Two years prior to the aforementioned Les Diaboliques, Henri-Georges Clouzot built a note-perfect suspense drama so tightly-wound, one false move would cause detonation. Despite suffering comparisons to Alfred Hitchcock across the entirety of his career- Clouzot frequently bettered the legendary British mastero; not that he would ever believe as such. Masterfully taut, The Wages Of Fear depicts a South American oil fire raging out of control, with only the possibility of a nitroglycerine blast to snuff it out. But which poor schmucks will transport the combustible materials over miles of bumpy road to the site? Combining nail-biting action scenes - calibrated to the millimetre - with an impeccable command for earthy performance, Clouzot acts as a brilliant ringleader for his circus of high-octane horrors. French fury (Yves Montand and Charles Vanel) swirls with Italian bluster (Folco Lulli) and Dutch severity (Peter Van Eyck) culminates as the four cash-strapped men who take their trucks to the highlands and anxiously await for everything to go south. It is equally an expert character study as it is a methodical progression of screen terror.
Film and UFC obsessive with a passion for scribbling words about them. Avid NFL fan and big Chelsea supporter too.
Film Studies degree graduate from the University of Brighton.
