MYOFNF #11: The Wages of Fear (dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953)

Watching this intense existential suspense film about vagbond ex-patriates in a South American backwater driving highly unstable nitroglycerine through dangerous mountain passes, one thing that jumps out is the brilliant use of sound. While most films made during this period (and most made nowadays, actually) tend to punch up moments of tension with a bombastic or manipulative score, The Wages of Fear creates unbearable tension with no external soundtrack whatsoever. It's amazing that so few filmmakers have figured out what Henri-George Clouzot knew in the early fifties: silence, or the rhythmic beats of nature, heightens tension far more than an artificial musical accompanyment. This film is chock full of rivetting sequences and its definitely one of the most purely entertaining film I've watched for this project, but its also filled with clear-eyed commentary on capitalism, masculinity, and death.