Netflix fights fire with fire in its upcoming remake of a suspense classic. Here’s a trailer for The Wages Of Fear.
The Wages Of Fear, the 1953 classic suspense thriller directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, has already had one remake: William Friedkin’s Sorcerer, released in 1977. Both are intense, immersive films with grime on their skin and dirt under their fingernails, which makes it all the more odd that Netflix’s upcoming remake – also called The Wages Of Fear – has that pristine, flatly-lit look of an Expendables sequel.
The plot remains the same; it’s about a quartet of misfits who – in exchange for a big chunk of cash – agree to ferry trucks of high explosives across a rugged landscape. Their mission: to set off a huge detonation in the hopes of extinguishing an oil well fire.
This latest version is directed by Julien Leclercq, whose previous work includes the action thrillers Braquers, Sentinelle and the Netflix TV series, Ganglands. The truck drivers this time are played by Franck Gastambide, Alban Lenoir, Ana Girardot and Sofiane Zermani.
Based on the 1950 book of the same name by Georges Arnaud, Clouzot’s The Wages Of Fear was universally praised on its release, with the director perfectly balancing its human drama and moments of genuine tension.
Friedkin’s film, on the other hand, was largely dismissed on its release, with mixed reviews and a dismal turnout in cinemas – that Sorcerer famously emerged at the same time as Star Wars sealed its box office fate. Later critically reassessed, Sorcerer is now regarded as one of the best films of the 1970s, with Friedkin’s huge budget allowing for some quite extraordinary set-pieces, including a now-iconic sequence involving a rickety bridge and a punishing rain storm.
Will Netflix’s film match the brilliance of those earlier movies? We wouldn’t bet on it, but to paraphrase one commenter on YouTube, if it introduces a new generation of viewers to the 1953 film and Friedkin’s Sorcerer, than that can only be a good thing.
The Wages Of Fear will stream on Netflix from the 28th March.
