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Charlize Theron

6.18 Setting Off the BOMBSHELL of Truth

January 31, 2020 by Steve Norton 1 Comment

Back in 2016, after Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson raised allegations about FOX Executive Roger Ailes, the fallout helped further survivors of sexual misconduct to speak out against their attackers sparking a movement that reverberated throughout the industry. Now, with his latest film, Bombshell, director Jay Roach attempts to give light on the truth of the story in the hopes of continuing the ongoing conversation surrounding sexual misconduct in our culture. In an honest and challenging conversation, we welcome back ScreenFish’r Julie Levac and TO Film Files’ Jolie Featherstone to discuss the relationship between power and voice.

You can also stream the episode above on podomatic, Alexa (via Stitcher), Spotify or Soundcloud! Or, you can download the ep on Apple Podcasts or Google Play!

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

6.18 BombshellDownload

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Podcast, Reviews Tagged With: #Metoo, Bombshell, Charlize Theron, Jay Roach, John Lithgow, Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman, Oscars

Bombshell – Another #MeToo Moment

January 13, 2020 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

Workplace sexual harassment and abuse doesn’t qualify as “man bites dog” news. But in recent years it has become news because of the rich and powerful people involved. #MeToo has become the catchall term for such abuse, especially in the entertainment industry. Bombshell is based on the 2016 scandal that led to the ouster of Roger Ailes, the CEO of Fox News. We may look at that story as a sign of success in the fight against sexual harassment, but we might also see within the story the failure of society to adequately address the underlying issues.

We first meet two of Fox’s key women on-air talent, Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) and Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman). They want to be considered serious journalists, but face an uphill battle. For example, when taking part in an early GOP candidate debate, Kelly challenges Donald Trump (then a long-shot to get the nomination) about his record with women. She becomes the target of his abusive twitters. Carlson has been demoted to a less viewed time slot.

Photo Credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle SMPSP.

When Carlson goes to lawyers to file suit over a demotion, she says it is because she has thwarted Roger Ailes’s (John Lithgow) sexual advances. She assumes that if she files suit other Fox News women will come forwards.

We also meet Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie), a composite character of several women at Fox News who spoke with filmmakers anonymously. Pospisil is a Barbie-figured young woman who dreams of being an on-air personality. She is ambitious and pushes her claim that as a Christian Millennial, she represents a key demographic. She creates an opportunity to get a meeting with Ailes to make her case. Even this first meeting is a bit on the creepy side.

Photo Credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle SMPSP.

The story develops as we watch these three women each trying to negotiate their way in a toxic and misogynistic environment. Anyone who raised these issues would be accused of the dreadful sin of “feminism”—not even women at Fox News wanted to be saddled with that word. All three women face sexist behavior from colleagues without much support from other women. Even after Carlson’s lawsuit is filed, few women come to her support—in large part because they need their jobs. Meanwhile the institution gears up with demands of loyalty to the company and expressly for Ailes.

Photo Credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle SMPSP.

This is not about an isolated bad situation. It reflects a reality that many women (as well as other minorities) can face in the workplace. In this case we see an especially heinous example, but even when it is not as blatant as we see here, such situations can be damaging. One of the contributing factors at Fox News, as it’s portrayed in Bombshell, is that it is built on an amoral pragmatism. A co-worker describes a Fox News story to Kayla in an early scene as what will get the most watchers. Ailes’s key phrase as he asks to see women’s legs is “It’s a visual medium.” The goal of Fox News here is not even ideology; it is whatever sells.

That amoral pragmatism was not limited to the abusers. It was suggested as the way to get what you want. The end justified the means. Good viewership justified sensational reporting. Keeping one’s job justified silence. Does a chance at a fame and fortune justify allowing oneself to be used?

Photo Credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle SMPSP.

Part of the problem that the women at Fox News faced was the silence of other workers. Should people warn new women about what happened in Ailes’s office? (It seemed to be an open secret.) Should they speak up when they know something bad is happening to their coworkers? In the film, much of the debate of this takes place in sotto voce debates within Megyn Kelly’s work team. These discussions serve as the voices that might well play within us and our coworkers in such a situation. We have conflicting feelings and fears, just as this small group brings to the film.

