Savage

This review may contain spoilers!

2020 has certainly had its up and downs but the genuine quality NZ cinema I have had the pleasure to watch this year has been the silver lining. I would give Savage an 8.5/10.

Savage follows Damage/Danny across the years of his life that see him grow from a young boy into a violent gang enforcer. I was hesitant to see this movie initially because New Zealand cinema tends to have a few gang features and I honestly wasn't sure another one could manage to do anything different. But Savage is a remarkable tale that focuses on a period of time in which New Zealand's social services failed the children and the minorities under it; particularly Maori or Pasifika kids. Danny's story is a tragic one to watch; you see this kid steadily lose his family, his connection to home, his principles and ultimately a significant part of his identity. This film highlights a system that never cared for kids liked Danny, so he was pushed to survive on his own and found himself driven towards a violent, criminal lifestyle. Seeing him years on as Damage is a harsh watch, watching someone so incredibly paranoid and bent on maintaining his gang leader's power is very distant from the kid we first came to know. Yet Damage is still grappling to be something better, he wants to be free of aspects of his life and the internal struggle he faces is truly one of the greatest aspects of the film. The cinematography is really intimate which befits such an amazing character study; every shot feels tight and introspective which really helps convey some of those inner thoughts characters are struggling through. The score and soundtrack for this film might be one of the best I've heard in a gang feature for a while; there's a very washed out, frantic tone set that has a tendency to turn angry and sharp in a nice parallel to the main character.

Haanz Fa'avae-Jackson, who played Teen Moses, was by far the best performer in the Moses roles throughout the film; Fa'avae-Jackson had this reckless mean streak to him that led to some very unpredictable and character defining scenes. Olly Presling, who played Young Danny, gives the majority of the cast a very serious run for their money; Presling is a young performer but he handles complex scenes and emotions like an actor four times his senior. Lotima Pome'e, who played Young Moses, is really charismatic as the prankster with a quick wit at the state youth housing facility; Pome'e has a lot of grit and pull in that environment while also forming a friendship that feels honest and kind with Presling.

However, the best performance came from Jake Ryan, who played Damage. This film was a character study through and through, often leading a lot of the work to full on to each of the actors responsible for portraying Danny/Damage. Ryan's portrayal was very sullen and mean, he had this intense way of moving through a scene and interacting with other characters that immediately told you who he was and how much power he had. There was something brutally instinctual about he reacted towards violence, he would turn towards this almost bestial drive of kill or be killed.Yet there was this inherent sense of honour to Damage in spite of how warped and hardened he had become; he still seemed lost in the life he found himself in and he still protected those that were vulnerable within his gang. Ryan spends a great deal of time breaking this character down and then steadily building him back up to a moment of redemption that I think sets this film apart as one of the best I've seen this year.

I'm glad this film took the direction of an intensive character study but in spite of this there were some moments in which Savage couldn't escape the stereotypes of a New Zealand gang feature. Seeing these tough personas bully one another through empty power struggles or feuds to the backdrop of state housing or cast iron compounds isn't very impressive or new. In fact the moment the film drifted away from Damage is often when the film suffered. Subplots like Red's redemption arc through a young love story was pretty cheesy and undercuts an otherwise impressive narrative. The editing for the film also tends towards the slow side which doesn't aid the more adrenaline-packed sequences.

John Tui, who played Moses, is hard to buy as the leader of a gang in any scene he's in; Tui doesn't intimidate nor does he ever really command attention when he enters a scene. Chelsie Preston Crayford, who played Flo, is a charming role that doesn't really seem to have much form or function; Crayford has charisma but she never really finds a defining motive behind her role which makes her role a little forgettable. Seth Flynn, who played Liam, feels like he has had the life sapped out of him; Flynn is playing a recovering gang member but you could never be convinced that he came from a tough life in this film. James Matamua, who played Teen Danny, is the only weak link in the otherwise impressive acting line for the Danny character; Matamua plays this really perky, easy-going take to his role which makes it hard to believe that he fits anywhere in a gang setting. Jack William Parker, who played Teen Liam, is quite wooden with his delivery and struggle with line delivery; Parker never struck me as a member of a gang and it's hard to be convinced by his tough guy act. Alex Raivaru, who played Tug, is quite a generic gang opponent antagonist; Raivaru's bluster as a small-time bad feels very over the top in the way he portrays it. Italiyah Wilson, who played Lilly, is left holding the responsibility of portraying most of the young love subplot of the film and it is a tough watch; Wilson seems disinterested or unable to find any sense of a connection to the story or her co-star, Merritt-McDonald. Poroaki Merritt-McDonald, who played Red, gives the same young blood gang member uncertain of his place in the world performance that I've seen in any other film like this; Merritt-McDonald plays his emotions way up and never finds the charming light the feature is clearly trying to cast him in.