An explosive French Netflix production
Available from March 29, 2024, the new film by Julien Leclercq is one of the events of the year on the Netflix platform. It has a title which, in itself, already constitutes a whole program: The wages of fear. Action thriller tense and explosive, its cast is made up of well-known faces and some action cinema specialists: Franck Gastambide and Alban Lenoir. Also rounding out this main cast are Ana Girardot and Sofiane Zermani. All embarked in the convoy of a load of nitroglycerin intended to put out the fire of a gas well, threatening both the exploitation and the inhabitants of a township live just above the threatened gas pockets. Together they have 24 hours to cross a desert full of dangers and reach their destination.
Historical title for the original film
Obviously, this movie The wages of fear makes at least a small nod — and pays a subtle but sincere homage — to the 1953 film of the same name, a huge dark thriller and adventure film considered one of the greatest films of the 20th century. But The wages of fear by Julien Leclercq is an original filma 2024 production, and actually only retains the original works – the novel by Georges Arnaud as well as the film by Henri-Georges Clouzot – only this concept of a suicide convoy with two trucks full of explosives.
The four main characters, the bodyguard Fred (Franck Gastambide), his pyrotechnic brother Alex (Alban Lenoir), the humanitarian Clear (Ana Girardot) and the mercenary Gautier (Sofiane Zermani) everyone has their own reason for taking part in this mission. First, it is his knowledge of the land and concern to save the land’s inhabitants township. On the other hand it is pure greed and, for the two brothers, the opportunity to get out of a bad situation and also to redeem yourself…
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So here are the profound questions of this film The wages of fear differ very widely from those of The wages of fearlike those of The convoy of fear, another prestigious 1977 William Friedkin adaptation of the novel. If it is therefore not a remake but a new adaptation, Julien Leclercq is doing a remake some iconic sequences from these two filmswith a pirate attack on the route, the crossing of a cavity full of oil, the pulverization of a rock blocking the passage…
Explosive action
The plot and its twists are neither original nor perfectly coherent, but The wages of fear is clearly distinguished from intense action sequences. Chases, explosions and shootouts take place in the heart of an arid and burning desert, in the clear and dry photography of Wim Vanswijgenhoven, a Belgian director of photography who worked with Julien Leclercq on the series. Thievesalso a Netflix creation.
Franck Gastambide here switches entirely to action cinema, for which he had already shown great predispositions in successful action comedies. Star of the genre with Bullet lost AND AKA, Alban Lenoir is as usual very effective and convincing in the physical role of a destroyed man ready to do anything to get justice and find his loved ones. Ana Girardot is also convincing a unique performance for herensuring the appearance brilliantly love story From The wages of fear like that of pure action. Finally Sofiane Zermani, all in cynical ambiguity and venality, embodies the immediate antagonism of a story which, moreover, unfolds a deeper and more intimate antagonism between the two brothers.
A combination of character and relationship writing that gives pride of place explosivenesspermanent, from the proposal of Julien Leclercq.
Conquering the Netflix world
The French director, who absolutely wanted to stage an original story, distances himself from Henri-Georges Clouzot’s film just as he distances himself from the atmospheres of his recent productions. In Thieves (the film and the series), in Earth and blood, the colors of feelings and environments are cold, from dark gray to metallic blue, under low and threatening skies. Here, the heat is everywhere : that of truck engines, that of the sun that crushes and makes you sweat, also that of characters whose nobility of feelings illuminates and sometimes makes it moving.
The ones he will compare himself with The wages of fear of 1953 will be at their expense, like those who appreciate Michael Mann’s inspiration in Julien Leclercq, much less present in his new Netflix film. But The wages of fearwith a cast attentive to nourishing the human dramas that underlie the action and some very satisfying spectacular sequences, it has everything to be a big success of the French creation Netflix and pleases the platform’s subscribers all over the world.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