Photo Credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle SMPSP.

What I see as a small downside of Bombshell is that it feels a little bit voyeuristic. We stand outside looking in. (That may be in part because I’m a man who hasn’t had to live out this story in the workplace.) It may seem like an aberration that took place in a company of questionable integrity to start with. But we need to remember that in many ways both big and small, women continue to have to deal with such abusive situations.

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: #Metoo, Charlize Theron, Fox News, John Lithgow, Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman, sexual harassment

Tully – A Bit of Help to Find Happiness

May 18, 2018 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

When writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman collaborate (as they did earlier in Juno and Young Adult), the result is always an interesting bit of social philosophy set within the institution of family. Tully is their latest work, with a special emphasis on the trial and meaning of motherhood in today’s world.

We meet Marlo (Charlize Theron) shortly before her third child is born. She already is struggling to cope with the first two children and the romantically cooled off relationship with her husband Drew (Ron Livingston). Her brother, Craig (Mark Duplass), offers to pay for a night nanny to help Marlo get rest after the new baby is born. But Marlo resists the idea of having someone come in at night to care for the baby. Soon, however, it’s just too much for her, so she finds her brother’s note and a young woman named Tully (Mackenzie Davis) arrives.

(l to r.) Mackenzie Davis as Tully and Charlize Theron as Marlo star in Jason Reitman’s TULLY, a Focus Features release.

Tully is full of energy, just as Marlo is worn out. Tully is bright and perky, where Marlo is sullen and depressed. Yet the two women have a great deal in common and soon create a bond that allows Marlo to unburden herself of all the things she has been holding inside. This seems a wonderful therapeutic relationship that touches all the difficulties in Marlo’s life. Except…. (Yes, there is something more that I will not spoil here.)

Although a driving force in the story is Marlo’s post-partum depression, that can easily be expanded to the sense of ennui that often fills people lives just as they are reaching the point in life where they may think they should be finding happiness and fulfillment. It is not uncommon to instead discover life has become routine, perhaps even boring. We may miss the excitement of falling in and out of love and discovering new relationships. The responsibilities of family and work may fill our days so much that we fail to appreciate the treasures that might be there.

Mackenzie Davis stars as Tully in Jason Reitman’s TULLY, a Focus Features release.

The wisdom that Tully brings to Marlo’s life is the truth that finding such a boring place in life is really the sign of success. That boredom comes from having a life where love and security are so common that they go unnoticed. The search for love and security may seem exciting as we consider our earlier lives, but when we have reached those goals, we may, like Marlo, not recognize the gifts that are in our lives.

I think a case could easily be made that Qoheleth faced a similar ennui which led to his search for meaning that fills Ecclesiastes. Throughout that search, in all he finds along the way, he constantly returns to his “vanity of vanities” refrain, noting that wealth, religion, sensuality, and knowledge all fail to bring him satisfaction. It is the discovery of enjoying his life, as “vain” as it may be, that he finds his fulfilment. Marlo has a chance to make a similar discovery through her interactions with Tully.

Photos courtesy of Focus Features

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: Charlize Theron, comedy, Diablo Cody, drama, Ecclesiastes, Family, Jason Reitman, Mackenzie Davis, Mark Duplass, post-partum depression, Ron Livingston

3.17 Fighting the FATE OF THE FURIOUS

April 23, 2017 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

http://screenfish.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/6.17-Fate-of-the-Furious.mp3

Breaking box office records, FATE OF THE FURIOUS filled theatres because of it’s (many) big booms and stunts… but is there more to the film?  What keeps us coming back to this franchise, despite the fact that they get more outlandish with each entry.  In a relaxed episode, Steve welcomes back Greg Banik and ScreenFish newbie Julie Levac to explore the world of the FURIOUS franchise.

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.17 Fate of the Furious

Thanks Greg and Julie for coming on the show!

