I absolutely loved this film. First off, the tension must be acknowledged. This is a true edge-of-your-seat film once it gets to the meat. Bsic plot summary; a group of men are stuck in a dead-end town in South America. They have no jobs, no money, no escape and no hope. The town is chained to the American oil company nearby. An sudden explosion at a derrick requires a powerful explosion to extinguish it, and a huge amount of nitroglycerin is the only solution. The only catch; someone needs to deliver a large amount to the remote rig. The job is near-suicidal, so they offer a large sum of money to those in the town who are brave enough to do it. Ultimately, four men are chosen from the town to deliver the incredibly dangerous cargo to the raging oil fire at prices that will deliver the desperate men from their misery in the dying town. Two teams of two men are tasked with driving gallons of unstable chemicals across impossibly rough and dangerous terrain. The slightest wrong move will end their lives in an instant. At face value, this could carry a film on it's own. The washboard scene alone, only a few films have managed to put me on such edge. The rock demolishing scene is another incredibly intense scene; pouring the nitroglycerin into the hole; the fear and risk is absolutely palpable, a credit to the excellent acting, direction and editing. The switchback scene, also, is a memorable event.But, and maybe more importantly, after the initial impact of the plot, you really get into the characters of the film. To me, the most fascinating character was Jo; we are introduced to him as a incredibly self-assured, in-control alpha male who knows how to handle any situation he encounters. The show-down at the cantina solidifies this image. We see Jo as the superior to Mario; a father figure who we expect to lead his younger compatriot. But as the film progresses, the roles switch as we see him for what he truly his; a fearful, risk-averse, cowardly old man. This character progression is so central to the action of the film. We experience what the average person might go through in a similar scenario, we see our weaker side in him when he flees the collapsing wooden bridge. We feel his defeat at the stronger personality of Mario at the crucial moment We understand his utter, fatalist acceptance of his true nature as a flawed human being. Which, at the end, makes his lat scenes so devastatingly powerful. We identify so strongly with him in the face of such impossible odds that it makes his ultimate fate so devastating; he sacrifices himself for his partner despite his numerous failings and the touching finality between the two masterfully brings the two characters together in the most realistically human of ways.I find the ending a bit melodramatic, a little rushed and frankly a little cliched. I won't spoil the ending but I felt like I knew what was going to happen before he even took the wheel of the truck to head home. This is probably my only gripe with an otherwise spectacular film.I'll admit, I find a lot of films from this era hackneyed and melodramatic.This one absolutely blew me away. An absolute classic. Great storytelling, excellent directing, masterful acting for the most part (Linda, imo, overacted a bit and seemed to be unnecessary to the story beyond a stereotypical love interest), gripping tension and a great study on how humans are in the most dire of situations

Greetings from Lithuania."The Wages of Fear" (1953) is highly involving thriller / drama with very simple story and premise, but because of great movie making from director Henri-Georges Clouzot who also wrote the script, this is a must see. Acting was very good by all involved, especially by the 2 leads and 2 supporting characters although Véra Clouzot overplayed her role a bit in my opinion. But again it is the director who did amazing job in creating tense and very involving movie from not maybe very start but when the "delivery job" begins, it is one very tense ride till the very end which i think was cynical, as it is the world we live in.Overall, "The Wages of Fear" is a great film must see for everyone who loves realistic as possible and tense movies. Everything works here greatly making this a true classic.

