Le salaire de la peur
Breathtaking. In fact, it makes me wonder if Godard should have switched titles with Clouzot. This movie is so suspenseful that I suppose you should never watch it a second time, but then again, who knows – maybe you’d see even more details about the film than before.
The details indeed are spectacular. From very few scenes, focusing on the characters’ faces or the angles from which dramatic scenes are taken or a sudden silence shortly before the storm, we get a feeling for how incredibly well thought out the film is.
“Le salaire de la peur” is a movie that starts slowly for the first 45 minutes, giving the characters a long exposition before we get to know what the film is all about. From there on, it’s facing death with exponentially growing intensity. Cowardice, friendship, team spirit and character development, all the elements are there to leave the place to a wonderful portrait of four men.
It’s completely impossible to write about this film without telling too much and giving away its best parts. I can’t even really describe my feelings about the film because they are so closely tied to these incredible scenes you cannot describe with words. But yeah, I felt sympathy, fear, agony, happiness and excitement with a slowly growing, gripping intensity I haven’t thought possible – this movie is a lesson in humanity more than any action film I have ever seen.