"Can't you see he's the walking dead?"

"We're any different?"

When I first saw Diabolique earlier this year, I was 100% certain that Henri-Georges Clouzot had created the definitive example of cinematic suspense. The final few minutes of that film accomplish everything suspense should accomplish. They were perfect. The fear and anticipation was unparalleled. It was like nervously reaching out into the darkness, unaware you were reaching towards a snake about ready to strike.

The Wages of Fear creates the same kind of nervous anticipation but not in the form of horror, but in the form of inevitable disaster.

2 trucks. Tons of liquid nitroglycerin (a substance that explodes with even the slightest impact.) in the back. 4 men who agreed to a suicide mission. 300 miles to the destination. Uneven roads. Potholes. Mountain roads. Rotten wooden bridges. Unlimited amounts of tension. If this scenario doesn't immediately make your brow sweat, you must have nerves of steel. This film is a test of willpower and a tremendously physical experience that is expertly acted and directed. Like Clouzot's other suspenseful films, The Wages of Fear starts slow and builds up its characters and the stakes of the mission. We meet the quartet of characters (2 French men, a Dutch man, and an Italian) in South America who are the types that think any situation that isn't their present one will infinitely be better. In the village, work is scarce and life is slow. When the two French men meet, they are clothed in white and are shining beacons in the impoverished village. They also finish each others whistling tunes from back home. They share a laugh and a smile and from there they are established as great friends. This makes their camaraderie on the road all the more believable and adds a new level to the suspense to the events. Every bump, every creaking bridge, every roadblock and every slow turn is amplified tenfold when dealing with a volatile substance threatening characters you know. The sheer unpredictability of this film and the filming style during the suspenseful scenes make this one of the most impressive examples of tension ever put to film. The fact that Clouzot manages to pump out experiences like these repeatedly is an extremely prestigious feat. His quick editing, focus on twitching brows and fidgeting fingers paired sometimes with a lack of music probably gives Hitchcock his own little nervous sweats.

On top of the impeccable suspense, the film is also a moderate success on a thematic level. The film is very much about the destructive effect of fear and the desperation of men to make a living. The title basically means "the cost of fear" and its a great example of that. One character is established as being a tough, seasoned former gangster but as the truck ride continues he is basically reduced to a blubbering baby. Friendships die and death becomes impersonal. Whoever survives this trip will not be the same. Fear destroys everything. It is the bane of every man and controls all our desires. Fear is the underlying theme here but it also contains some comments on the US's involvement in South American oil fields and what industrialization and imperialism does to natives. Those themes aren't as developed as fear but they are still there. This film is fun, technically brilliant, and smart as all Hell. Some weird editing, the slower than usual start and minor characters aren't as developed. These are small stains on an otherwise unbelievable piece of cinema.

I knew it wouldn't be a Clouzot film without him flaunting his cute little wife around the screen. Way to play with all my emotions, Clouzot. It's enough that I have to bite my nails in suspense but you also make me slightly aroused.

By your wife.

You bastard.