Summary
A gritty crime flick lacking the depths of the psychological study of morality and brotherhood but still a decent film with solid performances and technical prowess.
This review of the Netflix film Furioza does not contain spoilers.
Netflix’s new Polish film Furioza starts with imagery that is quite contrasting with the movie’s overall theme. The whole length of the movie is filled with violence and brutality. But the opening shot captures the calmness by portraying a man gazing toward the sea. There is a certain peace in the whole image that indicates the upcoming storm to hit us next.
Even though it has the edge of being a gritty crime drama, the film moves forward by maintaining the calmness it establishes in the first shot. The screenplay never strays away from the track by blending the grit with that. As the plot is relatively straightforward and the character studies occur on a superficial level, the screenplay can’t allow itself to go astray from what the movie is all about. And writers Tomasz Klimala and Cyprian T. Olencki make sure that’s the point.
Furioza tells the story of family, brotherhood, and morality. The story revolves around Dawid, a doctor and ex-football hooligan, who is approached by his ex-girlfriend ‘Savage’ to infiltrate his brother’s hooligan organization ‘Furioza’ to get information about their involvement in illegal drug trafficking. They make the deal that if Dawid brings the information, the police will close all the pending cases against his brother. While Dawid accepts the job and is involved in the various hooligan activities with the gang of ‘Furioza’, he questions his morality in betraying his brother.
When I sit down to watch the film, it reminds me of the 2006 Martin Scorsese-directed film The Departed. A mole from the police also infiltrates a criminal organization and soon has the same psychological impact. However, there is a lot of difference between the two films. As I earlier mentioned, the film lacks the psychological character studies, and the film lacks the depth to examine the themes from the deep. But strong performances fill the gap in character development. They put the emotions in the right tone.
The three lead actors Mateusz Banasiuk, Mateusz Damiecki and Wojciech Zielinski are terrific in their respective roles. Damiecki, especially, just nailed his psychotic acting as Golden. The hot-headed character is one of the highlights of the entire film. But Weronika Ksiakiewicz as ‘Savage’ is wasted, in my opinion. Her character needs further development to submerge us in her struggles fully.
Cinematographer Klaudiusz Dwulit captures perfectly the grim world of the hooligans. The bleakness in his tone of grasping the whole landscape resembles a post-apocalyptic setting giving the feeling of impending doom. That complements the editing of Milosz Janiec and Wojciech Wlodarski as they maintain the film’s overall pace by making some sequences exciting to the audience.
Furioza is a film that is dark, grim, and brutal. It is not everyone’s cup of tea. The themes of family, brotherhood, and morality resonate, even with its superficial treatment. And that’s why it should be appreciated.
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