The Wages of Fear (1953)

A visually striking and immensely intense thriller from Clouzot. Stranded in a desolate Central American town, a group of down and out Europeans are feverishly in pursuit of making some kind of living.When an American oil company (SOC) needs four non-union scabs to transport volatile explosives across some very treacherous terrain, these men jump at the chance. While I understand the criticism that the first act of the film moves rather dilatory, I think it is rather necessary to establish the desperation of these men and what would draw them to such a menacing excursion. On top of this, it also establishes the economic death-grip that American corporations have on this forlorn town. Clouzot seems to focus in on the general vulnerability of the people whose lives have been so heavily touched by capitalism. Not only are the indigenous people of the town naked in most of the shots, but Clouzot also shows their frantic solicitations whenever they come into contact with a rich American. With all of this care that Clouzot gives to these matters in the first act, it truly helps the audience understand when Yves Montand states, "when the oil stops, everything stops."When the films drives into the second act, it becomes a clinic in building suspense. Much in the same vein as Hitchcock, Clouzot lets the viewer in on the impending doom that the characters are unable to see. While this could have so easily been annoying to watch due to the length of time that the film spends on this excursion, the tight direction and frenetic editing makes for a riveting watch. With a quick back and forth between shots of the tires and the driver's face, coupled with quick shots of all of the harbingers of peril, Clouzot creates an atmosphere that only a clinical stress test could match. This all mounts to a climactic scene in which the two drivers are drenched and nearly drowning in the raw material has been wearing down the fabric of compassion that tethers these men together.With all of these elements, Clouzot has crafted one of the better thrillers from that 1950's that I have ever seen and a film that must not be missed.