Filed Under: Film, Podcast Tagged With: action films, box office records, Charlize Theron, Dwayne Johnson, F. Gary Gray, Fast and the Furious, Fate of the Furious, Helen Mirren, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez, Scott Eastwood, The Rock, Tyrese Gibson, Vin Diesel

The Huntsman’s Nicolas-Troyan on Cooking, Charlize Theron, & Highlander

August 16, 2016 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

cedricCedric Nicolas Troyan, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects on Snow White & the Huntsman, directed The Huntsman: Winter’s War out now on Digital HD (and on Blu-ray on August 23). After directing Chris Hemsworth, Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, and Charlize Theron in his debut, Troyan shared his thoughts on conveying strong visuals, and the challenges of showing audiences something new.

As a first-time director, Troyan found himself leading a group of A-listers into a new enterprise, but after initial jitters, Troyan said he was unfazed. “When you do visual effects, you’re there from inception, working beside the director. It’s a grew school to learn from them. So, I figure in twenty years, I have put in my share of set time,” the director said with a chuckle. “But you ask yourself, how will you interact with the cast? Will they get what they need from me? Will I flounder around like a bowling ball? I was confident that I had the knowledge necessary. And in the end, I could see that these people were all great.”

Troyan’s confidence was potentially bolstered by (in his mind) the surprise nomination for the Academy Award, because he was so focused on creating what he needed to. “At the end of the day, you try to make something you think people will like, something cool. That’s the job: trying to take the ingredients and make something great, like cooking up a dish for your guests. But there’s no full-on recipe for success. There are just things you think are good, and you hope people will share your enthusiasm.”

While The Huntsman varies in tone from the original in the series, Troyan saw the way that the characters were influenced by a variety of backgrounds in legend and style. The director was focused on telling those stories, and making sure that it looked cool (a regular adjective for Troyan’s understanding about the way things would appear). But he admitted that a different take on an old story can be tricky.

“You have Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen not exactly but inspired. You have the Snow Queen in Narnia or Elsa, the queen in Frozen. You’re mixing the different worlds but trying to stay in the same world as Snow White & The Huntsman.”

“It’s like most people when they wake up in the morning; they don’t stay in the same mood all day long. When you explore the world [of these fairy tales] mixed with changing emotions, it’s kind of cool. Some people like the way we presented that and some people don’t. You flavor it thinking it will fit but the important part is that you’re trying.”

cedric2Troyan’s path continues to draw him into stories (like Maleficent) where female characters show us more than we had seen before. It’s clearly of interest to Troyan as he creates these ‘meals’ for us to enjoy, and he warmed to the subject, especially when it came to Theron.

“I’m definitely more interested in female characters in my life. I tend to sway toward those females. It’s not that male characters aren’t interesting but I think there’s more variation in female characters. There’s a broader spectrum. We need to hear those different voices.”

When the subject of the hyper-visual Mad Max: Fury Road was broached, Troyan admitted that he hadn’t seen it in theaters because he was filming. “I told Charlize I was sorry. I wasn’t sure I’d like it because I’m not a huge Mad Max fan. But because of Charlize I went to see it. As soon as I got home, I emailed her that I absolutely loved it – especially her portrayal of Furiosa. It was just so rock’n’roll! The most rock’n’roll thing I’ve seen in a long time.”

As our time drew to a close, I had to ask: what could Troyan tell us about the Highlander remake that has been rumored about for the last few years? Troyan laughed, and measured his response. “Highlander was always supposed to be my first film, never my second. Now that’s my first has already been done, I just can’t say too much.”

Ah, the heart of a fan. We must wait to see what Troyan is cooking, and then dig in. Each meal won’t be for everyone, but this chef is cooking a buffet of visual and storytelling delight.

Filed Under: DVD, Featured, Film, Interviews Tagged With: Angelina Jolie, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Fury Road, Highlander, Jessica Chastain, Mad max, Maleficent

And The Winner Is…or Should Be (Oscar Spotlight)

February 22, 2016 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

revenant2The Oscar races this year are absolutely clear cut… in my mind. Having seen fourteen of the nominated films (out of approximately sixteen films in the major categories), these are my favorites to win.

