The goal of the screen shot quiz it not to just guess what the movie is that the screen shot is from but to encourage discussion on the film. Feel free to shout out in the comments what the movie is and then provide an opinion or some thoughts on the movie. Oh and the first person who gets the movie right wins our respect.
Wages of Fear
Wages of Fear is better than anything Hitchcock has done. Andrew on the Cinecast was bitching about the first half, but sorry, he is crazy. First half establishes the characters, establishes masculine behaviour in theory, and then second half shows it in practice… you can’t have just the action scenes, it would be a far lesser film. To me, it is pretty much perfect.
I will admit that the first time I watched Wages Of Fear, that first section threw me a bit – it went on a lot longer than I expected given that the film was being sold as one of the most tense films ever. However, as you stated, as the film progresses, those early scenes add so much more to the entirety.
What did you think of the ending Mike? It’s a standard complaint and does seem somewhat random, but I’ve come to embrace it.
I couldn’t get into The Wages of Fear at all. But I think Mike perhaps inadvertently honed in on why – “establishes masculine behaviour in theory, and then second half shows it in practice”. I’m usually pretty good at handling masculine-leaning stories, but I couldn’t relate to anything in the film. I couldn’t even manage to care about it even on a purely suspenseful level. Now, Les Diaboliques – THAT’S a film.
The ending reminds me of the ending of Vertigo. Both endings are so abrupt and comically bad.
Are you kidding, I LOVE the ending. What is not to like about it? It is actually a pretty honest portrayal of human nature, how domain-specific we are … you focus hard on what is explicitly requiring your attention, but don’t carry it over into other domains, and in fact, under-compensate as a result. This kind of film builds up a notion of masculinity that gets to the height of existential seriousness, and then revels in the absurd (the harsh reality of nature). Perhaps how overt they make the gesture of the absurd, I guess I see how people can criticize, would have been better if he wasn’t swaying back and forth but was just joyous and distracted.
and yes, Jandy, you are just a girl, you know not what you speak of
Les Diaboliques is brilliant as well. I am so disappointed that Clouzot wasn’t more prolific.
Have you seen Quai des Orfevres? Criterion had it out – looks like it’s out of print now. I’m been meaning to seek it out.
I have seen it, it is solid but not as good as the other two.
I think the ending is fittingly, comically bleak.
It’s not that I thought the first half should not be there. Of course setting up the characters is important. It’s just not done in any particularly interesting way and it drags on for far too long. Have Tarantino remake the movie and that first half would likely be the better half (Death Proof anyone?).
It doesn’t drag for me, it builds… you have four main characters to build back stories for, and you get that… I love the scene where Luigi flaunts his money in a desperate attempt for dignity and how battle lines are drawn over the use of the radio. You couldn’t do that scene unless you told the back story of Mr. Jo and Mario, which are then subverted in the truck scenes. You need to establish Jo as someone who has always got his way (hence the scenes with the American), establish Mario as a romantic that has turned into a ruthless pragmatist. You need to show the world around them like a bunch of half-starved dogs jockeying for position at a puddle of water in order to establish how important it is they get the job.
I think there is a bit of a gay subtext to the story, and the way Linda is put aside for the interests of the bromance emphasizes that point. This is a story doting on masculinity, on the concept of dignity as it relates to working and the idea of man as a worker… Mario cannot be with Linda without a job, he is emasculated, he has to first find his place in the world of work, steeped in its machismo and posturing. But the journey shows the emptiness of that posturing, how the stature of a man is how well he can face death. Mario comes out the other side a seemingly transformed person, ready to return to Linda a real man. But, like a real man, it is largely a superficial change, as he ultimately learned nothing about risk, and succumbs to it foolishly. Dark and absurd and pretty accurate.
Death Proof is a farce, an enjoyable farce but it is nowhere near as satisfying as Wages of Fear, at least for me. Wages weaves cinematic bravado and escapist suspense into a story that has something to say while doing it. For me, it is the ultimate sweet spot, taking the best of high and low art and making something original.