Imperator Furiosa – Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Though the film has Mad Max in title, it undoubtedly belongs to Imperator Furiosa – not just because she is the protagonist of the piece, but because she is so perfectly written that her presence dominates the narrative as a giant among men. Played by Charlize Theron and written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nick Lathouris, Furiosa has been toiling under the rule of a sadistic, misogynistic tyrant in a post-apocalyptic landscape, and she has had enough. Deciding to head out of the Citadel in search of her homeland, Furiosa takes with her a group of liberated female prisoners (held by the tyrant as ‘breeders’) and makes a break for it. The tyrant’s forces give chase and a drifter named Max (Thomas Hardy) becomes embroiled in the fight, too – trying to assist the women where he can.
The journey undertaken by Furiosa and her newly freed charges is almost incidental to the fact that this woman has chosen to throw off the shackles of oppression and simply take her freedom. The fact that, on the way, they discover that her homeland has also been decimated, and that they may as well turn back and fight to save the rest of the community – affording them all the same liberation – is something that weighs heavily later, giving Furiosa the opportunity to reveal her beautifully formed character.
Like her spiritual predecessor, Ellen Ripley, Furiosa is most certainly not a one-note wonder. Instead, she is a fully realized symphony of motivation, desire, vulnerability and emotion – compelled not by vengeance, but by a desire for peace. She seeks to return to the place where she was happy – the place where she had family and felt a deep, abiding love. This desire gives rise to violence, certainly, as Furiosa ably defends herself and her group – but it is the frightening ferocity of a mother bear protecting her cubs, as opposed to the nihilistic violence of simple destruction for destruction’s sake.
While she says little, her words speak volumes. She barks instructions at Max and her group, but asks to know his name – seeking to humanize him and herself in defiance of a hateful society that routinely strips its women and workers of their humanity. She does not stomp around with a furrowed brow, looking serious and angry – like so many one-dimensional female superheroes that appear in male-centric movies these days. Instead, she is as emotive as she is emotionally ravaged, and is visibly moved by the plight of others to the point of being willing to sacrifice herself for their continued progress.
All of these elements mean that, when she is mortally wounded, and she finally receives an emotional response from Max that is equal to her own, his clear respect for her is devastating – because it is a thing as simple as equal respect that has been lacking from the lives of these women, and the hundreds of others back in the Citadel.
While Max may ultimately save her, it is Furiosa’s character that allows this to unfold without it seeming condescending or sexist, because she has inspired heroism in those around her. An act of sacrifice on the part of Max seems entirely fitting and, actually, more of a tribute to this magnificent warrior – who also happens to be high among the best-written female characters in cinema.