At Best Actor, the portrayal of screenwriter and Communist Dalton Trumbo by Bryan Cranston put him in rare air, not that of the illicit drugs he manufactured as Breaking Bad’s Walter White. I was immensely moved by Cranston’s depiction of this flawed-yet-heroic man, and the way Jay Roach framed all of the movable parts around Cranston. Sadly, he’ll be runner up to Michael Fassbender, whose turn as Steve Jobs delivers something that Noah Wyle and Ashton Kutcher couldn’t: a performance that gets to the soul of the man. (Film I missed: The Danish Girl -my apologies to Eddie Redmayne.) Here’s a mad genius who lacks the emotional power to connect with others – until those who care about him the most challenge him spiritually.

stevejobs2I’ll openly admit that I’ve only seen a few of the five films in the Best Actress category but I have a hard time believing anyone could surpass Brie Larson’s portrayal of the kidnapped and raped young woman who raises her son in a garden shed in Room. While another year might produce more wins, this will be Room’s lone trophy. It’s harrowing and powerful, both in captivity and in the world outside, but all of it is made human by the quiet power of Larson’s delivery.

room1While this is a “makeup call” (a term ripped from other contact sports), I’ll predict that the Academy awards a lifetime achievement award to Sylvester Stallone for his Best Supporting Actor turn in Creed. Simply put, there are too few scenes in The Big Short, The Revenant, Spotlight, or Bridge of Spies for the other nominees to salt away a win. It’s Stallone by default, even if Michael B. Jordan deserves much of the credit for making Stallone look good (and recovering from the insufferable Fantastic Four).

Consider this your commercial break before we reach my big two awards for the year – consider it burying the lede.

creed-movieBest Original Screenplay: Straight Outta Compton delivers the time, the music, and the mythos of NWA. Were these guys prophets? Exploiters? Exploited? This complex story spins a tale that entertains, reminisces, and challenges us to think about how we define our worldview.

Adapted Screenplay: Michael Lewis’ The Big Short over Emma Donaghue’s Room robs the latter of a double win. Three times nominated, this one has to finally pull off the win. Greed sucks the life out of you in the long run – and proves there are no victimless crimes. It’s not the best film I saw this year, but it serves as a morality tale for all of us to consider in our day-to-day spending and relationships.

Cinematography: Director Alexandro Inarritu can do amazing things with film (think last year’s Birdman). This year, The Revenant dukes it out with The Hateful Eight (only win: Best Original Score). Both films are beautiful in their brutality, with the elements and humanity playing against each other for spellbinding cinematic moments.

straightouttaAnd now… Best Director goes to … Mad Max: Fury Road’s George Miller. Having established a dystopian world decades ago, he returns to the world that Hardy said was in Miller’s head and delivered it in a sprawling, dialogue-short film that visually does everything. No stone was left out of place, and every moment mattered to the overall picture. [Unfortunately, Inarritu will probably win… There, I said it.]

So, does that make Mad Max: Fury Road my Best Picture? Not exactly. While it (and Creed) was my favorite film of the year, it doesn’t qualify as the most important film of 2015. [It also came too early in the year, and surprised everyone with its depth.] A story about working within society to change it (versus running from the world we live in and hitting a restart) makes for a powerful testament of humanity in the midst of an apocalypse. It should be a challenge to us all – global warming, AIDs, violence, racism, whatever – be the change you want to be.

Mad Max Fury Road MainIs it The Revenant? No. Leonardo DiCaprio’s ability to grunt, Inarritu’s ability to shoot enigmatic scenes, and the makeup crew’s ability to generate the ferocious aftermath of a bear mauling do not make a complete picture. If you push me, I’ll admit this film looked cool but I thought the storytelling was shallow. (It’s why I preferred Mad Max: Fury Road.)

bridge3How about Bridge of Spies? Nope. While Tom Hanks delivers a tour de force performance, the film is almost entirely on his shoulders. Yes, it speaks to the way we are divided and guarded in society today, but it’s not enough to just have a strong lead. The film itself was good but not great; without Hanks, it’s a dud.

Left to right: Steve Carell plays Mark Baum and Ryan Gosling plays Jared Vennett in The Big Short from Paramount Pictures and Regency Enterprises

Does The Big Short…? An ensemble cast with solid performances couldn’t save a primarily financial film (here’s looking at you, Margin Call and Moneyball). Brooklyn? Didn’t see it. (Gulp). Room? Too claustrophobic.

