Transcript:
Hyena is a British crime thriller written and directed by Gerard Johnson and stars Peter Ferdinando as Michael – a corrupt police officer in West London trying to play both sides of the law against each other and come out on top. Like Johnson's impressive first film, Tony, this is a dark, gritty affair.
It's jet black, downright nasty film-making which leaves you feeling like you need to take a shower afterwards. Understandably this type of cinematic experience will not be to everyone's tastes. If you like happy endings and generally like to leave the cinema with a smile on your face this film is definitely not for you. Me? I love it.
The film seems to exist in a world devoid of morality as we know it, focusing on a group of foul policemen, whose racism and sexism is bluntly portrayed from the off, incredibly violent machete wielding gangs and victims of human trafficking forced into prostitution. There is almost no one to root for and no one can be trusted.
This narrative focus would likely be too much to stomach without Johnson's brilliant command of cinematic form, his dedication to realism and the emotionally complex performances given by the majority of the cast. As Michael Ferninando delivers an impressively nuanced anti-hero (if you can even call him that) who displays just enough humanity to keep you rooting for his character.
His troubles are evident from the very beginning, brilliantly portrayed both physically and verbally, and watching his mental state deteriorate as the film goes on is hard but rewarding. Stephen Graham and Neil Maskell, who are by now both veterans at injecting emotional depth into the typical hard geezer stereotype, also shine.
The themes at play here – absolute male dominance via violence, fractured emotional psyches and the compromising of one's moral values – although not being particularly original are very well communicated, offer a damning portrait of certain sections of society and are issues I personally find very interesting.
The look and feel of the film is also very well realised. Johnson has filled his film with neon reds and blues, slick tracking shots and some beautiful use of slow motion all of which is heavily influenced by directors such as Michael Mann and Nicolas Winding Renf. This dream, or rather nightmare, feel to the film is aided by a fantastic score by the seminal UK act The The which pulses and creeps along with the action.
Contrasting with this hyper-stylisation is a heavy use of handheld camera, lingering shots, underplayed dialogue exchanges and accurate cultural dialect which all serve to give the film an incredible amount of realism and tension.
Still, there are some weaker points present. The story, characters and topics here are nothing we haven't seen before and despite feeling true to life most of the time it does strain credibility the closer it gets to it's dramatic conclusion. Provided it has a good reason to be there I have a high tolerance for violence in this type of film but there was one scene, we'll call it the bathroom scene, which went slightly too far for me and felt unnecessary.
Whilst I don't need every film to contain a raft of complex female characters there only two speaking parts for women in this film and they were almost only portrayed as victims and bargaining tools for men. Although this is of course part of what the film is trying to say, and there is some time given to female perspectives, I think that a little more depth to these characters, or one or two more female parts in general, wouldn't have hurt.
His troubles are evident from the very beginning, brilliantly portrayed both physically and verbally, and watching his mental state deteriorate as the film goes on is hard but rewarding. Stephen Graham and Neil Maskell, who are by now both veterans at injecting emotional depth into the typical hard geezer stereotype, also shine.
The themes at play here – absolute male dominance via violence, fractured emotional psyches and the compromising of one's moral values – although not being particularly original are very well communicated, offer a damning portrait of certain sections of society and are issues I personally find very interesting.
The look and feel of the film is also very well realised. Johnson has filled his film with neon reds and blues, slick tracking shots and some beautiful use of slow motion all of which is heavily influenced by directors such as Michael Mann and Nicolas Winding Renf. This dream, or rather nightmare, feel to the film is aided by a fantastic score by the seminal UK act The The which pulses and creeps along with the action.
Contrasting with this hyper-stylisation is a heavy use of handheld camera, lingering shots, underplayed dialogue exchanges and accurate cultural dialect which all serve to give the film an incredible amount of realism and tension.
Still, there are some weaker points present. The story, characters and topics here are nothing we haven't seen before and despite feeling true to life most of the time it does strain credibility the closer it gets to it's dramatic conclusion. Provided it has a good reason to be there I have a high tolerance for violence in this type of film but there was one scene, we'll call it the bathroom scene, which went slightly too far for me and felt unnecessary.
Whilst I don't need every film to contain a raft of complex female characters there only two speaking parts for women in this film and they were almost only portrayed as victims and bargaining tools for men. Although this is of course part of what the film is trying to say, and there is some time given to female perspectives, I think that a little more depth to these characters, or one or two more female parts in general, wouldn't have hurt.
The film is not oblivious to the issues facing women in these circumstances but doesn't quite succeed in portraying them well enough.
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
Alright, let's talk about the ending. It's a cliffhanger and has left a lot of people frustrated. Personally I loved it. It takes place just before Michael is about to try and storm into a house, save his lover and kill the bad guys. We watch as Michael, at the end of his wits, tries to prepare himself for almost certain death in the seat on his car – all shot in a static close up. The shot lingers and then cuts to black.
I thought it was brave and smart – we already know what's going to happen, we've seen it a million times before, and the focus on his psychological breakdown, rather than the impending violence, was a breath of fresh air.
SPOILERS END
Hyena, although not for everyone, is an intoxicating film which will stay with you for days and I'm gonna give it an 8/10. I'd recommend it to anyone that liked Johnson's previous film Tony or films like Pusher, Rampart or Bad Lieutenant.
If you've seen the film please let me know what you thought of it in the comments below and subscribe for more reviews coming soon.
I thought it was brave and smart – we already know what's going to happen, we've seen it a million times before, and the focus on his psychological breakdown, rather than the impending violence, was a breath of fresh air.
SPOILERS END
Hyena, although not for everyone, is an intoxicating film which will stay with you for days and I'm gonna give it an 8/10. I'd recommend it to anyone that liked Johnson's previous film Tony or films like Pusher, Rampart or Bad Lieutenant.
If you've seen the film please let me know what you thought of it in the comments below and subscribe for more reviews coming soon.
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