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The Wages of Fear - Criterion Collection
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Price: $22.57
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 0037429203224
Format: Black & White
Label: Criterion
Manufacturer: Criterion
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2005-10-25
Running Time: 131
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: 1955-02-16
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Customer reviews of The Wages of Fear - Criterion Collection
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Well-crafted classic
Comment: It's the rare thriller that will allow itself time to build effectively to leave a longer lasting impression. Henri-Georges Clouzot's "The Wages of Fear" is that kind of a thriller--one much more deeply invested in bringing out the nuances of the character than the sensationalistic impulses to blow stuff up, but nonetheless creating gripping, stylistically gorgeous drama.
The story is about four men who are hired to drive two truck-fulls of nitroglycerin over a rocky mountain pass for use in extinguishing a oil rig fire. The infamously unstable nitroglycerin results in one of the slowest albeit extremely tension-filled races against time ever filmed in cinema (forget "Vertical Limit", this is the real deal). Every bump, every falling rock, every obstacle potentially becomes a life-threatening situation. Of course Clouzot gleefully sets everything he can within the limits of reality in their path.
Of course, this main story begins after a long opening featuring the characters in a small, desolate South American town. The objective of these opening scenes are two-fold: to develop the characters so that their emotional reactions to the ride are more fully significant, and to provide a strong political commentary on the actions of oil companies (especially Standard Oil) in the region. A biting commentary it is, and no more distracting to the cause of the storytelling because of the way the characters are eventually treated. Jo's story is, of course, the most interesting of all, as he pretends to stand as the more comfortable, capable man of the world only to become the most cowardly. The beginning ultimately also justifies the ending.
Of course, the main character we focus on isn't actually all that likable, and what's interesting is that's the point. Mario is abusive, self-centered, and rather narcissistic (though possibly not as much as the German fellow). His own fate is rather more fitting to the ending than a lot of people complain; I've heard some say that the ending is unnecessarily dark; I had to think awhile about it, but considering the rest of the movie I have to disagree.
This is a movie that many film-buffs and up-and-coming filmmakers should make an extra effort to see. It's the type of movie that takes what is an almost shockingly simple premise and turns it into an intricate, involved character study, social drama, political commentary, and genre thriller film, all at once. It also shares aspects with Clouzot's famed noir "Le Corbeau". That would be another movie to check out.
--PolarisDiB
Customer Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Comment: Think that space invaders, aliens, dinosaurs, cyborgs, or monsters of one sort or another are needed to make a film a thriller? If so, I recommend you watch Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1953 black and white masterpiece The Wages Of Fear (La Salaire De La Peur), about the evils of runaway greed and capitalism, all in the name of oil. It'll change your mind. Over half a century later, and in light of the current American war folly for oil in the Middle East, the film is remarkably resonant and cogent- even down to the loudest criticism of American profiteering and imperialism coming from....the French. However, when they're right they're right. If one wants to know why `Ugly Americans' are loathed in the Middle East it's not because of the rhetorical claptrap about a `clash of cultures', nor Evil vs. Freedom, but because of decades of exploitation where a select group of mainly American corporations, unanswerable to anyone, get rich off of exploiting the masses where they swoop in. It happened in the Middle East, as well as in Latin America- perhaps the only place in the world where anti-Americanism (really anti-American corporate imperialism) rivals or surpasses that in the Middle East. As a minor character in the film rails, `Wherever there's oil, there's always Americans.' But, if all this film were was an anti-American screed it would still not grip viewers today. What it is, is a great portrait of the extremes that human beings- ok, men, will go to just to have things, and to what lengths their machismo will drive them.
The film's screenplay was adapted by Clouzot and Jérôme Géronimi (Clouzot's brother Jean's pseudonym) from a novel by Georges Arnaud, and, despite its nail-biting nature, as well as Clouzot's reputation as `the French Hitchcock'- aka `The Master Of Suspense', for such great thrillers as Diabolique (Les Diaboliques), this film is far beyond merely the technically great cinema that was Hitchcock's stock in trade. That's because it is not merely well made, but provokes deep questions about the fundamental nature of existence, human nature, and fraternity. It's far closer to something like John Huston's The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (although it's a greater film), and its influence can be seen in many later films, such as Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch- in an opening shot of a naked child torturing cockroaches on a string, and Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West, when we experience a good few silent minutes of opening shots on the squalid Latin American town, Las Piedras, the film is set in, just to get ambience. Reputedly, the film was shot entirely over the course of a year, in southern France, in Camargue, with a few imported palm trees and cacti to give it a South American look, but one could not tell it from what is onscreen.
