many opportunities for disaster. By the time the drivers roll through the perilous roads towards their destiny, we know that anything can happen and that none of them is in control of their fate. Joining them in their ill-advised pursuit there's a real sense of foreboding, a palpable tension mounting with every twist and turn of the story, as well as unbearable suspense for each of the finely crafted sequences.
Director Clouzot (who earned international fame with the suspense thriller Diabolique) brings a distinct flavor to the production, through both his directorial techniques and his feel for the driving force behind these flawed men, for their hopeless lives and the oppressive heat which pounds on their physical forms. By making them ever-present, audiences get a constant feeling of discomfort and uneasiness throughout the narrative, but one that makes the story all the more visceral for it. Indeed, this is no Hollywood flick, and the fate of every character is suspect, just waiting for their fate to catch up with them around the corner. Clouzot doesn't flinch from depicting the American oil company as amoral and exploitive, openly criticizing the opportunistic business practices of the U.S. to the detriment of the host nation.
The Wages of Fear is itself a classic French thriller, one where all the elements combine in just the right way to make it an unforgettable experience.
Drama / Entertainment: 9/10
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