Furie (2019)

[Drunk Monk]

Has it really been nearly a decade since I've checked in with Veronica Ngo Thanh Van? Sure 'nuf (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=2285). That's just embarrassing. Furie was 'Nam's Oscar submission. It's was 'Nam's biggest box office hit that year. And rightly so. It's a beautiful film - the colors and textures are visionary. It's remarkable was Asia is doing with drone cams now. The look of Vietnam offers such texture, lush villages, boat communities, harsh ghettos, big cities, so colorful exacerbated by brilliant lighting schemes - everything is cast in reds, blues, greens and purples - so much contrast, especially with sanguineous reds. But once again, where this shines is Veronica.

Veronica is a ghetto debt collector and a single mom. Then organ harvesting traffickers kidnap her daughter. 'nuf said, right? She's on that path, that bloody bloody hunt to save her kid. Normally, I disdain shaky cam work because it hides sloppy choreo. But her, the cinematography is as dynamic as the action and really adds to the impact. It's a lot of one shot one move stuff at first, but those shots are swirling, really selling the hits. And as the fights escalate in intensity (as they should in any decent martial arts flick), Veronica does pull off some complex, albeit implausible, single take sequences that are a good dozen moves deep. 

Clearly, I need to back track and catch up with what Veronica has been doing for the last nine years. 

No sword fights but some nice tool action in a motorbike repair shop, hatchets (because tongs luv hatchets), butcher knives because everyone has one of those at a market, plus some slashy karambit slice and dice. Totally DOOM recommended. Major ultravi. Grab your moloko plus and strap in for the ride. Netflix it.

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Hold the phone! Veronica was Quynh in The Old Guard! She was also Paige Tico (Rose's ill fated heroic sister) in The Last Jedi and Mantis in that disappointing CTHD sequel. And she's in Da 5 Bloods (guess I gotta watch that now). I guess it hasn't been 9 years. It was only one night. I just wasn't paying attention.

[cranefly]

Saw this.  Yes, Veronica is very solid, really sells giving and taking punishment, and there's some complex and physically challenging choreography in the later stages.

There's some really nicely done sequences, not necessarily the long and complex ones.  There's one short scene where she starts down a ghetto hallway, comes upon a goon, quickly reverses into a retreat, but just as the goon starts after her, she blindly reverses and takes him out.  Can't remember if it was with a kick or punch, but it was so fast and effective, and the camerawork was just perfect.  A couple other impressive scenes like that.

On top of the action, she nailed a wide range of emotions.  Not many male action stars could even come close.

[Drunk Monk]

Furies aka
[i]Thanh Sói: Cúc Dại Trong Dêm[/i]
The prequel

[Drunk Monk]

I started Furies last night but fell asleep about halfway through. That’s on me. I’ll have to pick up where I passed out because it flipped the major fight finale. 

This film is much harsher than the previous. It begins with child rape. There’s a lot of men-hate. Saigon is gritty and soiled. Veronica is a woman hellbent on revenge - I guess it’s the same character in Furie but maybe not - and she trains three teenage girls (not played by teens at all) to walk the road of vengeance with her. They are all rape victims too. They go after a raping, drug dealing, slave trading gang.

This has some of the same trappings as the original with the scenes and actors bathed in neon green or red lights a lot but it doesn’t have the natural landscapes - it’s trapped in urban ghetto hell. Also Veronica is the maven so she doesn’t fight so much, leaving that to the threesome. For all the rape and sex I don’t think there was any nudity (but I might have slept through it). 

It’s violent. Ultraviolent. If I had not seen John lolWick 4, this would be the most violent film I’ve see this year. But maybe I dreamt some of it. 

Seen on Netflix 

More to come…

[Drunk Monk]

Glad I went back for that. There was a nice twist at the end, which made the connection to Furie even more confusing. I think it’s only a thematic sequel/prequel. 

The final fights were brutal. Veronica finally fights, but only a little, not nearly enough. Makes me wonder about her - this was her film and it’s vicious. But she handles action so well. 

Ultimately it pales in comparison to the original. I’ll still D00M recommend that. This one I’ll only D00M recommend to the D00M ultravi fans (looking at you two Yeti & cf).