Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

The Wages of Fear Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 8, 2009

French director Henri-Georges Clouzot's legendary "The Wages of Fear" (1953) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The disc contains a restored high-definition digital transfer with uncompressed monaural soundtrack of the original, uncut, French version of the film. The Blu-ray package also offers interviews with assistant director Michel Romanoff and Clouzot biographer Marc Godin, a video interview with Yves Montand from 1988, deleted scenes, as well as an informative documentary on the director's career from 2004. Region-A "locked".

Charles Vanel as the aging gangster Jo

Three men -- Mario (Yves Montand, César et Rosalie) Luigi (Folco Lulli, Le comte de Monte-Cristo), and Bimba (Peter van Eyck, Die Todesstrahlen des Dr. Mabuse) -- are stuck in a dead-end town in an unknown South American country. A fourth man, Jo (Charles Vanel, Du rififi à Tokyo), joins them shortly before an American oil company announces that it needs truckers to transport a large amount of nitroglycerin to a remote oil rig located some 300 miles away from the town. It is a dangerous job that could cost the men their lives, but if they make it, each would get a check for $2,000.

Based on the novel by Georges Arnaud, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear did not delight American censors when it was first screened for them in New York City in 1955. Some felt that the film was openly anti-American. (In the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release, Dennis Lehane recalls that even Time magazine managed to offer an opinion: "a picture that is surely one of the most evil ever made”). As a result, the original French version of The Wages of Fear was censored and an entirely new cut of the film entered U.S. theaters.

The key reason why The Wages of Fear prompted such extreme reactions had to do with the manner in which the American oil company that hires Mario, Luigi, Bimba and Jo, as well as its employees, were portrayed. During its first half, there is an uprising against the Americans after the locals learn that a terrible accident at one of the oil company’s big rigs, which could have been prevented, has claimed the lives of a few workers. In several scenes, Bill O'Brien (William Tubbs, Cento piccole mamme), the man who runs the oil company, also utters all sorts of controversial lines that were deemed problematic and consequently cut by the censors.

However, the political overtones, which are anything but controversial nowadays, are not what transform The Wages of Fear into a great film. It is the raw intensity of the narrative and remarkably strong characters that separate The Wages of Fear from the majority of the films that were produced during the '50s.

Something else that also makes The Wages of Fear a special film is the fact that none of the main characters are likable. They are all given plenty of opportunities to impress and become heroes, but there is something about them, something unmistakably creepy, that does not encourage the audience to side with them.

Clouzot filmed his characters as described above for a good reason. It allowed the French director to constantly misplace their strengths and weaknesses in a manner that left the audience guessing, unsure how to deconstruct and judge their actions. (Look closely at Mario and Jo’s relationship from the first half of the film and compare it to their relationship during the second half).

The finale is cold and brutal. It is also very much in sync with the narrative's intense tone and desire to provoke. In the past, many critics believed that the finale was intended as another thinly veiled jab at American culture and the type of reality Hollywood was promoting through its films. Maybe it was, but, as noted earlier, The Wages of Fear did not need to redeem itself as a political film.

The Wages of Fear Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Henri-Georges Clouzot's The Wages of Fear arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

This new HD transfer for Clouzot's film offers a number of key improvements in terms of detail, clarity and color saturation. The transfer is also notably healthy -- plenty of debris, scratches and specks have been removed. This being said, there are some quite obvious limitations that certainly affect contrast and brightness balance (what this means is that certain scenes could look slightly sharper). Still, the Blu-ray release represents a substantial upgrade in quality over the old DVD release of the film. However, those of you with projectors will likely be the party that appreciates the 1080p transfer the most as the key areas where the Blu-ray excels are far easier to recognize on large screens. Finally, I did not detect any traces of post-production filtering to report in our review. (NoteThis is a Region-A "locked" release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Wages of Fear Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Criterion have supplied a French uncompressed monaural audio track for Henri-Georges Clouzot's The Wages of Fear. Generally speaking, this is a solid audio track that does justice to the film. Obviously, it has been meticulously restored and, as far as I am concerned, this is the best quality that could have been achieved with the existing film elements (I actually have a very old French DVD of this film and did a few quick tests to see how the Blu-ray compares to it). Specifically, the dialog is clear, very easy to follow, and without any dropouts, hiss, or cracks that I could detect. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The Wages of Fear Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Michel Romanoff - assistant director Michel Romanoff worked with such renowned directors as Marcel Carne, Julien Duvivier, Jacques Demy, and Agnes Varda. He was also Henri-Georges Clouzot's second on Diabolique, The Spies, and The Wages of Fear. In this interview, recorded in Paris in 2005, he discusses his work during the two-year process of shooting The Wages of Fear in the Camargue area of southern France. In English, not subtitled. (23 min).

• Interview with Clouzot Biographer Marc Godin - in this archival program, Marc Godin discusses some of the primary influences on Henri-Georges Clouzot's cinematic style (Murnau's films in particular), his work for the Germans during WW2 and consequently banning after the end of the war, and the evolution of his style, with specific comments about The Wages of Fear. The program was produced in 2005. In French, with English subtitles. (11 min).

• Yves Montand - in this archival interview, Yves Montand explains how Henri-Georges Clouzot's decision to cast him in The Wages of Fear revitalized his acting career. The interview was conducted for the French TV programCinema cinemas on November 13, 1988. In French, with English subtitles. (5 min).

• Henri-Georges Clouzot: The Enlightened Tyrant - this archival documentary takes a closer look at the life and cinematic legacy of Henri-Georges Clouzot. Included in it are clips from interviews with the director's second wife, Ines; his brother, Marcel; actresses Suzy Delair and Brigitte Bardot; and assistant director Michel Romanoff. The documentary was produced by Open Art Productions in 2004, as part of the series Ces messieurs de la famille. In French, with English subtitles. (53 min).

• Censored - this archival program compares highlights some differences between the original French theatrical version and the censored shorted American version of The Wages of Fear. In English, not subtitled. (13 min).

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by novelist Dennis Lehane and a compilation of interviews with the cast and crew of the film, as well as technical credits.

The Wages of Fear Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is yet another solid Blu-ray release from Criterion. I suppose, at this point, we could safely assume that the US distributors will be very consistent with their output. Frankly, seeing the dramatic improvements each of their Blu-ray transfers has revealed thus far, I think that if one is truly interested in building a serious film library, one cannot but collect each and everyone of these discs. Recommended.