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Book Coach Corner: Furiosa
Background: What Is Book Coach Corner?
Book Coach Corner is a blog series that allows me (your neighborhood-friendly book coach) to look at books, TV shows, and movies and dissect them in terms of story structure. There will be spoilers and some may posts not make sense if you haven’t seen/read the work, so wanted to give that heads up.
Those are the details. This entry explores Furiosa, George Miller’s latest entry in the world of Mad Max. The story is big on spectacle but light on character.
Synopsis
Furiosa is an origin story for the famous Imperator. It follows her journey from kidnapped child to vengeful young adult as she seeks retribution against the man who murdered her mother.
Quick Thoughts
Mad Max: Fury Road is one of my favorite movies ever. I felt like a kid again watching the insane chase scenes. The world building, villains, and action filled me with wonder.
That being said, I went into Furiosa with sky high expectations. And, while the action sequences and performances were amazing, the emotional journey of the protagonist was pushed to the background in favor of telling a larger story, resulting in a less emotional, less well-rounded film.
A Story in Vignettes
I think one of the biggest issues in the film was its structure. It’s split into five acts that all portray a different part of Furiosa’s life. The breakdown is listed below:
- Part one is the story of Furiosa’s separation from her family and the murder of her mother.
- Part two is her life with Dementus (the warlord who killed her mother), and her defection to his rival, Immortan Joe.
- The third act follows Furiosa’s life in disguise when she escapes from Immortan Joe’s brothel.
- In part four, Furiosa is trained as a lead driver and develops affection for her co-leader, Jack.
- The final act is her revenge against Dementus.
The structure itself could be fine, but the issue is that it doesn’t build properly to show Furiosa’s transformation. While part one is an excellent genesis story, part two is mostly…