Clouzot is at his very best when drawing out the suspense, which, by definition, is the time between big events, the possibility of danger or horror, not the thing itself, which is usually anticlimactic. What the viewer imagines will always be more frightening than the reality, which is why the best suspense or horror films are usually those that are the least action-packed, show little of the monster, or are not dependent upon mere special effects. Yet, even when we know what will occur, the scenes are filmed so well as to draw the viewer in. This is particularly effective and true when Mario is shown slowly pulling the truck up off the bridge, and a metal hook from its side catches the bridge cable, and as the truck gets fully on the road, the bridge breaks below him. This sort of scene has been done many times before. Will it or will it not break? In a film as great as this, where all four main characters end up dead, to expect the cable to last is, at best, a crapshoot, or wishful thinking.
It is the writing that sets the tenor of The Wages Of Fear, and what makes the suspense/thriller aspect of the film so great. Yet, what raises the film into the high art category is its blunt, simple, but never ham-handed, portrayal of the evils of corporate greed, and the sacrifice of human life so a select few can get rich, as well as the nihilistic despair that drives those who willingly play into their exploiters' hands. As rough as Clouzot is on the exploiters, he's even harsher on the meekly hypocritical exploited. Let Politically Correct Hollywood try that in one of their didactic screeds, and maybe there will be hope for American film. Till then, The Wages Of Fear should always find gainful employment in a cineaste's library.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Shockingly tense, one of the greatest suspense movies ever made...
Comment: This is one of the greatest French films ever made, and arguably the most nail biting suspense filled film ever made. Even today the tension this film creates is masterful, and its story about exploited oil workers and the cruelty of man hasn't dated one bit. I would hate to see this film remade today, as they would litter it with CGI effects and destroy the integrity of Clouzot's film.
The film is masterful in its setup. The first 30 minutes or so are just about the four main characters. They are all living lives of desperation, trying like hell to get out of a s****y, South American town (even though the locale is never actually named). They don't work, they're bastards (one character is seen throwing rocks at a chained dog), and they're cruel to women and each other. An explosion at a nearby oil refinery occurs, and in order to put the fire out, they have to drive 2 trucks of nitro glicerine across incredibly treacherous roads. The money they will get from the job will rescue them from the small section of hell where they live.
The tension of the journey is so nervewracking and the tension between the men so real that you just want to scream sometimes at the screen. This film was heavily cut when it premiered in the US. The scenes that were cut were the ones showing the machinations of the oil company, which was an American company. Honestly, the scenes are not anti-American at all. Many European and Asian countries also own oil firms, and you can easily replace Shell Oil with Yukos, for example. Greed knows no nationality. But now Criterion has the complete version, and the film hasn't dated at all. The film was remade by William Friedkin as Sorcerer. Friedkin's film isn't as good as Wages of Fear, but as far as remakes go, it's a damn good film with some amazing scenes of its own. See the original first, and if you survive the tension, watch Friedkin's remake.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Correction of two points.
Comment: The country is Honduras. The plane arrives from the capital, Tegucigalpa.
The ticket is a Paris Metro (subway) ticket for Place Pigalle station.
A classic suspense masterpiece. Yves Montand's second film.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Another masterpiece by Clouzot
Comment: Now this one will get your blood flowing! Director Henri-Georges Clouzot plugs this piercing thriller against your skin and screams CLEAR!!!!!! He literally sends jolt after jolt into your brain, this movie is quite a shock to the system.
Four men desperate for money get the high-paying job they've been hoping for. There's only one problem--this job is pretty much suicide. They're asked to transport some explosives across some extremely rugged terrain in Central America.
Their journey is completely action-packed. Sorry, that sentence doesn't do it justice. The mission has moments that hit harder than a right hook from a young Mike Tyson. Seriously, several scenes move with the intensity of Russian Roulette. This movie is considered by many critics to be the most nerve-wracking and exciting films ever made.
The only other work I've seen by Clouzot is Diabolique, which is a great great film. This one is even better in my opinion. It has a shocking, spectacular ending that ranks among the greatest I've seen, up there with Wicker Man and The Vanishing. That's no joke!
I've gotta watch The Raven next, this guy can make some great films.
One final note, this Criterion Edition has no special features. I wish I would have coughed up a few extra bucks and got the updated one, but either way, get your hands on this gem as soon as you can...
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Editorial Reviews:
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In the squalid, impoverished South American town of Las Piedras, desperate men and women from all over the world scrape out a living and dream of escape, under the watchful eye of the ruling Southern Oil Company.
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