Yves Montand makes confidence look like something a man has to keep working at. We rate him for the warmth and physical assurance, but especially for the strain that shows when another man is watching.
Fi1m perspective
In The Wages of Fear (1953), Yves Montand's Mario Livi has to look dependable in front of Charles Vanel's Mr. Jo. Montand makes us notice the effort involved, and Henri-Georges Clouzot gives that effort time to become uncomfortable. We grew anxious whenever confidence seemed to be standing in for competence, because the lorry's load of nitroglycerine made the distinction matter. It is a strong introduction to an actor whose physical assurance becomes most interesting when it is being tested.
The music-hall background helps explain the warmth of his delivery and the expressiveness of his gestures. He knows how to attract attention, but Clouzot makes us wonder how much of Mario's toughness we should believe. Vanel is essential here: his ability to make fear look embarrassing gives Montand's confidence something difficult to play against. The tension depends on both performances.
The Wages of Fear was his acting breakthrough, and the later work found several uses for that combination of warmth and force. With Costa-Gavras, including Z (1969), he became a more widely recognised presence in thrillers. Jean-Pierre Melville cast him as Jansen in Le Cercle Rouge (1970), while Claude Sautet gave him the central role in César and Rosalie (1972). Sautet's romantic drama offered more room for his warmth, without requiring him to surrender the forcefulness that makes him worth watching.
Jean de Florette (1986), directed by Claude Berri, and its sequel, Manon of the Spring (1986), put that authority to less comforting use. Montand plays César Soubeyran, known as le Papet, a ruthless patriarch with flashes of humanity. Those moments matter because they give us something to watch beyond an older man's severity, and make the character harder to dismiss.
Still, Clouzot is where we would begin, with a caveat about the long wait in town before the journey. Montand has Vanel to unsettle him, and Peter van Eyck and Folco Lulli keep the group from shrinking to a contest between two men. Give the other men as much attention as the star.
Biography
Yves Montand, born Ivo Livi, was an Italian-born French actor and singer. He was born on 13 October 1921 in Monsummano Terme, Tuscany, Italy, and died on 9 November 1991 in Senlis, France.
Montand grew up in Marseille after his family moved to France in 1923. He began as a music-hall singer and was discovered by Édith Piaf in 1944. His film career included the role of Mario Livi in The Wages of Fear (1953). He is also known for performances in Z (1969), Le Cercle Rouge (1970), Delusions of Grandeur (1971), César and Rosalie (1972), Jean de Florette (1986) and Manon of the Spring (1986).
Montand appeared in other notable films such as Let's Make Love (1960), Grand Prix (1966) and Is Paris Burning? (1966). He was married to actress Simone Signoret from 1951 until her death in 1985.
