The film’s focus on Furiosa’s amputation exploits disability, and closes down the related commentary and critique previously expanded in each progressive Mad Max film.
The Mad Max films are set in an arid, barren, apocalyptic world known in the movies as ‘the wasteland’ – what does this tell us about the Australian environment?
To understand how ‘Furiosa’ and other new films challenge car culture’s male-centric conventions, it’s useful to look closely at how car culture has favoured a certain kind of male hero.
The movie franchise ‘Mad Max’ contains a cautionary tale about our over-reliance on fuel for vehicles. This dependence has been highlighted by the ‘freedom convoy’ and its relationships with fuel.
Climate scientists often bombard their audiences with facts and figures - a method of communication that often doesn’t work. Perhaps this is where cli-fi can step in, with its compelling characters and just slightly embellished science.
Australian cinema has offered striking, intelligent and forceful evaluations of our national identity. Rather than play an outdated gambling game this Australia Day, why not watch the best of Aussie film?
Mad Max is Australia’s most successful Oscar winner, scooping six statues. This testament to Australian filmmaking will have a big impact on the domestic industry.
It seems to me no coincidence that in Australian popular culture our founding colony is usually the site of major onscreen attacks. Might this speak of cultural guilt and repressed truths?
Mad Max: Fury Road has generated heated coverage since its release last month. But focussing on the film’s terse script may be missing the point: it should be read as a poem, and a provocative one at that.
The Doof Warrior in Mad Max: Fury Road is a red-jumpsuited, masked guitarist, bungee-strapped to the front of the Doof Wagon, a massive, mobile speaker stack, replete with on-board drummers. What’s not to love?
There are metal spikes, sadistic implements of torture galore, massive machine guns mounted on the top of buggies, jeeps, motorcycles, and more leather than a Judas Priest concert. But does it work?