Mabuse

Chill Pill you seem to have missed some of the set up to the driving situation.

1. The nitro is being carried on the trucks with some kind of a shock dampening system which absorbs some of the road bumps.

2. In the scene where they are driving fast it is carefully set up that in order for the ride to be as smooth as possible they have to drive over 40 mph or under 5 mph. If you've ever driven on a washboard road you would understand. The high speed driving scene is probably the most suspensful in the film, and it's carefully set up in the dialogue. You must have missed the set up.

NoirFan

I think Chill Pill seems to have missed most of the film.

deathsausage

Indeed, a great scene, and a great film, although for me I don't know that it's quite "film at it's highest form". I felt the political allegory aspect of the story (primarily hinted at in the opening scenes) to be half-baked and reductive, at best. It works far better as a trashy nail-baiter -- and WHAT a trashy nail-biter.

Chill Pill

Umm, no. And these are the kind of snide remarks we can do without, wouldn't you say?

I have appreciated the other comments, however.

naitram

Totally agree, and the tension stems far beyond the nitro. On the surface it's a "suspense thriller", but further below it's a great political and cultural study, and themes of existentialism, futility, and human desire lie even further underneath.

An amazing film and one of Clouzot's finest - maybe his masterpiece.