The Wages of Fear

1953 [FRENCH]

Action / Adventure / Drama / Thriller

37
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 94% · 54 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 94% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 8.1/10 10 72717 72.7K

petrol fire life and death based on novel or book unsociability central and south america

Plot summary

In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into the jungle through to the oil field. Friendships are tested and rivalries develop as they embark upon the perilous journey.

Director

Henri-Georges Clouzot Photo
Henri-Georges Clouzot

Top cast

Darío Moreno Photo
Darío Moreno as Hernandez
Yves Montand Photo
Yves Montand as Mario
René Baranger Photo
René Baranger as (uncredited)
Darling Légitimus Photo
Darling Légitimus as (as Miss Darling)
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1.21 GB
988*720
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles fr  
24 fps
2 hr 36 min
Seeds 14
2.38 GB
1472*1072
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles fr  
24 fps
2 hr 36 min
Seeds 62

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Galina_movie_fan 9 / 10

A gripping action film and a powerful study of failure

"The Wages of Fear" was awarded by unanimous verdict the Grand Prix at 1953 Cannes Film Festival where it won over 27 films, some of which were made by Jacques Tati, Alfred Hitchcock, and Luis Buñuel. Cluozot's own screenplay (based a novel by George Arnaud) focuses on four down-and-out European adventurers (Yves Montand, Folco Lulli, Peter Van Eyck, Charles Vanel) who stuck nearly penniless in a festering town in an unnamed South American country. An oil company need a load of highly dangerous and explosive nitroglycerin to be delivered to a remote well fire 300 miles away burning out of control. The route is through jungles and over crude and treacherous mountains and those men are desperate enough to take the chance. None of these men is heroic or generous, they are in for the money. The four were chosen by the managers of oil company because "if something happens to them, no one would care, they have nobody to worry about them". Henri-Georges Clouzot's view on humanity is not particularly optimistic but he finds a way to make a viewer care about disenchanted but desperate characters. Thanks to Clouzot's ability to create not only a gripping action film but a powerful study of failure, the four men will stay for long time in our memory.
Reviewed by grantss 9 / 10

Enthralling, nail-biting drama

In a remote South American town, four men are hired by an American oil company to transport two truckloads of nitroglycerin to an oil field, to put out a fire. It's a very hazardous task - the nitroglycerin can explode for the slightest reason, the road is treacherous and the journey is a long one. However, the money is very good and their current situation in the town is rather dire - they will do anything to improve their situation. Great thriller-drama by French director HG Clouzot. Starts slowly and even once the hazardous journey is in progress, it doesn't seem that brilliant. However, Clouzot builds the tension and from a point it is absolutely nail-biting stuff. The scene with the boulder has to be one of the most tense movie scenes I've watched in my life. A good character-drama too - the way the characters develop and the relationships between the four change adds a new dimension to the drama and makes for very engaging viewing.Not perfect though. Some events and plot devices don't make much sense, though aren't crucial to the movie. The ending felt quite silly and contrived. A similar result but with a more plausible, less predictable, less stupid way of getting there would have seen the movie get a perfect score.
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