If there's one element that keeps this film going it's tension. After we are introduced to the characters in the setting of the small South American village, the film turns into one of the most gripping adventure stories ever. There's a scene where the characters have to get a rock out of the road in front of them that is so tense I was literally white-knuckled. This film will inevitably be compared to the remake by William Friedkin, Sorceror. That is an inferior film, if only because it has a very clunky sets of character introductions and relies too much on the physical mechanics of the journey and not the characters. The Wages of Fear is all about the characters and the situations that arise due to their greed and hubris. Perhaps the most chilling scene of all is a decision Yves Montand's character has to make while driving across an oily pond. It's scene like that one that make the film great. This is Clouzot's best film in my opinion, just edging out Diabolique. Find it and see it.
Review of The Wages of Fear
