Le salaire de la peur [The Wages of Fear] (1953)
(Criterion streaming, August 2019) Despite Le salaire de la peur being on several lists of essential movies, I approached the film with caution—as any modern viewer would in tackling a 1950s black-and-white thriller lasting slightly over two hours and a half. The first hour seemingly gives credence to the caution, as it leisurely introduces a small South American town filled with desperate people. Slowly, we piece together the plot: The town is dominated by an oil company that, for reasons, needs four suicidal men to quickly drive gallons of nitroglycerin over a long dangerous distance. There are a few fake-outs and multilingual subplots on our way to the real movie, but we eventually get there. By the time our four main characters have been identified and take the wheel of two explosive-laden trucks, Le salaire de la peur really begins, and it becomes a true white-knuckle thrill-ride until the end. The road to the destination is a carnival of outlandish obstacles designed to test the ingenuity of the screenwriter: a bumpy dirt road that can either be taken fast or slow (leading to a deliciously original suspense sequence based on physics); a dangerous hairpin turn; obstacles to be cleared explosively; and an oil-filled crater filled with surprises. The latter half of Le salaire de la peur is pure mechanically-driven analog suspense—even modern viewers will smell the engines, taste the dirt and feel the physical elements that drive its action scenes. It’s as good as suspense gets, and it still works magnificently sixty years later. Yves Montand makes for a capable hero, and director Henri-Georges Clouzot manages his production with devilish precision once we’re past the prologue. I can take that dull first half once you throw in that remarkably effective second half. Alas, there’s a false note at the very end, once we think that the sacrifices had led to something. But then again, that may have been the only way to conclude such a story. Modern viewers should flock to Le salaire de la peur, make their way through the dull setup and relish the impact of the rest of the film. It’s that good.