Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga | The Inverted World of George Miller

Australian filmmaker George Miller spent a good part of his life in the Wasteland of his hero Mad Max. He is also behind family films Babe And Happy Feet. Interview with a man who sees the good sides of the world in order to imagine the worst.

A few days ago, George Miller was at the Cannes Film Festival to present out of competition Furiosa: A Mad Max Sagaanteepisode of Mad Max: Fury Roada commercial success that won six Oscars in 2016. When we spoke to him in a virtual interview on Tuesday, he was now in Toronto.

“We live in a world where there is an impressive amount of kindness,” says the 79-year-old director. I arrived by plane yesterday and everything went well. Making this happen requires the dedication of a host of people, most of whom will remain anonymous. It’s only when things are bad that we talk about it. By writing the screenplay for Fury Road, Nico Lathouris and I called the Wasteland the inverted world. Its inhabitants are cruel to each other, because to survive they must do things they would not otherwise do. The exception is when positive behaviors are observed. »

As spectators, we are looking for these moments of grace. In the previous film, Max (Tom Hardy) and Nux (Nicholas Hoult) showed selflessness. This time it’s Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke). You could say they keep us from falling into despair.

George Miller

George Miller explains that he rarely comments on the humanity of his work. The first three Mad Max, released in 1979, 1981 and 1985 and featuring Mel Gibson, as well as Fury Road are best known for their postapocalyptic punk aesthetic and intense, high-speed action scenes. Furiosa is no exception, but is more interested in the people who inhabit these arid places.

Chris’ understanding

One of these characters is Dementus, played by Chris Hemsworth and his fake nose. He is the leader of a group of bikers and it is his men who bring him Furiosa, then 10 years old. Alyla Browne plays the resourceful and resilient young girl. Admiring these qualities, Dementus takes her under his wing, in his own way. Having lost his family himself, he believes he understands what his prisoner feels.

“I had never met Chris before. Quickly, I discovered that he is a very complete person for a relatively young man, says George Miller. I then met his parents, who were two prominent social workers in Australia. They are pioneers in supporting child victims of abuse. The entire family has in-depth knowledge of the effects that these situations can have on young people. Reading the script, he understood the dynamic between Dementus and Furiosa much better than I had imagined. He even wrote a diary about his character. He added a new dimension to this twisted man who sees himself as a father or mentor. »

Let your team play

Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy therefore succeed Charlize Theron in the role of Furiosa. The two obviously do not share a scene, but exchanged several times in the company of George Miller in order to ensure continuity in the evolution of the character.

It’s a bit like being the coach of a basketball team. Actors have innate skills. As they train, they acquire new ones. The preparation and lessons will guide them, but you cannot take part in the match.

George Miller

“Their instincts will make them do things that are impossible to anticipate,” illustrates the filmmaker. That’s kind of how I felt watching Alyla and Anya work with Chris and it’s one of the most exciting things about doing this job. »

In the center of Australia

The story of the woman who will become the Empress of Immortan Joe, with the responsibility of protecting her women and driving the Citadel’s essential fuel truck, was sketched a long time ago.

“So that the story of Fury Road, which happens almost in real time over three days and two nights, is coherent, we had to know everything about the characters and the structure of the world in which they live. We wrote the story of Furiosa, from her kidnapping until she became empress at age 28, to help us prepare for the filming of Fury Road. Our notes became a script. »

Many of these notes were in storyboard form (storyboard). In an interview after the release of Fury Road, George Miller maintained that 3,500 plates had been drawn to construct his film. As the development of technologies has evolved, the production of Furiosa relied less on storyboarding, but what had been established was retained.

The Wasteland map we designed takes shape in Furiosa. We see where the Green Land was, as well as the three fortresses – the Citadel, Gas Town and the Bullet Farm.

George Miller

“For the first time, everything that occupies central Australia is being defined. We don’t know what’s happening on the coasts, which are too far away. We don’t even know if the cities still exist,” underlines George Miller, mysteriously.

Where is Max?

Max Rockatansky is not – really – from Furiosa. However, like the heroine, the broad outlines of her life preceding the events of Fury Road were written over 10 years ago.

The flashbacks that haunted Max throughout the 2015 film have nothing to do with the old trilogy. They are the result of a post-traumatic shock suffered a year before he became Nux’s “blood bag”. George Miller will also make a feature film if the reception of Furiosa is good.

” In Fury Road, we could imagine what Max had experienced and how it affected him. There is still room to develop, he concludes. This is the nature of the story we tell. »

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is on display.