The Wages of Fear
Four men risk their lives driving rickety trucks loaded with nitroglycerine in Henri-Georges Clouzot’s classic thriller that last played the Festival in 1978 as part of a tribute to star Yves Montand.
Description
Stranded in South America with no jobs and no money, four men risk their lives for a big payday when they agree to drive two trucks full of nitroglycerine to a far-off oil field. The treacherous road is windy, unpaved, and peppered with obstacles. The trucks lack shock absorbers and suspension, so the possibility exists that the loads might combust with only the slightest jostling. But the $2000 per man waiting at the end of the trip is too much to resist for Mario (Yves Montand), Jo (Charles Vanel), Luigi (Folco Lulli), and Bimba (Peter van Eyck). Henri-Georges Clouzot’s classic thriller is a masterclass in building and maintaining almost unbearable suspense. The first third of the movie sets the stakes as it creates emotional investment in the characters, especially Mario and Jo. Then the journey itself packs a wallop. Will it end in the money or this a drive straight into hell? —Pam Grady
The Wages of Fear screened at the 1978 Festival as part of a tribute to Yves Montand, with the actor in attendance.
Films from the Vault revisits previously presented titles at the San Francisco International Film Festival, highlighting the Festival’s role in championing emerging artists and iconic auteurs and inviting audiences to rediscover these films anew. —Jessie Fairbanks
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Biographies
Henri-Georges Clouzot (1907-1977) was a French screenwriter and director. He would make a specialty of thrillers but began his career with a musical romcom, Tout pour l’amour (1933). Le Corbeau (1943), Jenny Lamour (1947), Manon (1949), Diabolique (1955), Inferno (1964), and Women In Chains (1968) are among his narrative features. He also made the documentary The Mystery of Picasso (Festival 1986).
