Mad Max - 1979
It was all there in the beginning.
I didn't realize it at first. On first viewing, I took Mad Max for what I thought it was, one hell of a debut by an Aussie filmmaker. But in watching the sequels since, and a bit later, the crowning achievement that was Mad Max: Fury Road, I realized something significant. The latter film is one of the most striking action pictures ever made, and when I went back to the original after that fact, Fury Road acted as a prism for me to discover something truly great. Simply put, this is a picture with STARTLING visual design and a complete aesthetic vision.
Miller's eye is the key. I do not know how I missed it. It shows up right away. The director's flare for presenting these open, sprawling landscapes masking a world gone post-apocalyptic, his remarkable ability for incredible stunt work. This is all present in the first 10 minutes of Mad Max. The film opens like a 5 hour energy shot, with the deranged Nightrider and his gal racing across said open backroads, ducking and dodging the MPF (Read: the popo) and shouting all sorts of obscenities through his frothing lips. The 'Rider rolls through first one squad car, and then has another against the ropes, before one Max Rockatansky gets the call on the wire. He joins the pursuit and the explosions start. 12 minutes in and George Miller has us in his clutches.
So that's when all the vigilantism starts, right? Wrong. People want to portray Mad Max as some sort of vengeful paladin, a la Bronson in Death Wish or that ilk. But for a good 60 minutes in this one, ole' Max is a family man. He balances his life burning rubber chasing fuel-stealing biker gangs with time at the ranch with Mrs. R and their son, Sproggie.
And Max is self-aware about it too. He realizes that this world he's in is attempting to chew him up and spit him out in a different form than the sentinel of justice he once was. In the most revealing scene of the film, Max approaches his boss on the force, Fifi, and tries to give up the badge. First the latter gives him the company line: "They say people don't believe in heroes anymore. Well damn them! You and me, Max, we're gonna give them back their heroes!"
As the dialogue proceeds, we're treated to the truth -
Max: "Ah, Fif. Do you really expect me to go for that crap?"
Fifi: You gotta admit I sounded good there for a minute, huh?
See, this is the sheer genius of Miller's picture. This is a world gone bad, but he only gives us glimpses of it. We see no nukes falling on cities. We hear no baritone voiceover telling of a war to end all wars, complete with news clippings and montages of towers crumbling. What do we get instead? Well, we get George Miller's incredible knack for memorably offbeat characters (we see it again and again in the sequels as well). We have the Toecutter, Johnny the Boy, and Bubba Zanetti. On the other side, there is the bike-riding cop Goose, who demonstrates both the humanity and the insanity of the world we're watching. It's a whole gaggle of misfits who ride into town, chase a young couple off the road and have their way with them. Later, they are riding down a truck in search of fuel to pilfer. THIS is what we get by way of explanation.
And Max, in that same conversation, realizes he's nearing a precipice.
Max: "I'm scared, Fif. You know why? It's that rat circus out there. I'm beginning to enjoy it."
Fifi: "What is this, funny week?"
Max: "Look. Any longer out on that road and I'm one of them, you know? A terminal crazy... only I got a bronze badge to say I'm one of the good guys."
A world where moral grays are replacing black and white absolutes. It's all subtle and terrific, and it had to be. I have not run the numbers, but I'd be certain this film cost a fraction of what MM:FR did, even adjusting for inflation. This is a directorial debut made in the trenches by a man with a stylistic acumen that is so rare. So, when the picture DOES turn towards its inevitable confrontation, we are ready for a knock out punch of stunt effects, surging vehicles, souped up muscle cars, and solid fury. In the case of this franchise, the original isn't the best. Yet, that Road Warrior and what followed could take some of these plot strands, set pieces, open vistas, and silly role players and take them to soaring heights only speaks mightily to the feat of world creation the original truly was.
Comments