Product Description

In the squalid, impoverished South American town of Las Piedras, desperate men and women from all over the world scrape out a living and dream of escape, under the watchful eye of the ruling Southern Oil Company.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16124 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2005-10-25
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, Special Edition, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 147 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Henri-Georges Clouzot's gripping 1953 thriller throws four men into a primal struggle against the jungle armed with modern machinery and their own nerves and endurance. The squalid, isolated South American town of Las Piedras is a veritable refuge turned prison for criminals from all over the world. When an oil fire ignites 300 miles away, dozens of desperate volunteers apply for the dangerous job of driving highly volatile nitroglycerin across rugged jungle roads--for a $2,000 payday. The bulk of the film charts the slow, grueling trek over bumpy, pothole-dotted dirt roads and worse. A dangerous cutback forces the trucks to back over a rotting wooden platform built over a cliff, a boulder in the road must be blasted away, and a river of oil (gushing from a broken pipeline) must be forded--all with one ton of explosive nitro resting in the back of each truck. The ordeal forges a tough-guy trust between German Bimba (Peter Van Eyck) and Italian Luigi (Folco Lulli) but tears apart Frenchmen Mario (Yves Montand) and Jo (Charles Vanel). Former gangland hotshot Jo finds his once-fearless exterior cracked, while Mario discovers in himself a new grit and tenacity. Clouzot's stark, simple imagery and painstaking attention to detail create a riveting tension that never lets up, intensified by the ruthless drive of Mario, who proves he will do anything--anything--to get his truck through. William Freidkin remade the film in 1977 as the stylish Sorcerer. --Sean Axmaker

DVD features
The 1999 DVD release was prominent since it contained the recently rereleased 148-minute version after playing the art-house circuit, but the disc (#36 in Criterion's line) didn't have much else going for it. This 2005 release (still number #36) adds the usual Criterion luster, starting off right with a beautiful transfer (virtually none of the dirt on the original DVD) and a smarter take on the subtitles. The cut is slightly different, but just by a few frames. As for the extra disc, there's a deft documentary on director Clouzot and some so-so new interviews. The excerpt from Yves Montand shot a few years before he died in 1991 is charming. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Great movie in 148-minute format
I wanted to amend my earlier review. I reviewed the 148-minute VHS version, which I highly recommend. I strongly caution against getting the (less expensive) 131-minute VHS version. The picture quality is very poor and the subtitles are often almost unreadable, i.e. white writing against an almost white background. The full-length VHS and DVD versions are terrific, with clear, crisp picture and perfectly legible subtitles.

*EXPLOSIVES*
It is difficult to overstate what a terrific blend of suspense, biting images, and nihilistic philosophy this film is. It works at several levels, the most compelling being a thoroughly existential treatment of the action adventure movie. Clouzot layers his irreverent cynicism into every aspect of the film, but it is actuated by the tight interplay of the characters. They are the kind of fugitives, hucksters, fortune seekers, down on their luckers you'd expect to find at a squalid, end of the world drilling camp. The director portrays them all in a dour, brave light as they struggle with futility and fear.

The corruption, exploitation and innocence, are brought to a boil by a raging inferno and a couple of truck loads of nitroglycerine. Three hundred miles of rugged roads are all that separates these desperadoes from a ticket out of town. Clouzot rolls his audience into the drama with ingenious visual cues, cables stressed to snapping, tobacco blown from its paper. He uses no gimmicks, though, to impose an artificial sense of spectacle. Everything is shown with a taut authenticity. The film never loses its devil-me-care bravado in spite of all its tension and pathos. Clouzot intersperses little milestones of grace, in a prayer or a dance, with images of death. Alternately-- ambivalence, compassion and admiration are elicited for characters pushed beyond human boundaries and endurance.

It resembles Treasure of the Sierra Madre (another excellent film), but caves in to none of its happy endings, higher ideals, saving benedictions. All here is carried out in a quiet desperation as every vestige of hope, purpose, escape are systematically sabotaged. All that is left is the moment, and survival. The scenes on the bridge, the oil pond, the road, are among the most unforgettable in cinema. The characters strive for freedom but are continually confronted with their interdependence and frailty. The director's final gesture, in the face of potential victory, provides a seal of consistency to this sinister, masterful brew. Clouzot delves into motivations, relationships, doubt. He challenges pat assumptions of life and destiny. It is a remarkable and original film, even more so in the context of the conventions imposed on Hollywood films of that era.

See this movie!
I had been hunting this one down for a while until I managed to get my hands on a copy. Luckily it was the original director's cut and not the edited American version. I went into this movie with extremely high expectations and I was not disappointed in the least. The performances were uniformly excellent. I was drawn in by Mario's unfailing tenacity as much as I was repulsed by his willingness to commit a reprehensible act in his drive to accomplish the mission (see the movie to see what I mean). I sympathized with Jo, who, although a whiner and coward, was the wisest of the bunch.

The cinematography is alternately beautiful and bleak, capturing the graveness of the situation wonderfully. The oil slick scene is amazing. The tension builds to almost agonizing levels, and then goes a bit further. I'm a Hitchcock fan, but I don't think Hitch ever directed anything that reaches the level of suspense of The Wages of Fear.

People have said that they thought the introduction went on too long, but I'd have to disagree. The long introduction serves to firmly establish the characters and give weight to their actions. The full 148-minute version is the one too see if you enjoy strong character development, but the 131-minute version is available for those with less patience.

And yes, there is not a happy ending. Some might say it was a letdown. I admit to feeling that way for a minute or two until I started replaying the movie in my mind (and this is a movie that stays with you, guaranteed). I came to appreciate the bleak ending, and in fact, relish it. I found it to be--and I believe that this was the director's intention-- just desserts.