In The Wages of Fear, four men in a remote South American town have the enviable task of transporting a metric buttload (technical term) of nitroglycerin across mountainous roads in poor condition. It's a taut, superbly suspenseful thriller, guided with a steady hand by director Henri-Georges Clouzot, who would go on to direct the classic Diabolique in 1955.Yves Montand, in a rare dramatic role, plays Mario, the ostensible protagonist of our tale. He's been stuck in this backwater for some time, but it costs a lot of money to get out – plane fares are through the roof, and there's no train, and there's no neighboring village. In short, you're stuck there until you can buy a ticket – and pay for a passport, of course.Mario spends his days looking for work, wooing tavern worker Linda, and despairing about the lack of work. There's an American oil company in town, but they're no longer hiring. His monotonous lifestyle is interrupted by the arrival of fellow expat Jo (Charles Vanel), a tough-looking older man who quickly wins Mario's favor at the expense of the rest of the men in town.The oil company, in fact, has its own problem – one of their large derricks has exploded, causing a huge oil fire. Company man Bill O'Brien decides to send two trucks loaded with nitro from the town up the mountain to the derrick. (The eventual idea is to set off charges, which will somehow contain or extinguish the fire.) O'Brien has no trouble scaring up volunteers for the task, since the men of the town are largely unemployed. Four men will be selected to take the two trucks. Only one truck is needed; the second is truly just in case there's an accident with the first one. The men will receive $2000 when the work is finished, more than enough to secure passage out of the backwater.Mario and Jo are chosen, as are Mario's roommate Luigi (Folco Lulli) and German expat Bimba (Peter van Eyck). The two trucks depart early in the morning, full of gas and of nitro. Danger awaits.Theirs is not an easy task. The road is full of ruts. In one place, the wooden deck that trucks use to make a sharp turn up the mountain has been damaged from disuse. It's hot and muggy. And one has to be very, very careful, as even the smallest bump might set the whole shebang off. There's also tension among the four drivers – Luigi is unhappy that Mario is spending more time with Jo than with him, Mario is unhappy with what he perceives as Jo's cowardice. Bimba seems to get along with everyone, though.The whole time I was watching this movie, I was certain not all four were going to make it. I will not spoil what is now a sixty-three-year-old movie, but I was still genuinely surprised by the ending. This ain't no fairy tale or sitcom. This is a movie about desperation, redemption, sacrifice, and comeuppance. It's not necessarily about justice.The Wages of Fear is a singularly terrific movie from start to finish, exquisitely shot and expertly written. Its money maker is its tension, something present here in spades. The writing is impeccable; even personality changes make perfect sense within the film's context. There are intricacies within a straightforward plot. This is a must see for lovers of thrillers.

Since becoming a fan of his work after seeing the astonishing 1949 movie Manon,I was thrilled to spot a 3 disc boxset of auteur film maker Henri-Georges Clouzot on Amazon UK. Struggling to decide which one to watch first,I found an excellent review on IMDb's Film Noir board,which led to me putting all my wages on fear.The plot:Stuck in a dead end town, Mario,Jo, Bimba and Luigi try to make ends meet,as a big US corporation (boo!) controls the nearby oil fields. Taking part in "shady" dealings,the company gets a tight grip on the town,which forces the people to stay silent over the abuses,due to it offering the only jobs in town.Discovering that one of the oil fields has erupted,the company decide that the only way to stop it is to use nitroglycerine.Going round town offering a handful of cash,the company grab the attention of ex-gangster Jo,the quiet Bimba,the quick-witted Mario and the warm, hard working Luigi. Getting told that they have to drop the nitroglycerine off to the oil field in trucks,the gang soon discover one major,risky problem:the oil field is 300 miles away on a road of death.View on the film:Flying in at 2 and a half hours,co-writer/(along with Jérôme Géronimi) director Henri-Georges Clouzot (who broke a leg whilst filming) and cinematographer Armand Thirard sink the trucks into an engulfing Film Noir atmosphere,where low-lighting allows the smallest glimmer of hope to be seen in the town. Keeping a close eye on every turning of the wheels,Clouzot brilliantly uses tightly held,lingering shots to build a mood brimming with anxiety over the title.Stomping down the Film Noir road, Clouzot makes every sharp turn land with an unrelenting thump,by blazing down scorching hot whites with mud and grit gathering every drop of sweat,which is burnt away by the oily Film Noir doom being lit on the horizon.Piped down from Georges Arnaud's novel,the screenplay by Clouzot and Géronimi beautifully spends the first hour giving the viewer an opportunity to (almost) interact with each character,from Mario's abrasive,Film Noir loner nature, to Jo's sincere desire to drive by the Film Noir darkness. Expanding on one of his major themes drawn from the very beginning of his credits,Clouzot gives the characters an inability to escape from the Film Noir oil fields that they are driving into,by making each pedal pressed pull them all away from a paternally safe "stop point",into a decaying road of ruthless doom,paved with grubby cash. Grabbing the role after Jean Gabin turned it down for the character being a "coward", Charles Vanel gives an incredible performance as Mario,thanks to Vanel keeping Mario's humble roots shining as the oil of Film Noir streams over Jo and Mario. Crushed into a million pieces, Yves Montand gives an incredible performance as Mario,whose rough edged smile Montand chips away at to hit a Film Noir loner who will roll over anyone who gets in the way of a handful of cash,as Jo and Mario rage with fear.