Savage (2009)

Very disappointing...

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

After reading some reviews and recommendations here and there, I got curious. The title, poster and plot on their own wouldn't have really drawn me to watch it.First off: it's not really bad and there are some individual scenes that are pretty intense (and even an occasional sort of funny one - with the sheep), as is the acting by Darren Healy. But the script feels like a mess and mostly like a generic series of 'must-happen' events in what has come to be known as the revenge flick, including an all-out bloody ending. For some films that works, for example 'I spit on your grave' (1978!), where form, creativity and energy really come together. 'Savage' looks bleak, and wants to paint a bleak picture of how a civilized man can totally lose himself in 'fear, control, anger and REVENGE'... Well, those 'chapters' didn't help any at all either, did they? But bleak as it tries to look, it is visually pretty uninteresting, and hard as the punchline wants to be, it doesn't punch. Not for me, anyway.That's it. A small 6? A big 5? For Healy's good effort, some proper moments and those poor sheep I will show mercy.

This is a story of a man who lost his identity of maleness. This is introduced as a Top 10 disturbing films by a youtube user. So I tried it. For me, this isn't a disturbing movie more like a sad story. The movie consists of 4 parts; Fear, Control, Anger, and Revenge. We can see him changing gradually as the story goes on.Paul (Darren Healy) was attacked by two brats on the street. He couldn't fight back or even scream because he was completely intimidated. He was under a brat's thumb. This incident affected him really bad. Basically He was mentally neutered. He struggles to regain himself as used to be by getting a dagger and a taser, joining a self-defense class, and taking steroids. Nothing really gives him confidence and slowly he gets screwed up. There are people who try to help him; his work mate, girlfriend etc. The trainer of the self- defense class tells him that he is not OK and he also sees a psychiatrist, but he isn't willing to listen to them because his mind is so messed up. Things don't go well for him. His self-esteem is crushed flat.I have to admit that he tries really hard to deal with his problem by himself. It rather pushes him into the edge. He expects more than he can actually achieve. People can only do so much with this kind of state of mind. While ordinary people might have thought of the idea but never actually plan to carry it out, it could be a big progress for a person who suffers from depression if he can live one day without thinking of killing himself. He had to realize that people have their own pace for doing things and, moreover, everyone has a problem. The character Paul is well developed and shows good acting, in fact, he made me feel like supporting him so bad.I can't help thinking that he tries too hard to be someone else but him. He isn't a tough guy or a muscular type, however he seems to consider that's the kind of man he should be. But again it's just not his thing! So of course, he reaches the point of lunacy eventually.Only one part of this movie which was really disturbing for me is when the main character, Paul killed a sheep for the process of retrieving his masculine. Attacking someone or something unresisting is hard to watch. Maybe it was necessary for Paul, but I hated it. This scene actually has a connection to the end which is the biggest reason that I end up rating this movie only 6 although it's a well done film.-------- SPOILER ----------The ending…Paul got the information from police which was that the kids who attacked him has been arrested and are going to be transported. He goes to take a revenge at the site but he missed the chance. After that, while he was walking with anger and frustration, he bumped into two brats (they are totally strangers for Paul) who are trying to brake in a car on the street. Paul changed his targets and beat them up. Finally Paul killed one of them like he did to the sheep…I don't know if he retrieved his peace. It is just sad that he couldn't inflict vengeance on the two kids who attacked him and screwed him up so bad. At least, I wanted Paul to pay back on them although it's still a sad ending. Paul can't go back to normal anymore. However, probably those kids will be out of prison or institute shortly and enjoy freedom because they are under age. What a sarcasm. What a sad story.

I was fairly pleased with Savage.On the same night I had watched The Descent 2 on DVD which was god awful and was hoping Savage would be a lot better, and it was.The acting is believable and our main character goes from a geeky shyish guy to a psychologically disturbed man who commits a gruesome murder at the end of the film. A beheading none the less!!! The beheading scene was done exceptionally well, so good actually that I think the director had seen real beheadings on the Internet.The film has a dark, troubled mood to it, which I liked.I hope to see more work by this director as I liked Savage.Recommended.

Savage is a thought provoking and disturbing psychological thriller about a pleasant and well mannered young man who is subjected to a brutal assault in a random and unprovoked attack on the streets of Dublin.Some parts of the movie are quite violent and graphic but the main focus of the film is how he deals with the attack and the changes in his life following the assault. You will come away asking yourself just how thin is the veneer of civilisation, and just what would it take to unleash the savage in any one of us.Not what i would call a pleasant movie, but definitely not run of the mill. Well worth a watch.