An indisputable masterpiece by Henri-Georges Clouzot (Les diaboliques, La vérité, L'enfer), The Wages of Fear is the adaptation of the eponymous novel by Georges Arnaud published in 1949.
Served by a quartet of charismatic performers (Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, the German-born actor Peter Van Eyck and the Italian Folco Lulli), this winding and grueling road movie was filmed in bad weather conditions absolutely catastrophic. In 1977, it was William Firedkin's turn to explore the dark sides of the human soul with his remake Sorcerer (The Convoy of Fear with Roy Scheider and Bruno Cremer) produced in 1977. Current 2024, a remake (net)flixien will be proposed by Julien Leclercq with Franck Gastambide, Alban Lenoir and Ana Girardot.
The Wages of Fear, first in England, then in France
The Wages of Fear, the original, is announced in 4K UHD edition on February 5, 2024 in the United Kingdom through of the British Film Institute (BFI) with, as a bonus, various interviews (with assistant director Michel Romanoff in 2005, Clouzot biographer Marc Godin in 2005, professor Lucy Mazdon in 2017), or even a conference by Yves Montand with Don Allen dating from 1989. The film should be released later in the year here, by Coin de Mire Cinéma.
