It came as a surprise when it was revealed how many linesAnya Taylor-Joyhas inFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga. Playing the title character, one of the most beloved ones in theMad Maxsaga,she has only around 30 lines of dialogue in the whole movie. This is nothing new to the franchise, however, considering that Max Rockatansky himself is a famously laconic protagonist in his movies, with very few dialogue lines in both his versions, played byMel GibsonandTom Hardy. As it turns out, having so few lines of dialogue is actually a staple of the franchise, something creatorGeorge Millerdoes on purpose. Why, though?
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and team-up with Mad Max.
Having a Near-Silent Protagonist Started as a Budget Limitation
The most recent entryinMad Maxlore,Furiosa, hada budget of $168 million, and it certainly feels like that. Extensive action sequences, immersive special effects, it’s all there. But, back in the late 1970s,Mad Maxstarted with its first entry being a low-budget movie. The firstMad Max, though, had a budget of only $350,000. It has very little dialogue, something that came from budget limitations. Millerwanted the movie toprioritize action. He may have been mostly inexperienced, but he had a clear vision and was also very bold and resourceful, and that shows. The action sequences may be simplistic compared to the most recentMad Maxmovies, but they are extremely effective and practical.
The problem was that, in order to prioritize the action and the pace of the movie, there wouldn’t be time or budget for much dialogue, as it would mean more time recording, editing, and so on. Production was cutting costs on everything, sodialogue had to be used sparingly to fit both the budget and Miller’s vision. Most of it went to the villain Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne), but Mel Gibson made Max a mostly silent fury.
George Miller Wanted His Movies To Be Like “Silent Movies With Sound”
Thinking about George Miller’s career nowadays is always interesting. How can the man who createdMad Maxalso be responsible forBabeandHappy Feet? This shows the scope ofMiller’s artistic vision, being able to accommodate such different genres and having all of them be successful in their own way. For the firstMad Max, he already had a clear idea of what he wanted, and that was a high-octane action movie unlike anything thus far -“A silent movie. With sound.”
A fan of the old silent movies byBuster KeatonandHarold Lloyd, Miller believes that “the syntax of filmmaking” was first discovered by them, so he wanted to do something similar.He wanted the narrative ofMad Maxto be guided by action, not dialogue. Depending on how you put the movie together, you can make up “a whole sentence,“according to him, and, in that sense,Mad Maxspeaks volumes. So, for the narrative to keep its fast pace and be effectively guided by the action going on, dialogue had to be sacrificed. In a recentRolling Stoneinterview, he confesses that, for him, putting togetherbig action sequencesis “no different than putting together dialogue sequences,” and that “action has to be driven by the characters.” And this can be attested to in both the firstMad Maxand inFuriosathe same way. Max lost his family, he wants revenge. Furiosa was abducted from her home, she wants to go back. No need for too much dialogue, just action.
This philosophy worked so perfectly forMad Max, that Miller went even further inMad Max: The Road Warriorin 1981. In the second installment, Mel Gibson is famously said to have only 16 lines of dialogue, two of them being “I only came here for the gasoline” - althoughsome accounts differ. Then,Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdomecame in 1985 with a lot more lines, and it became incidentally known as the worst in the franchise (although it does play an important role in the continuity). “Dialogue tends to slow things down,” Miller toldThe Telegraphrecently,so he went back to the basics forFury RoadandFuriosa. The latter does have more dialogue, especially considering the villain Dementus' (Chris Hemsworth) babbling personality, but, if used wisely, dialogue can’t hurt more than falling off a War Rig, right?
By now, the “laconic protagonist” is almost an archetype in theMad Maxfranchise, and it’s effective in conveying necessary feelings and emotions. George Miller’s idea of “silent movies with sound” is something unique right now, but,even from a storytelling standpoint, having quieter protagonists works. The world ofMad Maxis one of violence and decadence, so measuring your words is always the right thing to do.
InFuriosa, the main character is quiet for most of the movie for very practical reasons. She has been abducted, her captorskilled her mother, Mary (Charlee Fraser), and they want to find her home to sack and plunder it. What does she have to say to them? Even after she comes into Immortan Joe’s (Lachy Hulme) court,she is still in danger, so it’s wiser to stay quiet. Eventually, she joins the War Rig crew and has to pretend to be a man, so silence continues to be important. Even the pilot, Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), is also quiet most of the time, because he knows that saying something the higher-ups don’t want to hear may get him into trouble. And, since violence is the way these people usually deal with their problems, the less you say, the better.
Another aspect of keeping to yourself is that,in this world, actions matter more than words. Furiosa always had a plan to leave the Citadel, but what good would it do to her to tell someone about it? It isn’t shown on screen, but she probably told Praetorian Jack about it, but only after he figured it out himself and showed that he could be trusted. It happensthe same way inFury Road, as Furiosa (Charlize Theron) gradually comes to trust Max after he proves his character through his actions. It can be argued that people are becoming more feral in theMad Maxworld, a symptom of the fall of society and moral decay. InThe Road Warrior, for example, there is the Feral Kid, a boy who is growing up like an animal because there is no one to raise him. Max himself is speaking more suddenly inFury Road. Still, it’s better to keep quiet and let your actions speak for themselves.
