Based on the 1950 French novel Le Salaire de la peur, The Wages of Fear was critically hailed upon its original release, propelling its director Henri-Georges Clouzot (Les Diaboliques) to international fame, and is rightly considered a classic of world cinema. Now newly restored in 4K, it will be released by the BFI in a Dual Format Edition on 23 October, packed with special features.
In a squalid South American village, four desperate men are hired by a US oil company to embark on a treacherous journey, transporting a volatile cargo of nitro-glycerine to a massive oil well fire. Friendships and courage are pushed to the limit in this nail-biting thriller by a director would go on to be dubbed the French Hitchcock.
The Blu-ray/DVD release of The Wages of Fear will be launched with a screening at BFI Southbank on Saturday 21 October at 8.10pm (in NFT1), part of BFI THRILLER: Who Can You Trust? a suspense-filled season of thrillers with classic film and TV screenings at BFI Southbank (Friday 20 October - Sunday 10 December), preview events, film re-releases (including Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest and Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs), a UK-wide touring programme and more. Click the link for a clip.