And suddenly, we’re down to two.

martian-gallery3-gallery-imageWith the look on Matt Damon’s face as he accepted his award at the Golden Globes, I can tell there were fewer people laughing at the “comedy” that was The Martian. With the ridiculous categorization of the film, The Martian was condemned to be remembered not for Andy Weir’s story but the ridiculous politicization of the awards. And this isn’t even the best film where a dedicated group of brave people willingly sacrifice their lives to bring Matt Damon home or the best film where someone is castaway without human companionship…

spotlight3So, Spotlight it is. While Birdman and The Artist (2015 and 2012, respectively) proved that the Academy sometimes falls in love with the visuals, the track record of 12 Years a Slave, Argo, The King’s Speech, and The Hurt Locker show a trend toward based-on-a-true-story moments that highlight something about our society. With Spotlight, there’s an effort to show the power of the press (ding!), expose a hidden darkness (ding! ding!), and confront a powerful force in the world, the Catholic church (ding! ding! ding!)

Let’s hear the counter arguments. I know Chris Utley will be sharpening his knives… This should be fun.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Film, Oscar Spotlight Tagged With: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Bridge of Spies, Brie Larsen, Brooklyn, Bryan Cranston, Charlize Theron, Christian Bale, Creed, Eddie Redmayne, Emma Donaghue, Mad Max: Fury Road, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Fassbender, Michael Keaton, Michael Lewis, Room, Ryan Gosling, Spotlight, Steve Carrell, Steve Jobs, The Big Short, The Danish Girl, The Martian, The Revenant, Tom Hanks, Tom Hardy, Trumbo, Walter White

Mad Max: Fury Road–Pursuing Peace (Oscar Spotlight: Best Picture)

February 4, 2016 by Jason Norton 2 Comments

Upon first glance, Mad Max: Fury Road seems out of place amongst its fellow best picture nominees. There’s no biographical dramatization, no outspoken activist star. There’s not even a subtitle in sight. But there is flame-spewing punk rock guitarist chained to a thirty-foot wall of Marshall amps on the front of a semi. In other words: winnah.

From the time the opening titles roll, you’re given one calm, cozy minute to prepare. And you’ll want to. Because for the next two hours, you are going to be thrust into the biggest, most exciting action spectacle ever filmed. Director George Miller took his legendary high-octane hero and throttled him up by 2,000 RPMs, as Tom Hardy does the impossible and picks up brilliantly where Mel Gibson left off.

FRD-27348.TIF
Hardy’s Max is near-mute and broken, but finds his strength when he steps up to defend the oppressed (but far from helpless) Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) and a group of her fellow females. These women have the unenviable job description of “wives” to the uber-creepy desert despot, Mortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). It’s one near-constant, 90-miles-per-hour retreat that turns, on a hairpin curve, into a full-scale assault on evil once Max and company decide they can no longer run from the fight.

max w
Dig a little deeper below the dusty, oil-soaked surface and you’ll find a multi-layered story of redemption and salvation that is as poignant as anything the Academy has recognized in a decade. It’s a sci-fi packaged treatise on the power of hope and—perhaps more importantly—the quest for peace even when all hope is lost.
The cinematography is breathtaking; the stunts jaw-droppingly innovative (and for the most part, CGI-free). Everything is over the top, but nothing feels out of reach.

max 5

Unlike its peers, Mad Max: Fury Road is more than a film, it is an experience—one that resonates long after the end credits. And despite its unconventionality, it absolutely deserves to be counted among the year’s best.

You’d have to be mad to disagree.

Filed Under: #tbt, DVD, Featured, Oscar Spotlight, Reviews Tagged With: Academy Awards, Best Picture, Charlize Theron, Mad max, Oscars, Tom Hardy

Mad Max Fury Road: No Greater Love

September 1, 2015 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

Mad Max Fury Road MainI was skeptical of George Miller’s sequel to his Road Warrior films after so many years away. Seriously, he made Babe and two Happy Feet movies more recently than he told a Mad Max story. How could Fury Road be any good? But as I admitted here, I thought the film was the best I’d seen this year – and it’s still my favorite after seeing it a second time in high definition at home.

