Savage

Although I don't follow the news as closely as I used to, I am all too well aware that murders, rapes and beatings are extremely common and probably given less prominence than many think they should. Some of this is down to the victim's reluctance to come forward and tell all to the public, opening themselves to scrutiny, ridicule and even humiliation. Although many films deal with revenge and what someone will do to either seek vengeance on someone who has wronged them or a loved one or decide to 'clean up the streets', not many examine what really happens to someone who has been through a terrible experience and the physical and emotional scars they bear.

Set in contemporary Dublin, Savage follows a freelance photographer, Paul Graynor, who spends most of his days standing outside police stations and courts to try and get a photograph of a suspect that will end on the front page. A shy, loner without any close friends, Paul notices how violent Dublin is becoming - something exacerbated by the gangs of young men who hang about and intimidate him - but doesn't realise how much this will impact on his life.

The only real person in Paul's life is his senile father who he visits as often as he can, partly out of duty and partly because he has become close to his father's nurse, Michelle. One night, after a date with her, Paul is walking home to his apartment when a young man asks him for the time and, before he knows it, Paul is dragged into an alleyway, threatened with a knife and badly beaten, sustaining a nasty cut down the side of his face in the process.

Waking up in hospital a shadow of his former self, Paul is even more afraid of the street gangs than ever before and, because he can't buy a weapon, carries a rape alarm with him that he, in a panic, sets off when an elderly man asks him for the time. Desperate to reclaim his masculinity and be in a position to do something about the anger that is boiling beneath the surface, he joins a gym and takes up self defence classes designed for victims of assault. As he has lost weight and wasn't particularly strong to begin with, Paul even by some steroids from a couple of Russian bodybuilders to help him become stronger and more aggressive.


Part of this transformation also involves a change of appearance, shaving off his shoulder-length hair and altering his wardrobe and general demeanour. This doesn't go unnoticed by Michelle, who realises that he needs to do something to rebuild his self-confidence but is still taken aback when he shouts at her. All this pent-up anger and frustration is bound to lead to something and, with revenge on his mind, Paul purchases a large Bowie knife which he keeps strapped to his waist and even declares his (illegal) intent to carry a knife at the local police station.

The film begins with a shot of a man's bare legs, covered in blood but, as the shot is completely without context or explanation, you don't know whose legs they are or his blood is on them - something you don't find out until the end of the film. This isn't a film like Death Wish or Dirty Harry series of films in which a confident and well armed protagonist decides the law is unfit to deal with certain people so, in order for the streets to be safe, someone needs to kill those that the law cannot or will not touch. Savage is a character-based drama, explicitly showing what psychological scars can be caused by a brutal attack on someone who is generally a peaceful and law-abiding member of society.


In order for a film like this to work, you really need a protagonist with whom the audience can empathise and Paul is a character who is likeable, friendly and well mannered so, when he becomes the victim of an unprovoked attack, it is extremely hard not to feel for him and want him to overcome his physical and mental scars and standards to the gangs that make so many people's lives a misery.

With a title like Savage and DVD cover featuring a man's face in shadow and a knife on which the cover is written, I half expected the film to be an extremely violent revenge thriller, especially when comparisons had been drawn to Straw Dogs and Taxi Driver. Instead, this is an intelligent examination of the crisis in male masculinity, what it means to be 'a man' and what it takes to push someone over the edge into morally ambiguous territory.

I found this to be an extremely well written and directed film by Brian Muldowney with a mesmerising and powerful central performance by Darren Healy with good support from Norah-Jane Noone (who I last saw in The Descent) as Michelle. It is strange for a film like this to have such exploitative marketing but it is the sort of movie that can suck you in with the promise of violence only for nothing much to happen in the first 10 minutes or so but then you know there will be some kind of brutal revenge section near the end.

The Disc

Extra Features
The commentary by Brian Muldowney is extremely well delivered and, whilst not the most informative commentary track you'll ever hear, does go into great detail about the differences between the original screenplay and the shooting script, particularly in the way Paul's character changed from a virginal librarian to a press photographer.

Q&A with Brian Muldowney (8:34) was recorded in February 2010 at the Jamison Dublin International Film Festival following a screening of the film and the questions appear as intertitles so you don't need to strain your ears to make out what the audience member as saying. The sound quality is very good as these things can be very hit and miss and Muldowney (and the moderator, who is joined on stage by Darren Healy) speaks very well about the film, answering the questions fully.

Cast Auditions (10:41) probably ring true to any actual filmmaker who has been involved in the audition process as the aspiring actors go through certain scenes in a nondescript room without props, introducing themselves that following a caption giving their names. The scenes all involve an attack with the aspiring actors all dishing out mock beatings to the other actor in the room.


The Picture
Presented in anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1, this looks extremely good with remarkably deep contrast levels for a DVD and strong colours when they are necessary. For the most part, the film has a very muted palette which perfectly reflects Paul's mood so the décor, wardrobe and settings have plenty of browns, blacks and blues.

The location shooting around Dublin gives the film a real sense of authenticity and only those who live in this city (or know it very well) will notice the odd geographical idiosyncrasy. The SFX make-up is extremely impressive so the cut down Paul's face is extremely realistic, as is the scar (which changes colour and shrinks slightly) once it has healed.

The Sound
You have the option of Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround and I found the surround track to be marginally clearer when it came to the scenes involving violence, overlapping speech and background noise which is well delivered through the front and rear surrounds. Both deliver the dialogue very well so comes across very clearly, which is fortunate as there are no subtitles on the disc.

The score, by Stephen McKeon, is a very good composition that complements the visuals and underlying themes extremely well, helping to build tension and highlighting the tragedy as well as the romance and more horrific scenes.


Final Thoughts
Savage was not what I expected and was probably all the better for that as it isn't a blood soaked revenge thriller but something much more nuanced, thought provoking and interesting. There will be several occasions during the film when you ask yourself 'what would I do' and it is these situations that make the film such an engrossing watch. As a film that questions the nature of masculinity, the correct way to respond to gang violence and what an ordinary man is capable of in extreme situations, it is a thoughtful and intelligent text that is brought to life extraordinarily well by writer-director Brian Muldowney and the central performance by Darren Healy is one of the most remarkable that I've seen recently.