Excellent, but nasty stuff.
The Wages of Fear (1952)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:35
Fresh:35
Rotten:0
Average Rating:8.8/10
Consensus: An existential suspense classic, The Wages of Fear blends nonstop suspense with biting satire; its influence is still being felt on today's thrillers.
Runtime: 2 hrs 28 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: Henri Georges Clouzot directed this tense and suspenseful drama about four men so desperate for freedom that they willingly risk their lives to deliver a dangerous cargo. In a small, isolated, hot... Henri Georges Clouzot directed this tense and suspenseful drama about four men so desperate for freedom that they willingly risk their lives to deliver a dangerous cargo. In a small, isolated, hot and dusty Central American village, there's only one thing to do: dream of getting out. An opportunity for escape presents itself -- but only to those with nerves of steel. An American oil company has offered to pay big bucks to get two trucks filled with nitroglycerin over to a well fire. The catch: the unpaved terrain contains enough bumps and crags to make the unstable material explode... and instantly kill the driver. Nonetheless, the company has many applicants hungry for work, and a quartet of the coolest are chosen. But even these stalwart men will discover that fear of their deadly payload can ignite even the most frozen emotions. [More]
Starring: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Vera Clouzot, Peter Van Eyck
Starring: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Vera Clouzot, Peter Van Eyck, Folco Lulli, William Tubbs
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Screenwriter: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Producer: Raymond Borderie, Henri-Georges Clouzot
Composer: Georges Auric
Reviews for The Wages of Fear
The excitement derives entirely from the awareness of nitroglycerine and the gingerly, breathless handling of it. You sit there waiting for the theatre to explode.
A terrific portrait of the class struggle that happens to have a few cases of nitro strapped to it to up the ante from the metaphorical to the extremely physical.
A brilliant, though frankly overlong, exercise in filmmaking that creates a stunning portrait of a miserable corner of the world.
A certified classic with one of the most famous plots in film history.
The kind of motion picture for which commonplace phrases like 'white-knuckle tension ride' have been coined.
A film that works, and works well enough to get audible gasps from the audience.
The film's extended suspense sequences deserve a place among the great stretches of cinema.
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