Max (Tom Hardy) and Furiosa (Charlize Theron) are the coolest one-two punch of heroes we’ve had onscreen all summer, with apologies to the Avengers, and everyone else they smoked on their dusty way through the desert. As two broken, discarded, forgotten individuals, they’ve learned to scrap their way through the post-apocalyptic landscape and to ignore everyone else. But what happens when they discover a task to great to complete on their own, that is, achieving their own escape and the transport of several innocents as they run from Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne)?

While I rarely rewatch a movie this quickly, I was struck by the power of Miller’s narrative, even though I think he could’ve told this story dialogue-free! How amazing would that have been? A completely rabid film with a hard rock soundtrack and no one speaking? But I digress…

Sure, we have the ‘universal blood donor’ in Max, who gives his blood (literally) to save Furiosa at one point, but she’s the one playing ‘Moses’ to lead the innocents, the child-bearing women, to the promised land. She’s already lost an arm, and been discarded, but her broken humanity makes for a great leader. It’s just that her remembrance of the promised land isn’t what she thought it would be… and it’s better to return and face the music.

There’s also the certain matter of the ridiculous crazy and ultimately weak (physically) Joe, who has ruled by fear and intimidation, but is really (kinda) easy to take down. How often do we raise people to a level of leadership, honor, even idolatry, only to recognize that they are merely men/women who we shouldn’t fear or worship?

And ultimately, the film proves to be about two loners who are intent on one thing but choose a greater good over self-preservation. It’s quickly becoming one of my favorite verses, but in John 15:13, Jesus says that there is no greater love than to lay one’s life down for one’s friends. We see that happen in the final third of the film by several characters because Max and Furiosa model it first. Are they ‘Christ figures’? I don’t know. But they definitely model this kind of sacrificial love and service.

Whatever your take on the deeper themes behind this movie (seriously, Furiosa tells Max that she’s looking for “redemption,” a word not outright bandied about many action films), there’s too much action, beauty, magic, and skill to this film not to love it. Check out the special features, enjoy the flick, and then come back and tell us what you thought.

Enter the wasteland and be sure to be amazed.

Filed Under: DVD, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Charlize Theron, Furiosa, George Miller, Mad max, Tom Hardy

Mad Max Fury Road: Baptism By Water, Dust & Fire

May 15, 2015 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

furyroad1stWhen we meet Mad Max (Tom Hardy, for the first time), he is wrestling with a vision of the past. He hears cries for help, and sees those he has lost along the way. We know who he is because we’ve seen the previous films by George Miller (ironically enough, Babe, Happy Feet 1 & 2… and the Mad Max trilogy), but his name isn’t uttered until the closing stanza of the film. Max is a man without a community, a man without hope, a man desperately in need of redemption, even though he’s not proactively seeking any of the three.

Soon, Max has run afoul of Immortal Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and one of his crazy-eyed henchman, Nux (Nicholas Hoult). But Max is not alone: he’s tied to the welfare of Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) and a band of women who Furiosa is stealing/freeing from Joe. Joe believes that these women are his property (and has impregnated a few of them), controlling his ‘tribe’s’  water, gasoline, and future as well.

Bouncing off of walls and other vehicles of mass destruction, Miller’s script is linear in its own way, but it’s also multilayered. Bombastic visuals make up for a dearth of dialogue, rocketing the audience (especially the 3D one) along through a series of battles, chases, storms, and other calamities, leaving us feeling like we’ve survived a desert storm (war). Elements reflect other post-apocalyptic fare like The Book of Eli and one wonders if the character of Max himself was necessary for the film’s greatness. Could we have been enthralled, enticed, invited in if it had been merely a “world gone bad”? Max himself is not even necessarily the figure we find our eyes riveted to…

Mad Max Fury Road MainFuriosa is herself a stunning character, and not for her beauty or charm. Like other Theron characters before her, she has been stripped of her more feminine nature and held up as an individual ripe with character and strength. She is Miller’s Ripley, the one-armed driver who has a vision for the future, while Max only has visions. She is the moral compass, the driving force, making this Max character seem more like a “reboot” than a sequel storyline. It’s as if he must learn to be human all over again, after the devastating events of Tina Turner’s Thunderdome.

