The Wages of Fear
Screening: 10 March 2003
France/Italy 1953 (subtitles)
155 minutes
Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot
Leading players - Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Folco Lulli.
Synopsis
Set in a South American French colony during the 1950s, this film tells the story of a group of disillusioned, out of work expatriates who hang around the seedy cafés of a dead-end town dependant on an American oil company. They long to get away but have no money. Then they hear one of the company’s wells is on fire and out of control. In return for $2,000, they agree to drive two trucks loaded with nitro-glycerine to the site in order to blow it up. Appalling roads, a lethal cargo and the urgency of their mission combine to make this one of the most gripping suspense movies ever made.* * * * * *
Wonderfully shot in black and white, this film leaves the audience exhausted by the tension but, although it is an exciting, violent and remarkably sustained story, it also represents an uncompromisingly black picture of human nature. Clouzot spends a lot of time setting the scene and establishing the protagonists’ characters. He creates a harsh world peopled by bullies, braggarts, drifters and no-hopers in which one might expect to find a certain trust and loyalty amongst equals.But as the stakes rise, we see that ultimately it is every man for himself.
Although one may not agree with the director’s bitter vision of mankind posturing in the face of nature, it is impossible not be in awe of the vitality with which he has brought his ideas to the screen.
Winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival 1953.
