Part of Restoration Roundup
In a squalid South American oil town, four desperate men sign on for a suicide mission to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin over a treacherous mountain route. As they ferry their explosive cargo to a faraway oil fire, each bump and jolt tests their courage, their friendship and their nerves. The result is one of the greatest thrillers ever committed to celluloid, a white-knuckle ride from France’s legendary master of suspense, Henri-Georges Clouzot.
“This film… is a textbook case of how to handle suspense. It has also been called the cruelest movie ever made and it certainly earns that title by the film's end. Clouzot, who also made the classic horror film LES DIABOLIQUES, is just a tad heartless in dealing with the audience. Nevertheless, he is a master of manipulation. Go see how it can be done.” —Kathleen Maher, Austin Chronicle “You sit there waiting for the theatre to explode.” —Bosley Crowther, New York Times (Feb 17, 1955) “THE WAGES OF FEAR has no superior in the field of action-suspense…. The inspired calculation of action and agonised human reaction is irresistible and inescapable. It is a film that leaves the audience shattered and exhausted.” —David Thomson, The Guardian “A significant influence on Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH, this grueling pile driver of a movie will keep you on the edge of your seat.” —Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader “The taut 1953 action film THE WAGES OF FEAR established [Clouzot’s] place in world cinema, securing critical and economic clout sufficient for Clouzot to produce his Hitchcock-rivaling masterwork DIABOLIQUE. Like Hitch, Clouzot has often been judged a cold, technical director, and it’s certainly true that THE WAGES OF FEAR contains tension-fraught stretches of ‘pure cinema’ that probably gave even the Master cold sweats, but darkly humorous political satire directed at incipient global capitalism and a ballsy existentialism also suffuse Clouzot’s film.” —Budd Wilkins, Slant Magazine
