A young man’s despair following a brutal assault soon descends into a consuming desire for revenge in Brendan Muldowney’s exploration of the nature of violence at its most viscous and primal. Here the director explains the thought processes behind his first feature film Savage, to be screened at the Light House cinema as part of the DARKLIGHT festival, and the questions of morality it inevitably poses.
You’ve cited Gasper Noe’s Irreversible as one of the influences behind Savage. Are you happy for your film to fall into that attack/revenge category or do you think of it as a stand alone piece?
When you reference another film like that you can become very trapped by it. I used that reference to explain what I was trying to do with the ending of Savage, which I wanted to be very visceral. Irreversible has an extremely visceral scene at the beginning. Other than that they’re completely different. Savage is a revenge film yes but there are many different influences behind it, some of which aren’t even films. I was always fascinated by a case called the Subway Vigilante in 1980s New York where a guy called Bernhard Goetz shot six people he claimed were mugging him. When the case came to court it turned out that they were just begging. It eventually transpired that Goetz had been mugged in the past and had taken to riding the subways with a gun looking for trouble. That story is the main kernel of thought behind it.
Were you trying to address the moral ambiguity of whether or not revenge is ever justified?
Yes but it’s quite complex. I can understand how someone who’s been very badly wronged might be angry and confused and take that anger out on someone other than the original person who wronged them. What I was leaning towards is that perhaps there’s that potential in us all and therefore we can empathise. It’s shocking what people are capable of and how brutal they can be towards one another. However, it was important for me to include a visceral scene of raw violence at the end that goes beyond intellectualizing.
The film is mainly about the protagonist Paul’s transformation. In that respect it’s quite a character-driven story placing a lot of trust in the competency of the lead actor. How did you find the process of trying to cast the right person for the role?
Thankfully when we cast Darren Healy our worries were over. He invested a lot in the part and really got under the skin of the character. While writing the script I was in talks with my producer about who to choose for the role. We kept coming back to Darren as a possibility. My producer had worked with him and said he was great so we arranged the meeting. I had also seen and liked him in various things. Luckily he suited the script.
People have honed in on the gender issues Savage explores, interpreting it as a study of what constitutes masculinity and the complexities of it. What is your take on these interpretations? Were they something that you intended to address?
I was always most interested in the essence of violence and why people become violent. I wanted to explore why testosterone plays such a major role in violent behaviour and why men in particular have a tendency towards violence.
Another striking aspect of the film is the techniques that you used to create its atmosphere, such as the blue screen and the musical accompaniment. Did you have a very fixed idea of how you wanted it to look and sound?
The script was very dark and took us to the dirtier parts of the city so it told me how the whole thing needed to look. There were extra techniques that we employed when designing the look, like we shot everything hand-held and on a long lens. We gave it a high contrast kind of look. It’s a range of blues and greens. It’s not the normal palate that you’d see when walking down the street but when you’re making a film about isolation, seen through one man’s eyes whose world is very grim; it’s easy to decide which way to grade it. As for the sound again it’s from one man’s perspective and sound is a brilliant tool for putting the audience into someone’s mind. Both the sound and colour choices came together well and helped build the tension towards the visceral explosion at the end of the film. Regardless of whether or not people like the story or enjoy the film I think nobody can dispute that it punches above its weight in terms of technical ability.
Would you say that Savage straddles two worlds, lying somewhere between the horror and psychological thriller genres?
I’d say so yeah. It was made with a lot of horror film techniques, for example the sound-scape and the use of extreme imagery. Even the idea at its core is pretty horrific, but it’s deliberately slow in its build-up as well which is not like a horror film. I would call it skewed or cross-genre.
Savage has generated significant discussion as a result of its subject matter. What do you make of the controversial tag it has acquired?
I suppose when you make a film that is extreme in any way you know what you’re letting yourself in for. I can’t say I wasn’t expecting it. I could be judged in many different ways because it’s an extreme film but I stand by what I made. It was never going to be a tea party.
Savage will be screened in the Lighthouse Cinema on the 9th October as part of the Darklight Festival, 7.30pm.
