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The Wages of Fear

Play trailer Poster for The Wages of Fear 1955 2h 36m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 54 Reviews 94% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
In the South American jungle, supplies of nitroglycerine are needed at a remote oil field. The oil company pays four men to deliver the supplies in two trucks. A tense rivalry develops between the two sets of drivers on the rough remote roads where the slightest jolt can result in death.
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The Wages of Fear

The Wages of Fear

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Critics 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.

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Critics Reviews

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Dave Kehr Chicago Tribune 04/01/2014
3.5/4
Turning the screws with a relentlessness that impresses even in this age of the ruthless, high-tech thriller, Clouzot strings together situations of vividly, almost sadistically imagined danger. Go to Full Review
Joshua Rothkopf Time Out 12/06/2011
5/5
Hitch's bomb-under-the-table suspense formula burnished to an expert sheen. Go to Full Review
Budd Wilkins Slant Magazine 12/06/2011
4/4
The Wages of Fear contains tension-fraught stretches of "pure cinema" that probably gave even the Master cold sweats. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Nov 22
4/4
Nitroglycerin figures prominently in the plot of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear, but it’s the movie itself that’s truly explosive, a powder keg of social outrage and cinematic thrills. Go to Full Review
Michael J. Casey Boulder Weekly Jul 11
5/5
Bleak as hell but so expertly made it’s hard not to sit in awe. Go to Full Review
Frank J. Avella The Contending Mar 25
A
To say it’s an extraordinary sit is not doing justice to this the nail-biting, anxiety-inducing, nihilistic look at the world. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Jack F @MovieFan111 5d Despite its runtime, the movie went extremely fast (probably because it was so good). I'm usually not one for black and white movies, and I don't know why I even picked this one up in the first place, but I'm really glad I did. See more Luca D @JoeCamel7 Aug 29 A bit overrated in my opinion. The story was very straightforward. The acting only got good after it focused in on the 4 drivers. Not much good music or soundtrack. Cinematography was good but no Touch of Evil. Not sure if the characters loved or hated each other, or even knew each other? Everyone is best friends but also sworn enemies? The problem with making a movie with suspense that is constant for more than an hour is that it loses its effect and eventually becomes boring. The suspense was great at first but after an hour I stopped caring about the nitro in the back of their trucks and just wanted them to get it over with or blow up. A good movie overall but definitely not a top 50 movie of all time like people claim. Touch of Evil is similarly styled and came out a couple of years after, I would recommend that over this any day. See more Stephen C @bob25009 Jun 7 Success in 2 hours and 36 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cast and crew are fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Will G May 24 A fantastic foreign film. It had people that spoke English, French, Spanish, and Italian. It is on the IMDB Top #250. There was a lot of driving. Also there was some violence. See more Papy D 11/26/2024 The Classic "The Wages of Fear": A Perfect Combination of Depth and Tension The film centers around four men in a remote and poverty-stricken area of Latin America. In order to obtain a high reward, they accepted an extremely dangerous task - driving two trucks fully loaded with nitroglycerin across 300 miles of rugged and perilous roads to put out the fire in an oil well in the distance. The whole process was filled with uncertainties and thrills, and the emotions of the audience fluctuated along with their journey, as if they were also in that adventure fraught with danger. This movie is not just a simple adventure thriller. It also delves deeply into human nature and social issues. Faced with extreme environments and the temptation of huge profits, the characters' personalities and values were constantly tested and magnified. For example, the protagonists were willing to risk their lives for money, which demonstrated the greed and helplessness in human nature. Meanwhile, the exploitation of local workers by the oil company revealed the cruelty and injustice of society, enabling the audience to have a deeper reflection on the complexity of human nature and society. The director, Henri-Georges Clouzot, with his consummate skills, skillfully created continuous suspense. From the moment the characters accepted the task, a tense atmosphere came rushing in. As the trucks traveled on the dangerous roads, the audience's hearts were always in their throats. Especially in some key scenes, such as when the trucks turned around on a rickety wooden bridge and when they used nitroglycerin to blast huge rocks, the director pushed the sense of tension to the extreme through precise camera language and rhythm control, making the audience feel as if they had personally experienced those thrilling moments. Although the plot of the film was exciting and thrilling, the director did not neglect the portrayal of the characters. Through the delicate depiction of the protagonists' living conditions before and after the task, their psychological changes, and the relationships among them, each character became vivid. The audience could see their fears, hesitations, struggles, and the choices they made on the verge of life and death, thus enabling them to understand their motives for behavior more deeply and establish an emotional resonance with the characters. The scene arrangements and visual presentations in the movie were highly realistic, creating a world that made the audience feel as if they were on the scene. From the dilapidated small towns to the precipitous mountain roads, from the simple bars to the stuffy interiors of the trucks, every detail revealed the director's pursuit of a sense of reality. This sense of reality not only enhanced the credibility of the film but also made it easier for the audience to immerse themselves in the plot and feel the fears and pressures faced by the characters. This film has provided valuable references and inspirations for future films in aspects such as shooting techniques, plot construction, and character shaping. It pioneered a film style that combined thriller and adventure with social criticism, influencing the creation of many films of the same genre later. At the same time, its in-depth exploration of human nature and social issues has also made positive contributions to the development of film art. I usually use these two sites for more free movies and short dramas.If you have a better website, please recommend it to me. Thank you https://omnishort.com/?utm_source=rottentomatoes https://nightgod.tv/?utm_source=rottentomatoes See more Fredi T 11/25/2024 The film creates a depressing and gloomy atmosphere right from the start, presenting a group of people living in a poor and isolated small town in South America. They come from different backgrounds, yet they are all trapped in this lifeless place, struggling hard for a meager livelihood. The protagonists are several down-on-their-luck men. They are either running away from past crimes or have been forced here by the hardships of life. This detailed depiction of the characters' living backgrounds lays a solid foundation for the development of the subsequent story, allowing the audience to thoroughly understand why they got involved in that terrifying adventure. I usually use these two sites for more free movies and short dramas.If you have a better website, please recommend it to me. Thank you https://omnishort.com/?utm_source=rottentomatoes https://nightgod.tv/?utm_source=rottentomatoes See more Read all reviews
The Wages of Fear

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the South American jungle, supplies of nitroglycerine are needed at a remote oil field. The oil company pays four men to deliver the supplies in two trucks. A tense rivalry develops between the two sets of drivers on the rough remote roads where the slightest jolt can result in death.
Director
Henri-Georges Clouzot
Producer
Raymond Borderie, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Louis Wipf
Screenwriter
Henri-Georges Clouzot, Georges Arnaud, Jérôme Géronimi
Distributor
DCA Releasing
Production Co
Filmsonor, Vera Films
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 16, 1955, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Nov 27, 2024
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 23, 2017
Runtime
2h 36m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Academy (1.33:1)
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