The Wages Of Fear (1953)
Lately I have found myself re-watching some films that influenced me, or just films that I liked, to see if they hold up. I watched a couple of films from Bergman, (The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries), Fellini (8 ½ and La Strada), Godard (Breathless) and Truffaut (The 400 Blows). Not only did these films live up to my early expectations, all of them were actually even better than I remembered.
But that’s not what I want to write about. (Maybe I’ll write about them later). I also watched The Wages Of Fear directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. I know, I know William Friedkin remade it as Sorcerer in 1977 and it’s an interesting film but it isn’t the original. And Friedkin always claimed he wasn’t doing a remake but had gone back to the original novel for his screenplay. Yeah, whatever…
I guess Netflix also did a remake. I’m truly not interested in watching the modern version. I’m afraid they would make the Oil Company the “good guys”. Yes I’m that cynical…
So, what is The Wages Of Fear about? I’ll let Roger Ebert tell you.
“Four desperate men, broke and stranded in a backwater of Latin America, sign up on a suicidal mission to drive two truckloads of nitroglycerin 300 miles down a hazardous road. They could be blown to pieces at any instant, and in the film’s most famous scene Clouzot requires them to turn their trucks around on a rickety, half-finished timber platform high above a mountain gorge.
Their journey also requires them to use some of the nitroglycerin to blow up a massive boulder in the road, and at the end, after a pipeline ruptures, a truck has to pass through a pool of oil that seems to tar them with the ignominy of their task. For these are not heroes, Clouzot seems to argue, but men who have valued themselves at the $2,000 a head that the oil company will pay them if they get the nitro to the wellhead where it is needed.
The company, which significantly has the same initials as Standard Oil, is an American firm that exploits workers in the unnamed nation where the film is set. The screenplay is specific about the motives of the American boss who hires the truck drivers: “They don’t belong to a union, and they don’t have any relatives, so if anything happens, no one will come around causing trouble.” There are other moments when the Yankee capitalists are made out as the villains, and reportedly these were among the scenes that were trimmed before the film opened in this country.”
I watched this film years ago and loved it. There is so much going on. So I was a little apprehensive about re-watching. Years ago I re-watched one of my favorite films as a kid, It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Let’s just say that it wasn’t nearly as good as when I was a kid…
The Wages Of Fear is even better than I remembered. Shot in black and white with subtitles for us non-French speakers. The set up when we meet the four men is wonderful. All of them stranded in this small village and each with their own stories that are slowly revealed as the film moves forward. Once the oil company gets their four “expendable” drivers the tension slowly starts to ratchet up.
Seeing the trucks loaded with all of the nitroglycerin and knowing they could blow up at any moment sets the stage for what comes next. Every obstacle in their path truly becomes life or death. On the road the true personalities of the characters shine through. Ultimately none of these men are who you thought they were at the beginning.
I’m not sure if watching the last half of the film went quickly, or was agonizingly slow. Even though I had seen this film years before I found myself rooting for these guys even though I know what happens. Just when they solve one problem another reveals itself. The tension never stops.
Even though the film was made in 1953, it could easily be made today with the issues it deals with. It feels like some things never change no matter how many decades pass.
If you enjoy really well made films and don’t mind black and white cinematography, or reading sub titles, this film is for you. It’s available on Kanopy, a free service through the library. Yeah, it’s two and a half hours long but well worth it.
If you’ve seen it let me know, and if you watch it after reading this please let me know as well.
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For your viewing pleasure here is a rare clip from the late 1950’s of me reading from my short story, The Gas Mask, at a beatnik cafe in San Francisco. It’s not even 4 minutes in length, go ahead you have time…
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