Instead, our heroine is the one who recognizes what it takes to make hope a reality, even if she needs help to see it through. Furiosa believes in the “Green Place,” part-utopia, part-nostalgic past. She’s the one who attempts to intercede on behalf of the Five Wives of Joe, to say that they are not cattle, or property, or baby-producing machines. Initially, and most of the way throughout, Max is merely an additional gunhand, along for the ride.

DSC_3888.JPGA Deeper Discussion: Spoilers Ahead!

But Mad Max: Fury Road is not simply “man bad, woman good” the way that some reviewers have suggested. There is more nuance here, and it may often revert back to an understanding of John Locke/Charles Darwin behavior. Do we take more from our nature or our nurture? Does the fall of technology or ‘civilization’ signal a return  to the animalistic self and the Old Testament understandings of right and wrong? Or is there something higher and more intrinsic about who we are as people?

Max and Furiosa are incomplete people. One lacks a family, while the other lacks an arm (and feminine ‘purpose’ in Joe’s world). But they complete each other (not in a Jerry Maguire way) by being the visionary and the vision fulfilled. Ultimately, the ‘universal blood donor’ saves lives, but he’s not the Christ-figure. He’s the power, the will, the safety net of the Christ-figure, who ultimately proves to be the one who frees the oppressed and comforts the abused.

In the one real dramatic turn of events (spoiler! I told you again), after the group fails to arrive in the perfect world Furiosa was stolen from, Max convinces her that they must return to the land flowing with water and greenery in The Citadel. It is not an image of going away to some other place (a sometimes evangelical view of escape to heaven) but rather a liberating of the ideals, resources, and grace to everyone present in the here and now, already available. [One interesting aside: Keeper of the Seeds (Melissa Jaffer) tells the liberated wives that once, everyone had enough, and there was no need for war.] Instead of waiting for heaven, what if we lived like we should care for each other today?

FURY ROADThat is a sharp turn from the Valhalla that Joe has Nux and the other War Boys. It’s like (pre-Pan) as if Joe has established himself as the giver of all things to the Lost Boys, and they are predestined to live and die for his glory. Sure, there’s some Middle Eastern thought there about dying in glory, but it’s mixed into a brew that sees the Norse imagery included, along with the elevation of women to objectified status as well. Joe’s Valhalla includes the repression of belief, freedom, and water in the here-and-now, a charge that could be leveled against any organization, from the church of Martin Luther’s day to various world governments. Supply is artificially culled by Joe so that demand is higher, with the understanding that (except for Joe), tomorrow matters more than today. For the Max and Furiosa, much like for the early church sent out to be witnesses in Acts 1:8, they must prove that there is enough of everything (grace, water, gender) for everyone.

The two of them, working in tandem, are baptized by the dust of the storm (we’ve even see Max rise up out of the dust, akin to a baptism or earlier birth in Genesis 2:7). Then, they’re baptized by the fire of the flamethrowers, the bullets, and the grenades of Immortal Joe’s pursuit. And finally, they provide the baptism by freeing the ‘unlimited’ water supply to the villagers waiting below. [Ironically enough, neither one of them is actually ‘baptized’ by the water but they initiate that experience for others.] They make church happen, blasting open the divide between the water and the people, much like Jesus promised the church would in Matthew 16:18: “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not stand against it.” In the land of desolate desert, Max and Furiosa make the water flow. They are in the practice of blowing away gates, rocks, impediments to ‘the good.’

Honestly, I’ve never walked away from a film feeling so punched in the face by the weight of it. The 3D work was masterful, and the action was slick. I almost feel like I’m stuck with sand in my teeth, from the immersive experience of such a depressing worldview. This was no beach vacation; this was a war for our future, a warning about who we could become.

It’s a lovely day. Or is it?

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Book of Eli, Charlize Theron, dystopia, George Miller, grace, heaven, hell, Mad max, nature vs nurture, post-apocalyptic, Thunderdome, Tom Hardy, utopia

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