I saw Wages of Fear for the first time earlier this year, and approximately three weeks later Criterion announced it for a Blu-ray release and I couldn’t have been any more ecstatic. My version of Wages of Fear is the bare bones DVD edition that comes in Criterion’s Essential Art House Collection, so on top of now getting the special features from the previously released DVD edition, I was also going to get the film in HD. Hard to complain with that.
First off, the film itself sounds incredibly tedious if someone were to describe it to you in short as the majority of the film follows two pair of men as they are transporting two trucks filled with nitroglycerin over a treacherous mountain and jungle route where even the slightest bump could cause the entire truck to explode. Hearing this you would think it is two-and-a-half hours of slow moving trucks, but director Henri-Georges Clouzot does so much more with the action in this film it makes for one of the more intense features you are going to see. On top of that, this is also an extremely political and thought-provoking film, which is evident by the fact it was cut by almost 50 minutes for its American debut. This came as a result of what was perceived to be anti-American values and homosexual themes. A featurette discussing the censorship touches upon this in more detail and while the anti-American elements are certainly there and instantly noticeable, the fact someone actually managed to take away homosexual undertones from the film is shocking to me, but does add another layer to the conversation.
The release comes without an audio commentary, which is unfortunate, but the rest of the features are all worth a look as they are primarily dedicated to discussing the film’s director Henri-Georges Clouzot, a man that was known as something of a tyrant on set, but of the two films of his I have seen it appears he knew what he was doing.
Whether you are familiar with Clouzot from Wages of Fear or probably the more popular Diabolique (a film he snatched from under the nose of Alfred Hitchcock), you have most undoubtedly heard the stories of the man on the set of his films and his treatment toward those working with him. However, for as much as he is referred to as a hard-ass, it appears most everyone still has nothing but great things to say about him.
Three interviews make up the first batch of features; the first with Clouzot’s assistant director Michel Romanoff, a second with author Marc Godin and another with Wages star Yves Montand. The interviews are decent enough and do add to the overall conversation, Romanoff’s being the most revealing as it runs 22 minutes, but all three can’t live up to the 53-minute 2004 documentary “Henri-Georges Clouzot: The Enlightened Tyrant.”
This documentary on the director covers it all, but let me give you one brief story as told by Brigitte Bardot as she recollects her time on set of the 1960 film La verità . I am paraphrasing here of course, but this story best sums up most of what you will get in this doc and it was the best of the bunch:
Bardot talks about slapping the director after he slapped her in an effort to get her to cry. He then stepped on her bare feet to which she says she “kicked him in the nuts.” She ultimately cried in the scene after taking to her dressing room for a few hours, but she also recalls another instance in which the director gave her two sleeping pills under the guise they were aspirin for a headache, as a result he got her to drool and babble as requested. Too bad Bardot said she had to have her stomach pumped days later.
The enlightened tyrant indeed eh? This is certainly the most aggressive story of the bunch, but it is just a tiny peek into the world opened up on this doc. This film, along with the special features, are sure to get you interested in checking out more and more from Clouzot.
As for Criterion’s high-definition treatment, the film comes in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio and it looks absolutely stunning. Some complained about the grainy nature of Criterion’s The Third Man Blu-ray release early on, and admittedly that release maintained the gritty presentation of the film’s negative, but this release is so perfect not even the naysayers can complain. It maintains the much needed grit and grain of the film stock along with its original mono soundtrack. As much as I love my Janus collection, this is one of those films I absolutely wanted to have the special features for and the high-definition picture makes it that much more impressive.
On a smaller note, it appears Criterion has abandoned the use of cardboard packaging for its Blu-ray releases, and opted for the smaller plastic packaging used for PlayStation 3 video games. This is probably a good choice for quality control, but I rather liked the cardboard packaging. Oh well, I am sure environmentalists will hate to hear that news though.
Overall, this is another must buy release. Do not let this film pass you by as you will regret it if you ever one day stumble upon it after choosing not to add it to your collection. I personally believe this is one of the greatest films I have ever seen and think this Blu-ray release is worth every penny.
